This week’s featured Student Build is Chris from Scotland. We offer our students a $75 discount (50 for canoes) for anyone who’s willing to post their building experience on our Student Builds Blog. I like doing this because I hate “marketing” and this lets people see other people’s actual experiences using my building systems....
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Video: Some quick drone footage of the F1
Just a quick bit of drone footage I shot yesterday of the F1 on the water for an upcoming video comparing our different kayak designs. Honestly, I’m gonna have to redo this because the paddle I grabbed was a little too short and my skills are garbage right now because I haven’t been in...
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Slogging through the less glamorous side of what we do
Haven’t been posting much lately because we’re just slogging through the less glamorous side of what we do here: filling orders, re-shooting videos etc. Here’s a few pics from a couple of F1 frames that I knocked out a couple weeks ago for a student who wanted to build a boat but didn’t have...
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Time lapse: Filming ribbing a larger F1
Ribbing a larger size version of the same boat that I ribbed a few days ago so I can splice together the best teaching from both videos. It’s always a little weird that bending the ribs only takes about 25 minutes, but editing the video takes about two days!...
Video: Bending a replacement rib into an F1 frame
For this latest rib bending video I took a different approach, I started off rusty, having not bent a kayak in about six months, and used some old, dried out rib stock. The idea here was to mimic the student experience where I would end up making some mistakes and then make a second...
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Connor’s F1 frame
Just a nice couple F1 Kayak frame pics sent to me from a student in Ireland. Good clean work here, Connor....
Linda’s F1
Linda here was part of a crew that built three of my kayaks in Sweden this last winter. The kayak she chose is our F1 design. Originally based on the Mariner Coaster and then continuously evolved over 14 years, dozens of prototypes, and thousands of miles in all types of conditions, the result is...
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Kayak building in Sweden
We offer a $75 discount on our plans and video courses to anyone who is willing to put text and pictures of their build on our Student Builds Blog. This is a great way for people to save money, but it’s also just really cool for me to watch people building their boats all...
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Hanan’s F1 frame
Really nice shaping on this F1 frame built by Hanan in Israel. The lines on this boat don’t have to be perfect for it to paddle well but it’s still nice to see someone get it spot on. Something that my own designs share in common with many arctic kayaks is the lack of...
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Video: Sail testing an F1
I’ve been steadily working on the canoe/kayak sail system for about the last 10 days. The geometry and componentry of all parts of the system is getting really clean and functions really well. The harder part is just testing the rig. I’ve got 3 different sail designs, in 3 different sizes, with 2 different...
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Going back thousands of years, kayaking season has always corresponded with the retreat of the ice
Going back thousands of years, kayaking season has always corresponded with the retreat of the ice. I don’t get many pictures of my modern skin-on-frame kayaks juxtaposed with an icy landscape, so thanks to Mark for these wicked photos! Mark writes: “Hi Brian – I may have worked a bit too fast on my...
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Time lapse: F1 kayak build: Day 7, plus full YouTube video
F1 kayak build time lapse, Day 7. Sound on and don’t forget to scroll, there are two videos here! For our final videos in the series we go for a quick paddle on the Willamette river in downtown Portland. Every construction medium has advantages and disadvantages but near the top of the list of...
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Time lapse: F1 kayak build: Day 6
F1 kayak build timelapse, Day 6. I like to tell people that building a skin on frame kayak is quick and easy but that’s not entirely accurate. After 20 years there’s one part of the process that I still struggle with every single time: rigging the deck lines. The crux of the problem is...
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Time lapse: F1 kayak build: Day 5
F1 kayak build timelapse, Day 5 As usual, don’t miss that sound button. Here I’m coating the nylon with 2 part polyurethane. It’s not a perfect finish but the confluence of price, durability, low toxicity, and ease of application creates a pretty incredible overall value. I put it on in 4 hours and that’s...
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Time lapse: F1 kayak build: Day 4, part 2
F1 kayak build time lapse, Day 4, part 2. Shifting gears from jazz to swing for this one so don’t miss that sound button! Whether I stitch the fabric on wet or dry just depends on the which fabric I’m working with. I like this particular fabric because I can stitch it on dry...
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