Another good reason for building from a kit is if there are not anywhere to buy supplies in your area. Where I live there is not a lumber yards that I know of within 100 miles and as far a marine supply store probably about 4 hours away, so a kit is a good choice for me as I would have to buy mail order anyway.

: Kits may seem pricey to the uninitiated but kits usually contain top quality
: components and produce boats that are in a class with the lightest
: production boats costing between $2000-$3000. Kit makers use BS1088 or
: BS6566 plywood that is often refered to a "aircraft plywood".
: This quality of plywood is required for home built aircraft and it isn't
: cheap. 4mm BS1088 is about $41 a sheet where I live.
: Many home builders use $8 a sheet luan underlayment from Home Depot but it's
: a poor relative of BS1088 and no kit maker would dare use it for fear of
: getting his brains sued out.
: For anyone who has never built a kayak a kit is an excellent choice. It will
: give you many small challenges but will remove the major hurdles. Most kit
: makers offer assistance in person or on the net to help their customers
: over the hard spots.
: A typical kayak built from plans requires about 4 sheets of plywood @ $35-$45
: a sheet, a gallon of epxoy resin at $55-$85 per, 50 yds.of fiberglass tape
: @ .80-$1.35 a yd., enough fiberglass cloth to cover the hull @ $6-$9 a
: yard, plus a lot of odds and ends that add additional cost. Plans cost
: $35-$100 but you can buy how-to books @ $15-$30 that have plans for
: several boats in them.
: The cheap alternative are skin-on-frame kayaks. There are no kits for these
: so you have to figure everything out yourself. Some of the more astute
: builders claim they can knock out a SOF for less than $100.
: Unfortunately,"Ace is not the place" for boatbuilding supplies.
: Stitch and Glue boat building is a cross between monocoque aircraft
: construction and old fashioned carpentry.
: Hope this helps.
: Charlie

: It sounded like something fun to do building a kayak and perhaps saving some