anyone ever use blown airbags to reinforce a hull?

[blazinbikerr1]

so i read a thread somewhere that a guy reinforced his hull with blown airbags because they are made of kevlar. well i have a buddy who runs a junkyard and said i can have all the blown air bags that i want so i went and got a bunch of them but i wanted to make sure i wasent screwing up by trying to reinforce my hull with airbags. also i did some research and most sites said that they were made of nylon material? what do yall think?

 

[kraqus]

I would not do it.

 

[BruceSki]

sounds cool to me as long as they don't leak water in. fill em up. all they are doing is taking up space where water could be.

 

[blazinbikerr1]

i was talking about cutting the airbags into strips and using them just like fiberglass. but i just did some research and found out that some are made of nylon so i think im just gonna buy some kevlar from uscomposits and not chance it cause i dont know how to tell if its kevlar or not

 

[BruceSki]

i would just buy cheap 8 dollar a yard biax. plenty strong and cheap.

if you want the look then buy some dye. reinforcement isn't made to look pretty... its there for a purpose.


the kevlar will be a pain in the butt to work with unless you are familiar with doing glasswork... even then it sucks----ask the guys who do it for a living.

 

[blazinbikerr1]

so you think that i should just stick with fiberglass? i have done fiberglass before i was just thing about doing something stronger and lighter. i thought it would all lay down about the same.

 

[yamanube]

I would use the airbags.

 

[blazinbikerr1]

i would use them if i was sure that it was kevlar and not nylon

 

[Matt_E]

Yes, what's the worst that could happen? You waste a bunch of resin, have to tear everything off, and start over. :bigok:

 

[kevbo]

Kevlar is not good for this application. It does not bond well and soaks up water. Now its only used to keep broken parts together after a crash.

 

[BruceSki]

bullet proof vest?

 

[kraqus]

mmmmmm.......
blazinbikerr1 have you ever reinforced a ski before?
The ones that are saying go for it.....are you guys being sarcastic?
So what is the worst it could happen? You wasted your money and time.
Then you have to remove that crap? Uh! no thank you....
Use what has been proven and tested....IMHO
I rather spend more time in the water than working on my ski.

Peace brotha!

Benny

 

[snowxr]

I wouldn't use airbags. The ones I've seen have some coating on the fabric. It might be there to make it hold the air better? It seems very thin, too. It seems like plain old fiberglass would be easier and more affective.

 

[blazinbikerr1]

Kevlar is not good for this application. It does not bond well and soaks up water. Now its only used to keep broken parts together after a crash.

thanks i did not know that kevlar soaked up water. so i need to stick with either fiberglass or carbon fiber?

 

[Kennay]

Kevlar is not good for this application. It does not bond well and soaks up water. Now its only used to keep broken parts together after a crash.

You can't be serious :Eyecrazy:

 

[Matt_E]

mmmmmm.......
blazinbikerr1 have you ever reinforced a ski before?
The ones that are saying go for it.....are you guys being sarcastic?
So what is the worst it could happen? You wasted your money and time.
Then you have to remove that crap? Uh! no thank you....
Use what has been proven and tested....IMHO
I rather spend more time in the water than working on my ski.

Peace brotha!

Benny

I thought I was very obviously being sarcastic.

 

[blazinbikerr1]

whats up with this cool looking multi colored carbon fiber?

 

[Idok]

use fiberglass, dye the resin black and save your money on carbon...the FG will be stronger, not to mention easier to work with