Keel Easy, - Self-adhesive keel strip

[nickcrowhurst]

http://www.kayakacademy.com/Store/RRKEELSTRIP.html
This looks promising. It's stocked by Reed, for example, in the U.K.
Nick.

[tg]

Thanks Nick,

Just checked Reed; £8 per metre. Black or White. Looks a darn sight more user friendly than glass tape and messy resin. The pics. of a finished 'installation' look good.

Tim

[Bards]

Anyone have any experience of this yet? Having observed the the deplorable finish achieved by more experienced mat and resin jockeys than myself, I'm reluctant to get the catalyst out if it can be avoided, so would like to go down the 'straight out of the box' route.... Is it as easy to apply and durable as suggested? As a Reed product it's unlikely to disappoint, but any first-hand experience would be reassuring... also if on reflection the 2 inch or 4 inch options seem more appropriate for sea boats?

Bards

[ian.miller]

I have recently fitted one but have yet to prove it on the water. Even if it doesn't prove to be durable I would still rather have chunks coming off the strip rather than the keel. It was a genuine 10 minute fit job with the aid of a hair dryer and a small roller and If you buy enough Isopropyl alcohol to pre clean the hull you can always toast a job well done if you have some left over!

[mick m]

Iv resently put it onto one of my boats , it went on realy easily , just like in the video , I yoused a scapal to cut the stuff around the skeg box . I yoused an industrial hot air gun , I dont think a hear drier wold do the job , so fare its held up well .I wold definatly youse it again

[Sprucey]

I've fitted to one boat. pretty good 4-5 trips so far. Still on and looks good.
Sprucey

[immunogirl]

Did a few of my boats -they've been out a few times. It does scratch up a bit being dragged up the beach. We get it for about $3 a foot around here, so not as much of an investment... If you want to make curves, if you're patient and make multiple little small darts, you can melt it to take curves pretty well. I think black on a white bottom looks pretty sharp.

[Bards]

Thanks all - I'll prise my wallet open, take the plunge, and as a serial keel-line vandal put it to the test and see what happens. As it's apparently removable with a heat gun, I'll buy too much hoping that any section exposed to particularly demonic abuse can be cut out and replaced leaving most of it undisturbed until the whole thing needs replacing..

Cheers,

Bards

[ruralweb]

I've put some on my plastic boat and it works well - I've been out quite a few times and deliberately given it a bashing but it remains scratch free unlike the rest of the boat!

[Ken_T]

Hi,
I have used this, I found it very easy. I didn't need to cut darts to follow a curve, I found gentle use of a heat gun sufficient. I have not had it on long enough to coment on its performance.
Ken

[Chas C]

Thanks for pointing this out - I'd not heard of the glue on type before.

Have bought some and the heel pads as well to try out.

[Nick P]

Fitted some to my Xplore last year. Very easy to fit and a hot air gun meant that it accomodated curves with ease. I cleaned the hull with acetone before application and the Keel Eazy has remained stuck on. A little scuffed in places, but worth the money I thought.
Reed had Keel Eazy on offer recently, best check their website.
Nick

[allan09]

My wife had one of these fitted to her Cetus at the recent Karitek symposium at Tayvallich by the man himself Chris of Keel Easy and Chris of Reed Chillcheater assisting. was a good deal. So far done a couple of trips and it's holding up well. I noticed last night that a couple of places where it curves round the bow need to be stuck down again (possibly not fully applied at the time) but it's just an easy application of a hot air drier. Speaking to people who have the more traditional keel strip fitted it seems a bargain. And a lot easier to replace...just heat it up to remove.

[Drahcir Ris]

Despite not being all that handy, I put one of these on my kayak mid season last year. Since then it has experienced perhaps 40 day trips with the attendant landings. It has held up just fine and I can recommend it. There are videos on the web showing installation with a heat gun, which I more or less followed. Once installed I cut an opening in the keel strip for the skeg using an exacto knife, so the keel strip is more vulnerable there than elsewhere - but I typically don't drag that portion of the boat onto the shore, anyway.

[JohnGreenview]

What about Gorilla tape? Cheaper?

[AdamL]

just applied some to my boat - metre at front and metre at back. Hairdryer sufficient to make it malleable. Easily curved round gentle bow cure on my Tiderace. No chance curving round the stern (45 degree sharp bend). Cut out to fit over skeg box. Good and strong looking . Definitely stronger than keel strip. Gorilla tap eventually decays leaving disgusting mess of threads that are dry and really hard to move, also offers no scuff protection. A cheaper alternative is to use Tesa tape - it will protect against light grazes and can be removed and cleaned off - but is just fabric tape.