I did my cheapskate kayak keel guard refresh this week.

[Darth-Baiter]

my last kayak, I bet i spent $80 on that Burley pro keel guard.  honestly, it was starting to wear thru.  I went back to my budget mode on my new Hobie.

 

I tape it with that stuff plumbers use to wrap water pipes in wintery areas.  (I think that is the use of this tape.  I am not a plumber and I dont live in "wintery"). a roll is maybe $8.   and it last a year easy.  maybe two years.  each tape job can go 3-4 months if a wind storm doenst drive me into the bank or boat ramp.  normal use..it takes a beating.  I might need to peel off an outer layer, and refresh periodically, but it takes me seconds.  it peels off my plastic boat cleanly without residue.  underneath my kayak is fairly pristine.  I have a few nicks where big waves pounded me into some riprap, but that was on me.  

just a thought if anyone was interested in a cheap option.  I have been tempted to tape a piece of stainless steel strap underneath a layer but I have been waaaayyy to lazy.  some armoring.  

Here. My friends tease me but whatever. 
 

 

[Will Ketchum]

Good idea.

[flyfisher]

I think I cared about scratches on my first kayak but then realized it doesn't even matter.  A heated up putty knife smooths out any scratches good as new.  I fish mostly rivers though so if i cared about the bottom of my kayak I would be in the nut house.

[Darth-Baiter]

11 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

I think I cared about scratches on my first kayak but then realized it doesn't even matter.  A heated up putty knife smooths out any scratches good as new.  I fish mostly rivers though so if i cared about the bottom of my kayak I would be in the nut house.

I don’t worry about scratches. But the keel can rub thru.  My friends pro angler.  I could press my thumb thru. It was a soft spot.  We did a repair with a Burley Pro.   Scratches are not the issue. 

[flyfisher]

3 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I don’t worry about scratches. But the keel can rub thru.  My friends pro angler.  I could press my thumb thru. It was a soft spot.  We did a repair with a Burley Pro.   Scratches are not the issue. 

I am glad my kayak has a replacable keep guard for that exact purpose.

[Darth-Baiter]

4 hours ago, flyfisher said:

I am glad my kayak has a replacable keep guard for that exact purpose.

In the front too?   Awesome!!!!

[flyfisher]

2 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

In the front too?   Awesome!!!!

nah not the front, never had an issue up there but i do on the stern.  I don't see how anyone could really wear through on the front of a kayak unless you are doing a lot of dragging or smashing into concrete ramps.  

 

[Darth-Baiter]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

nah not the front, never had an issue up there but i do on the stern.  I don't see how anyone could really wear through on the front of a kayak unless you are doing a lot of dragging or smashing into concrete ramps.  

 

That is the exact move.  Haha. 

[BustedSwimbait]

This sounds like a good alternative. When I ran a hole through my yak, I plastic welding it and hit it with Gator Guard. Haven't had any issue with the gator guard and its been almost a year. If something changes, this'll be my next fix if in a pinch.

 

Here's what I got;

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BGQAC0E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Darth-Baiter]

My friend was helping lift a kayak.  He said, “whoa, I can almost put my finger thru your keel!”   He wore a soft spot.  It’s a very rough kayak. I saw him slide it up stairs once. 
 

it happens. 

[Bankc]

There you go!  I bought a roll of Gorilla Tape for something else a few years back and I've been using that.  It lasts about 6 months before I start to wear through it.  I do about 4 layers.  I tried some Flextape, but it doesn't stick as well.

[wasabi_VA]

I'll have to check out that tape next time at Lowes. I went the kydex route. 0.80" kydex sheet from Amazon for $12, enough to make several guards. MarineGoop adhesive. Feels darn near bulletproof, no worries about dragging it across anything now including those rough concrete ramps.

 

[Darth-Baiter]

4 hours ago, wasabi_VA said:

I'll have to check out that tape next time at Lowes. I went the kydex route. 0.80" kydex sheet from Amazon for $12, enough to make several guards. MarineGoop adhesive. Feels darn near bulletproof, no worries about dragging it across anything now including those rough concrete ramps.

 

how difficult is it to remove that marine goop for the next install, should version 1.0 fail?

[wasabi_VA]

Well... I made a mess of it putting it on, may have used too much. But cleanup was easy. It is more like rubber cement than epoxy/glue. It peeled off or scraped off easy with a razorblade so I think I could get it off if needed.

 

[Motoboss]

I think the ‘ol dental floss/braided line saw would work fine. 
I just ordered a sheet of kydex for my autopilot and plan on using “goop”.