When looking at how to make a kayak last longer, there are so many things that have to be considered.
This is because making a kayak to last long is not tied to a single thing.
It has to do with a lot of things.
In order to make a kayak to last longer, you have to first buy a good kayak, store the kayak well, avoid dragging the kayak and avoid rocky water bodies that are too shallow.
When these are done, the lifespan of a kayak will be much higher.
In this guide, you are going to learn of the best ways in which you can easily increase the lifespan of your kayak.
How To Make a Kayak Last Longer
1) Buy a Good Kayak
One of the first steps in making anything last long is that you have to buy a good one.
When you buy a good product, it will help the product to last long when in use.
But if the product is a bad one, then it will get spoilt easily when used continually.
This also comes into consideration when you want to buy a kayak.
If you want your kayak to last for a long period of time, you have to buy a good kayak.
This is very important especially if you are into the business of renting kayaks.
Having a bad kayak when involved in kayak renting will lead to increase in kayak maintenance.
This will only consume some of the profits you should pocket.
To avoid this, you have to make sure that you buy a good kayak when it is for renting or for personal use.
A good kayak will last longer than a kayak that is made from bad or inferior materials.
In buying a good kayak, you have to buy from reputable brands that have a track record of producing good kayaks.
With this, you will be able to increase kayak lifespan.
2) Protect The Bottom Of Your Kayak
If you want to make a kayak last longer, one of the things that help in achieving this is when you protect the bottom of the kayak.
One of the parts of a kayak that leads to casualties is a faulty kayak bottom.
When the bottom of a kayak is faulty, there are a lot of things that can happen.
One of the things that can happen is that the kayak will be very unsafe for use.
This is due to the fact that the chances of the kayak sinking is very high when it has a hole at the bottom.
What this does is that it reduces the lifespan of the kayak and makes the kayak not to last long.
But when the bottom of the kayak is well protected, the kayak will rarely have a damaged bottom.
This will make the kayak to still be in full operation for a long period of time.
3) Store Your Kayak Properly
If you want your kayak to last for a long period of time, you have to be mindful of how you store them.
This is because some of the damages that a kayak sustains is traced to improper storage methods.
When you store your kayak well, the kayak will not develop a fault due to where it is stored.
Such faults can be scratches.
In worse cases it can be a punctured kayak when stored in a place with a lot of uncovered sharp objects.
This is even worse for a kayak that is inflatable as it easily gets punctured when compared to a plastic kayak.
When this happens, it reduces the lifespan of the kayak.
That is why you have to make sure that you store your kayak well when they are not in use.
Doing this will help in making your kayak last longer.
To store a kayak well, you have to make sure that you put an inflatable kayak in a bag before storing it.
This will provide an extra layer of protection for the inflatable kayak.
This will help make an inflatable kayak last longer.
When you are storing a plastic kayak, you have to make sure that you store it well to avoid it from falling from a high elevation.
4) Avoid Dragging Your Kayak
If at all you want to have a kayak that will function for a very long period of time, your method of transporting the kayak plays a vital role here.
If you transport the kayak well, then the kayak will not sustain any damage when being transported.
But if you do not transport the kayak well, then the kayak will sustain a lot of damages when it is being transported.
One of the bad things a lot of people do when they transport their kayak is that they drag their kayak.
Dragging a kayak is very bad for the longevity of a kayak.
This is because it will render a lot of damages to the kayak.
One of the damages is that the kayak will have scratches.
Another is that if you still keep dragging the kayak, the scratches will develop into holes.
When this occurs, the kayak will be less safe for usage.
This reduces the lifespan of the kayak.
That is why you have to make sure that you always avoid dragging your kayak when you want to move it from one place to another.
This will help in making a kayak last longer.
5) Avoid Rocky Water Bodies That Are Too Shallow
For people that are beginners in kayaking, it is not safe to kayak on any type of water body.
This is because beginners cannot handle the kayak well when the water current is too turbulent.
This can lead to drowning while kayaking.
That is why kayak beginners are mostly limited to shallow water bodies to help build their skills.
This also avoids cases like drowning from taking place when a beginner kayaks on a shallow water body.
But sometimes a shallow water can pose a problem to a kayak.
This is when the water is too shallow with a rocky bed.
When a water body is too shallow, the chances of the bottom of the kayak rubbing on the bed of the water body is very high.
This causes a wear and tear on the surface of the kayak.
It even gets worse if there are rocks in the water body.
If there are rocks in the water body, this will easily puncture the bottom of the kayak when the kayak comes in contact with the rocks.
That is why you have to look at the depth of a shallow water body before using your kayak on the water.
If it is too shallow with rocks in it, you have to make sure that you avoid kayaking on such water body.
This will help increase kayak lifespan and reduce casualties when using the kayak.
6) Do Not Expose Your Kayak To Sunlight When Not In Use
As you keep making use of a kayak, it will deteriorate in some things.
This is largely due to how you make use of the kayak.
If you make use of the kayak well, there will be less deterioration.
But if you are using the kayak in a bad way, then the level of damage will be high.
One of the things that will deteriorate in a kayak is the paint on the surface of the kayak.
This can be due to scratches or peeling.
In other cases, the color of the paint might just fade off.
One of the causes of a faded kayak paint is when the kayak is extremely exposed to sunlight.
When this happens, the paint on the surface of the kayak will be badly affected.
In such a situation, what will happen is that the color of paint on the kayak will fade.
To some kayak owners, this can make them not to like their kayak as they used to.
To avoid this, you have to make sure that you do not expose your kayak to ultraviolet rays for too long when the kayak is not in use.
A proper storage of your kayak in a well shaded place will help too.
7) Do Not Use Sharp Objects On The Kayak
To avoid damages on a kayak, you have to make sure that it is not caused by you.
One of the ways in which a damage on a kayak might be caused by a user is when you use a sharp object on the kayak.
This will lead to the development of scratches and holes in the kayak.
When this happens, it reduces the lifespan of the kayak.
But if you want to make a kayak last longer, then you have to make sure that you do not directly destroy the kayak.
This is by making sure that you do not use sharp objects on the surface of the kayak.
When you do, the kayak will be damaged.
But when no sharp objects are used on the kayak, then the kayak will be able to last for a longer period of time.
8) Repair Minor Faults On The Kayak
One of the ways in which major faults develop is when minor faults are not repaired when they show up.
This also occurs in a kayak too.
When you see that a fault has shown up on your kayak, you have to make sure that you repair it early.
It can be a serious scratch on the surface of the kayak.
If the scratch is not repaired early, then it can even lead to a hole in the kayak which is more dangerous for the kayak.
But when minor faults on the kayak are repaired early, it will prevent it from developing into worse conditions.
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