Langford says they have a new replacment for Royalex, has anyone heard of this? What is it? Not much other than a reference on their clearence site about a couple boats built using LangteX and availability in other models.
CB

It is a little too suspicious that a company that no longer makes canoes has developed a replacement for Royalex. Their website makes no mention of it considering how important it is to find a replacement and no other mention on google search. A very proud and brand loyal bunch (which may explain the replacement name) who work in Dwight. Twice I have been yelled at for parking in their lot with a swift on my truck.

http://www.bccanoe.com/news/34-general-news/211-royalex-replacement-planned-for-2015

I would say this is more a RX "alternative" than a "replacement." It is basically a composite layup. Don't know how different it is from other boats like Souris River that are essentially flatwater boats. Nevertheless, I think composite boats are likely the future of whitewater paddling. They just don't slide over rocks as easily as RX.

Anything more on LangTex?

Like - what is it? Is it FG and Kevlar mixed or just FG or what?

Got a line on a 16 foot Langford Muskoka in LangTex with Carbon Fiber gunwales - list is $3300 and my price is $1800

Looks like I have first dibs.

Says 57 lbs which I will verify. Not great but better than my 65lb Royalex. And if I don't like it I can easily get my money back in this market.

I am told it is Fiberglass. Pretty crappy of Langford if you ask me - just another nail in their coffee. Making up words to hide the fact it is FG and to capitalize on what was once a great name.

Who told you it was "fibreglass"?

A fibreglass hull with carbon rails? that would be a VERY odd combination. Langford refer to it as a "composite" and while that includes fibreglass it also includes full carbon, Kevlar etc. and any type of fabric alone or in combination.

_________________
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

Just watched a video where a guy was beating on a langtex hull with a baseball bat. Looked a lot like Nova Craft Tuff Stuff, judging by the bounce. The weights sound similar too. Maybe they are buying hulls from Nova Craft and rebranding them, hence their silence on the actual composition.

Well I wish I had this feedback the other day I no longer have dibs on that canoe.

We'll see if his other sale falls through or not.

I've really been unable to find anything on this stuff but if it is like Tuff Stuff then yeah I should be rushing to grab this for that price.

BTW regarding Nova Craft I am pretty certain they are not involved - I exchanged a few emails with the new owner shortly after he took over and one question I asked him was about OEM and whether or not they ever did that - he said that as far as he knew they did not provide canoes to anyone. I had been asking about my Trailhead P16 in Royalex because it was nearly identical to my Nova Craft P16 in Royalex, but his response was more general and as mentioned said he was not aware of them ever doing that type of thing at all.

Here is the baseball bat video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BapYPKvMv3c

Seems to me that all these "replacement for Royalex" that started popping up in 2012 - 2014. all similar and all "proprietary". They are nothing more than a builders idea of the best combination of fabrics for a composite hull when strength (impact/abrasion resistance) is desired as opposed to the "normal" (Royalex days) when composite boats were mostly built as light weight, flat water boats with sharp entry lines and "funky" hull shapes that were easier to produce with a composite than would be possible for Royalex.

Perhaps sort of in the "no more Royalex so let's beef up our composite boats and sell them as a Royalex replacement" type of marketing.

_________________
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

Yeah that seems to be the case - too bad I found out too late

At least Nova Craft was up front about theirs being basalt-innegra. I wish Langford were so forthcoming.

When shopping for a new boat a few years ago I talked to the owner at Langford who said Lantex was an Inegra based layup variation similar to what other companies were posing to replace Royalex.
The way he said it was all companies buy raw material from a few sources and mix it up in there own recipe to get similar results but with their personal touch.
Makes sense to me, not VooDoo.
Bruteforce (works for me), Tuff-Stuff, LangteX, Fusion all Epoxy and different cloth laid different ways baked or not baked, to gel coat or not to gel coat???
Paddle On!

I think that once composite layups get to that point, Nylon, Innegra, carbon, different twills, vacuum bagged or infused, epoxy resin or etc, most of the modern composite builds result in a damn sturdy layup, and may come down to cost, weight, and (as yet) unknown long-term durability. Even Tuf-stuff has been around for years, and has stood the test of time.

If I had the coin I would buy a modern lightweight composite, with a good layup schedule of partials , bias here, twill there, gel coated or skin coated or etc, and have confidence that it would probably outlive me.