??? for the Old Towne experts

[Brian Jones]

Is this anything to be concerned about yet?  Old Towne Pack.  To put it nicely, I've bulked up a little since purchasing 9 years ago.  Didn't know if I needed to be thinking about a skid plate kit yet or not.  

[jdmidwest]

Skid plates are a preventive measure to protect vulnerable areas.  Most kayaks are being made now with a replaceable part of different material on back.  That is the part on them that gets abused dragging them from the front.

I would put one on that boat, it was one deep gouge, but looks sound.

[ollie]

I think I might put one on there but be careful in what you get if you do. Mine came off on my yak in one season of use. I applied one that just didn't hold up very well.

[grizwilson]

I am down to 3 old town canoes, they have some years on them, all have skid plates front and rear, as they were worn similar to yours, they float fine and I do not worry shooting over thin shoals.  I have had the best luck with kevlar cloth and G-flex holding up for years.

https://www.westsystem.com/products/g-flex-650-toughened-epoxy/

[Flysmallie]

47 minutes ago, ollie said:

I think I might put one on there but be careful in what you get if you do. Mine came off on my yak in one season of use. I applied one that just didn't hold up very well.

Probably an adhesion problem. It's very difficult to get anything to stick to a kayak due to the way they are manufactured. And if it's not the right type of product it won't have the same flexibility as the material of the kayak and that also creates an issue with long time adhesion. 

[Terrierman]

I put a kevlar skid plate front and rear on every ABS boat I owned when they were new.  So I would do the same to yours now were it mine.

[ness]

9 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

I put a kevlar skid plate front and rear on every ABS boat I owned when they were new.  So I would do the same to yours now were it mine.

 

Ditto. Kevlar and epoxy I got from NRS, but don't see it on their website after a Quick Look.

Old Town lists a kit but you may not like the price  

https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/accessories-parts/parts-repairs-other/skid-plate-kit

 

[ollie]

4 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Probably an adhesion problem. It's very difficult to get anything to stick to a kayak due to the way they are manufactured. And if it's not the right type of product it won't have the same flexibility as the material of the kayak and that also creates an issue with long time adhesion. 

It was the right material, or at least it was supposed to be. Buzz and I split the cost for enough for both of ours. His is still on and we applied the same way. That and his yak is made of the same material. I think it was more of a design issue on mine vs. his. Either way, mine just didn't hold up like it should have. Although, the more I think about it, mine was exposed to the sun more than his so I know that couldn't have been great for it. It may have been what actually did it in. In the long run though I would recommend you get it done if you are keeping the boat for some time. Just don't let me apply it! 

[fishinwrench]

I have no experience with the "Royalex" material,  but the "Polylink" hulls can be brushed CAREFULLY with a propane torch and brought back to Good as New condition.  

[Al Agnew]

My canoes look way worse than that.  Looks like the vinyl outer layer has worn through but not the next layer, or you'd see holes down into the foam in the center.  Skid plates applied now will keep that from happening, but I hate putting them on until I absolutely have to, because they do affect the speed of the boat and add a bit of weight.  I assume you can still buy skid plate kits, but the last time I just got some G-Flex epoxy and kevlar cloth and used that.  And the only reason I did that was because I had a wide area with several cracks and holes down into the foam layer, so I needed to cover up the whole area.  In the past, I've just filled in the holes with the two part epoxy for plastics that you can buy at the big box hardware stores.