Is there any kevlar in Sawyer’s Goldenglass canoes?

Goldenglass is fiberglass with some kevlar woven into the glass. Basically fiberglass in terms of weight (bummer). Very durable hulls but quite hefty.

Mostly fiberglass with Kevlar reinforcements in strategic places. Same league of layups as Tuf-Weave (Wenonah) or Duralite (Souris RIver). Probably weighs 20-30lbs heavier than a comparable hull in Kevlar only.

mirth: "Mostly fiberglass with Kevlar reinforcements in strategic places. Same league of layups as Tuf-Weave (Wenonah) or Duralite (Souris RIver). Probably weighs 20-30lbs heavier than a comparable hull in Kevlar only."

Sort of like this!







Although this picture was taken at the Wenonah factory in 1985, it's typical of how a lot of manufacturers of composite canoes reinforced their fiberglass canoes. During the early 1980's, when Harry Roberts became Vice-President and Marketing Manager at Sawyer Canoe, he created the marketing buzzword "Goldenglass".

Although "Goldenglass" was a great marketing term, it's also somewhat misleading. There wasn't that much Kevlar in those canoes. Like other manufacturers, the Kevlar material used in the "Goldenglass" canoes was primarily the Kevlar material trimmed from the all Kevlar canoes before final trimming of the hulls.

It's also somewhat problematic when buying a used canoe on craigslist or from an individual seller. Many sellers will list the Sawyer "Goldenglass" canoe they are selling as a Kevlar canoe, thereby over-inflating the actual value of the canoe they are selling.

Sawyer's "Goldenglass" canoes were actually pretty decently constructed, although Sawyer's Quality Control left something to be desired at times. The weights of the "Goldenglass canoes were also fairly decent, with their tandem canoes weighing in anywhere from the mid-60 pound to the low 70-pound range depending on the model.

Even their solos canoes only weighed roughly 5 to 10-pounds more than their Expedition Kevlar constructed solo canoes. That said, much like Mad River's all Kevlar canoes at the time, Sawyer's all Kevlar, Expedition Kevlar lay-up was pretty "beefy".

Hans Solo