I’m obsessed with finding the best materials for my boats. Bungee, rope, cloth, fasteners, whatever, if it’s on a Cape Falcon boat, we probably bought and tested every possible option.
I use a lot of rope and bungee on deck these days but for some of my deck lines nothing beats leather. It’s strong like rope but also just a little bit elastic and sticky which means that when you put a paddle underneath it and lock it down with a toggle it’s gonna stay put even after a fierce surf beating. That can be a life or death situation if the spin-cycle just took away your main paddle and you need to roll up on a shoreline with strong rip current.
I used to use Latigo, but then I switched to English bridle leather which stretches less but still more than I like over time. Searching for an even less stretchy treated leather that will hold up the salt water I ended up working directly with a factory and I’m really impressed with this new stuff. Only time will tell but it’s about twice as hard to cut and it feels about 30% less stretchy, so that’s what we’re sending out in our kits now.
The only downside is that it’s going to make the hardest part of the kayak building process (rigging the deck lines) even harder. Sorry guys.
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