Norse Kayaks, an innovative kayak manufacturing company in Norway, and Haydale Graphene Inc. have embarked on a joint venture to create a durable and lightweight kayak using graphene-enhanced materials.
Norse Kayaks are working with Haydale to develop lightweight graphene kayaks for the leisure industry. Image Credit: Haydale Limited
Norse Kayaks sought a way to build a lightweight yet durable kayak to brave the challenging conditions sometimes encountered by sea kayaks. Already boasting a unique kayak design, Norse Kayaks struggled to find a material that satisfied the requirement of being both strong and lightweight.
Haydale was able to offer a solution to Norse Kayaks by integrating graphene in the vacuum infusion composite layup process. Through the use of graphene, the kayak became 30% lighter, moving from 23 kg to 16 kg, making it easier to handle.
Adding graphene also increases impact strength and stiffness, improving breakage resistance in the kayak’s critical areas. Vibration dampening has also improved the user experience.
The use of graphene has exceeded our expectations and we are sure that this will set a new standard of what is possible to do with a sea kayak. We have never seen this kind of impact strength on light weight sea kayaks in our 20 years’ experience in the kayaking business.
Kjetil Sandvik, Founder, Norse
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Haydale Limited.
For more information on this source, please visit Haydale Limited.