How do I find out how much kevlar it would take to cover my kayak in it?

Question

How do I find out how much kevlar it would take to cover my kayak in it?

Answer 1

Legnth of the boat times the diameter at the widest point.

Answer 2

With the demand from the defense department for the material, kevlar is very expensive.  You wouldn't want to waste any.  You surely do not want to cover your deck in Kevlar.  Use S-glass for the deck instead.  If you have a slalom kayak and use the formula mentioned above, you will end up with more than twice the amount you need.

To cover the hull in kevlar, try this standard formula:

LWL (length at waterline) X Beam at waterline X .82= sq. ft. of cloth you need.  

Then go to solarcomposites.com or fiberglasssupply.com and figure out the width that the cloth comes in and divide your hull area in ft. by the cloth width in ft. (the cloth width will be something like 4.17ft.) and divide your answer by three since if you are buying your kevlar by the yard.