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Jackson Kayaks Cross Link Plastic |
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Making boats out of Cross-linked plastic is a very fundamental part of our goal to always put out the most durable and functional kayaks possible. Each year the subject of Jackson Kayak switching to linear comes up. The reasons are obvious for making more money. Cross-linked raw material is much more expensive, and when you are making thousands of boats, it adds up quick. A bigger price savings for switching to linear is the oven time. We cook a cross-linked boat for 32 minutes, up from 20 minutes for linear, at a temperature of 620 degrees, up from the low 500’s for linear. This means that the same mold and same oven makes 40% less boats out of cross-linked plastic for the same labor, all while spending more money on the plastic itself. Then there is the mold maintenance which is required due to the abusive nature of cross-linked plastic on the molds, and the higher cook temperatures. So why not switch, if everyone else is using linear? Simple- if you want the best hull for your whitewater kayak, you need to have maximum durability, and longevity. This allows you to make a lighter boat, or a stiffer boat, or both if done right. For the technical lowdown on cross-linked verses linear, see this study done by Brigham Young University’s Engineering Department. Finally, if you want to have kayaks on the water, and not in the landfill, or having to be replaced due to breakage, making them durable in the first place is the best way to make environmentally friendly decisions. The local road company buys our scrap for a filler, being an oil based product. Our suppliers has created a new process for manufacturing cross-linked that makes it much more environmentally friendly during the molding process as well. So, here is more beta…
http://www.jacksonkayak.com/jknews05/crosslinkedplastic.pdf
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