Just a random shot from some filming I was doing yesterday on the new 225 pound size LPB. This shows our standard deck rigging pattern which is an eclectic mix of bungee, rope, plastic,and leather. Every piece has a very specific job to do, for example, I would never use bungee directly ahead of the cockpit.
I’m really loving the results that I’m getting these days with the Earth pigments mixed into the two part polyurethane. This was a long journey because until recently, and there was no way to test these colors effectively without wasting huge amounts of polyurethane, and even if you did get a color match usually the finish was streaky and uneven.
Last year we put three days and about $600 in materials into testing dozens of different earth pigments with the exact same methods we use to apply it to our boats on the exact same fabric to develop a pallet of reproducible color recipes along with instructions for how to get nice even finishes. (I’ve made several videos about this on YouTube and I also have the color palette in our store and also on an informational page on the website).
The next step is getting imagery of those colors on different boats and then also doing a side-by-side test with those same colors fresh versus 1000 hours of exposure to sunlight. The color on this kayak is the burnt umber that we sell, which should not be confused with the burnt umber from other suppliers, which is a completely different color. (I tried this, and ended up with a boat the color of a dead sturgeon.)
Personally, for me, it’s just nice to have kayak color options beyond the normal rainbow of skittles. The earth spectrum colors are also good for situations in which stealth is useful.
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