Freaking awesome man! Thanks for taking the time to do this video! I’m glad they took the time as well to share their process with you/us! Nice to nerd out a bit this morning! Love your videos man! You are doing great things for this community! 🙌🏻
wow, you give us some of the best kayak videos out there Wade, sharing the in's and out's of the industry too...you truly love kayaks and kayaking, thank you.
Great to see behind the scenes of American industry and manufacturing. So, not everything plastic is made in China! 100% waste free, sustainable, no heavy metals. One of your most fascinating videos Wade.
yes, for sure that's why I wanted to do this video it took some convincing to get in and show all that goes on there I have worked with these guys over the years testing new plastic so have always had a good relationship with them
@@WadeHarrison I've done a number of factory and lab tour videos in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. You really got a comprehensive tour from Mike. It's hard to do run & gun filming, interview, demo solo. A 3rd party gimbal and Rode wireless Go2 would help. The Sony ZV-1 camera is a good complement to the GoPro.
During my engineering studies, I worked in testing labs. The vid was really interesting. Knowing pigments have high heat retention, I didn't hear how much the beads retain, if any. I haven't met a manager not love to show off his plant. Thanks for the vid.
Thanks for this Wade. As an Engineer I really appreciate all the details. Having seen this I'm really surprised that (the premium at least) kayak manufacturers don't make a bigger deal of the quality of the resins they use, and the consistency of their processes. This whole tour makes it obvious that just because it looks like the same plastic boat, the actual structure and performance could be wildly different depending on the choice of material used. It's a bit funny that all the design discussion boats is about edges, and other asthetics and nothing on the materials and the choices that went into the overall product. And really makes you wonder what is in some offshore manufactured 'built down to a price' boat.
Thanks for the feedback Andrew I agree these manufacturers should show what resins they use that why I wanted to do a video I have worked with these guys in the past helping do on water testing on resin so wanted to show everyone what goes on in these factories
@@WadeHarrison It just seems to me that if a manufacturer is working with them to create a superior plastic it would be worth 'bragging' about. It also occurred to me that you might want to tailor the resin for a specific type of boat, for instance a hard core creek boat might want more toughness at the expense of strength (which would require a heavier boat, but it would really take a beating). And then all the UV tradeoff's. Pretty impressive all the work done for fishing kayaks getting baked in the sun. I guess if nothing else it could explain why some models or manufacturers seem to have a better reputation for boats that stay together, or don't!
By the way, I liked this one. Plastic gets brought up a lot on the water amongst Kayakers. This explains that there might not be a best plastic/company, but rather a better for _____ plastic. Maybe I am a science nerd, but I found it really interesting.
What I have seen with my eyes personally Whitewater Dagger kayaks and LL and have not seen but think Jackson was using them for awhile and Rec and touring theres a alot out there most manufacturers have their own blends and producers so they never really say what they use
Ok this is cool 😎, manufacturing always interesting to me, actually came from Machinist background, later into metallurgy, which I am very familiar with the what he's talking about. We used chemicals, to get the properties just like he's talking about.
28:39 is that why Jackson Boats tend to be a little slower than other brands, softer plastic means more energy loss, but then less brittle. Which maybe makes sense, I have seen Daggers cracked and broken, but Jacksons seem to only crunch and fold. So you might argue they are safer, for impacts, but sacrifice hardness/speed to do so? Am I on to why you might want one over another. Like I aim for rocks, because they are fun, so I might be more prone to impact, so a softer plastic might suit me better, where someone who stays away from rocks, might prefer a bit of speed to help them avoid impact. Maybe?
@@WadeHarrison I really liked this one. I am interested in the "why" and "how". I would love to hear the correlation of a kayak company and hear their discussion and reason for what they choose. It is just cool.
very interesting. one thing that caught my eye - they say that material is overcooked, it becomes brittle. it does indeed , and it's a problem with welds on kayaks after they crack. welds are fragile. do you know how to make them less fragile or what to add to the welding rods to make it less brittle?
for the welds, though, do you do anything specific to reduce chances of overcooking? I weld well within allowed range, with no smoke coming out, etc. still, some parts of the plastic are more brittle than others. idea of alloys in the video is pretty cool, though. for instance, hot glue sticks really well even to PEX, it's just not stiff enough..
Excellent point on the welding, something that really needs to be better understood. Weld embrittlement is a big deal for welding steel, I hadn't really appreciated that it was similar for plastics.
@@WadeHarrison I think if it was all clear. You would green house yourself real quick. But color or white on top would sun shade you enough to keep you from baking your legs.
Freaking awesome man! Thanks for taking the time to do this video! I’m glad they took the time as well to share their process with you/us! Nice to nerd out a bit this morning! Love your videos man! You are doing great things for this community! 🙌🏻
Thanks Derich..
wow, you give us some of the best kayak videos out there Wade, sharing the in's and out's of the industry too...you truly love kayaks and kayaking, thank you.
yeah, thanks buddy I will try to show more of this behind the scenes
oh wow so cool
Yeah it was good to do a tour around in there
Great to see behind the scenes of American industry and manufacturing. So, not everything plastic is made in China! 100% waste free, sustainable, no heavy metals. One of your most fascinating videos Wade.
yes, for sure that's why I wanted to do this video it took some convincing to get in and show all that goes on there I have worked with these guys over the years testing new plastic so have always had a good relationship with them
@@WadeHarrison I've done a number of factory and lab tour videos in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. You really got a comprehensive tour from Mike. It's hard to do run & gun filming, interview, demo solo. A 3rd party gimbal and Rode wireless Go2 would help. The Sony ZV-1 camera is a good complement to the GoPro.
@@macfawlty I agree with all that I have a Venmo if you want to donate to pay a camera man and purchase that gear I love that idea 🤩
@@WadeHarrison As the paddler is more important than the boat, the story is more important than the gear. Perhaps I can cut something loose.
You got to appreciate a fella like that being in charge that knows how every machine runs / operates / what it even does - nice video !
Dude totally agree Mike is the owner but not one of those absent owners he loves it and is knowledgeable of everything there awesome guy
During my engineering studies, I worked in testing labs. The vid was really interesting. Knowing pigments have high heat retention, I didn't hear how much the beads retain, if any. I haven't met a manager not love to show off his plant. Thanks for the vid.
He is the owner but yeah was good to walk around and chatt and show everyone that side of kayaking world
Thanks for this Wade. As an Engineer I really appreciate all the details. Having seen this I'm really surprised that (the premium at least) kayak manufacturers don't make a bigger deal of the quality of the resins they use, and the consistency of their processes. This whole tour makes it obvious that just because it looks like the same plastic boat, the actual structure and performance could be wildly different depending on the choice of material used. It's a bit funny that all the design discussion boats is about edges, and other asthetics and nothing on the materials and the choices that went into the overall product. And really makes you wonder what is in some offshore manufactured 'built down to a price' boat.
Thanks for the feedback Andrew I agree these manufacturers should show what resins they use that why I wanted to do a video I have worked with these guys in the past helping do on water testing on resin so wanted to show everyone what goes on in these factories
@@WadeHarrison It just seems to me that if a manufacturer is working with them to create a superior plastic it would be worth 'bragging' about. It also occurred to me that you might want to tailor the resin for a specific type of boat, for instance a hard core creek boat might want more toughness at the expense of strength (which would require a heavier boat, but it would really take a beating). And then all the UV tradeoff's. Pretty impressive all the work done for fishing kayaks getting baked in the sun.
I guess if nothing else it could explain why some models or manufacturers seem to have a better reputation for boats that stay together, or don't!
Super interesting stuff. Thanks for the insight Wade.
Yes these guy really know their stuff
Wade’s been watching SmarterEveryDay
Love it
By the way, I liked this one. Plastic gets brought up a lot on the water amongst Kayakers. This explains that there might not be a best plastic/company, but rather a better for _____ plastic. Maybe I am a science nerd, but I found it really interesting.
Yeah can make the best plastic but if the company molding processes are not right can be a big problem
That's awesome ! It was cool to see all the testing and specs
Yeah I have been involved with this for years thought it be great to show some of it to the paddling world
How neat was that? That was pretty neat.
Always good to check out how things happen behind the scenes
Great factory tour Wade. Pretty fascinating.
Thanks buddy
make a gear overview of your gear you use
Ok will see if can put that together
Sweet video man, super cool
always fun day to visit these guys
Great vid and info on testing👍🏽
Glad he gave me the time to show everyone what goes into making kayak plastic
Can you give an example of a kayak made with the good stuff? Thanks
What I have seen with my eyes personally Whitewater Dagger kayaks and LL and have not seen but think Jackson was using them for awhile
and Rec and touring theres a alot out there most manufacturers have their own blends and producers so they never really say what they use
Ok this is cool 😎, manufacturing always interesting to me, actually came from Machinist background, later into metallurgy, which I am very familiar with the what he's talking about. We used chemicals, to get the properties just like he's talking about.
I have worked with this company over the years doing plastic testing awesome they let me finally come in a give a tour what goes on..
Hell yeah dude
Yes always good trip visiting these guys
28:39 is that why Jackson Boats tend to be a little slower than other brands, softer plastic means more energy loss, but then less brittle. Which maybe makes sense, I have seen Daggers cracked and broken, but Jacksons seem to only crunch and fold. So you might argue they are safer, for impacts, but sacrifice hardness/speed to do so? Am I on to why you might want one over another. Like I aim for rocks, because they are fun, so I might be more prone to impact, so a softer plastic might suit me better, where someone who stays away from rocks, might prefer a bit of speed to help them avoid impact. Maybe?
If using good resin it will hold up well and there’s a lot that makes boats flexible like thickness shape and outfitting so many factors
@@WadeHarrison I really liked this one. I am interested in the "why" and "how". I would love to hear the correlation of a kayak company and hear their discussion and reason for what they choose. It is just cool.
Someone should send this video to Pelican, specifically the part about boats melting in the sun 😂
Hahah I almost inserted that picture of that with the melted kayaks i did not want to use someone else’s picture from facebook I do know the picture
great videos wade!! ill be out in TN oct 23.. Im trying to get on the ocoee!! any reccs on getting hooked up with a boat and a crew to show me down?!
Awesome I might be over that way will see I usually don’t plan far out like taht
I was there
very interesting. one thing that caught my eye - they say that material is overcooked, it becomes brittle. it does indeed , and it's a problem with welds on kayaks after they crack. welds are fragile. do you know how to make them less fragile or what to add to the welding rods to make it less brittle?
Once a plastic gets overcooked that’s no coming back
for the welds, though, do you do anything specific to reduce chances of overcooking? I weld well within allowed range, with no smoke coming out, etc. still, some parts of the plastic are more brittle than others. idea of alloys in the video is pretty cool, though. for instance, hot glue sticks really well even to PEX, it's just not stiff enough..
Excellent point on the welding, something that really needs to be better understood. Weld embrittlement is a big deal for welding steel, I hadn't really appreciated that it was similar for plastics.
@@AndrewMoizer I will look into that
I have wondered how all the dead kayaks get recycled. You got anything on that?
most go to get grid up and is used back in kayaks as seats ect these guys do that process it's one of their other factory's that does the regrind
I want a kayak that's white on top with a clear bottom. 🤔
Cut a hole in it and glue Plexiglas funny we did talk about this while there he says it's possible to have an all-clear kayak
@@WadeHarrison
I think if it was all clear. You would green house yourself real quick. But color or white on top would sun shade you enough to keep you from baking your legs.
@@georgewilliamssr5230 oh the white top I get it now
@@WadeHarrison That would actually be kind of sick! I would buy one, don't even care what kind of boat that would just be Epic!
@@smuir6104 I would prefer to leave it to the imagination of others what goes on down in the hold. lol