: Sam,,that sure is more precise than the method I used,,,hammer, pick and my
: arms/feet. I was comparing s-glass, e, polyester and kevlar on okoume. But
: didn't weigh anything.
: Just to get this right,,a higher propogation number reflects more confined
: damage? Wish I had tried out some of that fine weave stuff,,,isn't the 5oz
: RAKA a difficult wet-out? My rough sense was that 4oz s-glass is an ok
: replacement for 6oz e-glass but that for real world impacts it still
: allowed the wood to get dinged in a way that a thicker layer of
: epoxy/glass wouldn't. What about 3.75oz tight weave?

Lee,

Yeah, but hammer, pick, and arms/feet (and rocky beaches) can tell us a lot. This way of looking at the subject is sort of a top-predator approach. The kayak ecosystem can only support so much of it, while most of the activity happens at the level of just banging stuff around.

I mentioned to Kyle that I didn't like working with the Raka 5 oz on my lat boat. If the goal is a beautiful clear finish on a gorgeous bit of woodwork, I still recommend against it. But ideal glassing conditions (75F, low viscosity resin, slow hardener) and good technique will yield a nice boat. You are right on - thicker will generally protect better against the daily sort of dings, but didn't Ted's results rank the 5 oz lower than 4 oz S?

I ran out of the 3 oz (3.25 oz ?) 4-harnes satin, but plan to order some more and make lay-up some 4 mm Okoume panels to compare.

Thanks,
Sam