Just as a matter of interest for those who wonder how strong a strip built hull is I have some recent observations. I have a 28" X 16' kayak, full 1/4" strips, 6 oz. cloth inside and out with a 3" wide strip down the keel line. On recent practice runs for a marathon race I have hit a cypress tree dead head on at about 7 mph with swift current. No damage at all except for a slight 3/4" discoloration. On the same trip I hit numerous rocks, dragged across rocks, lowered the boat over a dam with a rope and then let it fall on the ground. In one set of rapids I hit a rock that did make a 1/8" puncture through the fiberglass and slightly gouged the wood. On another rapid I hit hard on a very big rock, put another 3/8" puncture and split one strip about 1/2". No damage at all to the inside fiberglass. On the second trial run I did much better though I did get crossways in some very swift water and slammed into a stump just in front of the cockpit on the right side slightly below the sheer line. This punctured the fiberglass, broke one strip and split that strip about 1 1/2 inches on each side of the puncture. I want to point out that both strips that split were flat grain...not vertical grain. There has been no damage that tranlated to the inside of the boat. I'm happy with the strength. The abrasion and puncture resistance could be better. On the next boat I'll add a another layer of 6 oz. S glass on the bottom of the hull up to the sheer line and see how that works. I also want to point out that unless you are going to be doing what I'm doing the standard layup of 6 oz. E glass should be adequate. Robert Pruden needs to use kevlar, carbon fiber, e glass, and s glass...and maybe a little dynel here and there.