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Improving grip of a neoprene skirt?

Kayak Jim

Paddler
Joined
Mar 5, 2016
Messages
361
Location
Comox Valley BC
I sometimes use my Brooks neo/nylon skirt that uses the bungie sewn in a tunnel vs. bungie sewn into the edge. It doesn't grip the cockpit rim very well and I'm wondering if anyone knows any tricks for improving that. I thought about coating the neoprene in the tunnel area with rubber cement or Aquaseal. I don't want to inhibit the stretch as it's already quite tight and a bit tough to get on (but not too secure). I wonder about stretching it over "something" (even a cockpit sized plywood form) and then coating so it dries in the stretched position.

Or maybe I should just replace it.
 
I know a few different skirts that have grippy little sections on the underside, so little dabs of Aquaseal might work well.


If you're thinking about replacing it anyways, why not give it a shot?
 
You could try surf board 'wax' aka SexWax which is quite sticky, but the problem is that it would make it hard to get Aquaseal (or anything?) to stick to the neoprene if you decided to try that later.
The neoprene used in my Brooks skirt has a coarser surface finish than the stuff that Seals or Snapdragon use. It just seems less grippy.
 
Dabs of Aquaseal vs. a continuous coat is a good idea. And I do have some SexWax...
I'll give it some thought first since if I replace I'd try and sell it and don't want to muck it up too much.
Thanks for the ideas.
 
I have only 1 plastic kayak and the skirt does not grip well at all.
My fiberglass kayaks hold skirts 100%.
 
To me, it always seems like a skirt doesn't fit well not because of the material of the boat or the condition of the combing.

It seems the more likely happened when either if the neoprene deck of the skirt is too tight, not allowing the bungee or rubber rand to seat itself into the combing. Or if the bungee or rubber band is not tight enough for the boat, so that the rand doesn't seat in the coming.
 
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Skirts come in different sizes. Are you sure the size is a match for your boat? Note that if the size is off, the skirt will probably still fit, just not very well. For example, when I bought a travel cover for my kayak's cockpit, there were different sizes for different kayak dimensions. And SnapDragon made a special skirt for the Mariner because of the sliding seat option. I'd contact the kayak manufacturer and ask for their recommended size skirt and make sure that's what's on there.
 
I'll try adjusting the tension on the bungie and see if that makes a difference.
It is the correct size for the boat as per Brooks' size chart.

I suspect as Al says, its typical of plastic boats.
 
I have only boats with glass coamings. If I'm taking out a paddler with unknown skills, the Brooks skirt (cord in tunnel) is my first choice for them since it's easy to 'pop off' when necessary.
The Chillcheater skirts are also 'cord in a tube' style but are very 'grippy'. A rubbery fabric and a doubled (3/16" ??) shock cord make the difference there.
On the Brooks, the plastic tube 'spacer' to keep the shock cord knot out of the coaming groove is a good feature; I've added somehting similar (flattened PVC tube) to other skirts with bulky shock cord knots.
 
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