I am curious to know how to install snaps onto a kevlar canoe. What tools and materials are needed, and what is the process? I am considering adding 4-6 snaps to allow me to cover a section of my canoe (not a full deck cover) to provide cover from rain for my dog.

You might consider using Velcro for such a low stress use. It is considerably simpler (stick on for the hull, sew on for the deck) and probably cheaper. I've installed snaps for an expedition spray deck on both the deck and the hull of my fabric PakCanoe (52 snap pairs), and the process would be the same. You'd have two-piece snaps for the hull, and two-piece snaps for the deck. A snap setting tool results in a much improved set than using a jury-rigged setup. You could also use pop rivets for the hull with a backing washer. CCS even has a special pop rivet tool for doing that (associated with their canoe covers).

Velcro would be much cheaper and simpler. If it doesn't work for you, you could always replace with snaps.

MReid: "You might consider using Velcro for such a low stress use. It is considerably simpler (stick on for the hull, sew on for the deck) and probably cheaper. I've installed snaps for an expedition spray deck on both the deck and the hull of my fabric PakCanoe (52 snap pairs), and the process would be the same. You'd have two-piece snaps for the hull, and two-piece snaps for the deck. A snap setting tool results in a much improved set than using a jury-rigged setup. You could also use pop rivets for the hull with a backing washer. CCS even has a special pop rivet tool for doing that (associated with their canoe covers).

Velcro would be much cheaper and simpler. If it doesn't work for you, you could always replace with snaps. "

Thanks, MReid. Velco certainly would be faster and cheaper, but how exactly would it attach to the outside of my hull? I have some Velcro currently that has some sort of adhesive, but was assuming it was not strong enough enough for an application like this? Would some other adhesive be needed, and have you tried this method?

Tomcat: "Jaywalker, I have seen your projects and I assume that you have a set design and are using snap fasteners for this project. If you are still in the designing phase I am interested in your requirements and goals for the project.


The simplest designs I have seen utilize unsupported fabric stretched across the gunnels and attached with velcro, snaps or shock cord. Another simple design I have seen is an umbrella that clamps to the gunnel.

I have used collapsible aluminum tent poles to construct raised cover supports. They can be configured to be self-supporting similar to a freestanding tent.


"

Design phases and requirements? We speak a common language.

I would say I am in the early concept phase and just gathering ideas - nothing on paper yet, and may not even try it. I am open to ideas.

My goal is to provide protection from prolonged rains, especially in cold weather, for my dog (or dogs, but currently I have one but hope to have a second again). Both of my dogs have come from solid field trial lines and love swimming and playing in water, but seem annoyed when its raining for a longer time and they want to lay down and sleep in the canoe. One option is to just put on a rain jacket of some sort, but I wanted to see if I could cover the one "dog" section of my canoe. On my rainy fall trip to Wabakimi I tried using a piece of plastic cut from a pack liner to cover the section. It worked ok for a while, but did not stay in place well. Such a cover could also provide protection from intense sun (especially for black dogs) and bugs.

From a requirements standpoint, my initial thoughts are that it would have to (1) of course be light and compact, (2) be very quick to set up and take down, like just a few seconds, (3) I'd have to be able to set it up and take down while paddling, potentially away from shore and in windy conditions, (4) it should have some sort of quick release system in case of tipping for the dog's safety - possibly like the pull strap on my kayak's spray skirt.

I am intrigued by your photos. The orange attachment points you have fixed to your gunwales seem to be ordinary line tensioners, right? I have a bag of them sitting around here somewhere. I have thought about having it stretch across flat, but realized it may pool water. Having some sort of elevated ridge would help direct water off and potentially provide more headroom. I also noticed the angled pole joints and was able to quickly find they are available from Tent Pole Technologies. Did you build something like I am thinking for your dog??

The photo below shows what I am working with. I've got a kevlar SRQ 16 which I paddle backwards. The dog section is where the grey pad is, and everything forward (left) of the dog section would be filled with packs and I sit to the right. I have black aluminum gunwales, and black aluminum thwarts except for my yoke which is wood. I noticed the black thwarts already have a slight upward arch.

Jaywalker:
Thanks, MReid. Velco certainly would be faster and cheaper, but how exactly would it attach to the outside of my hull? I have some Velcro currently that has some sort of adhesive, but was assuming it was not strong enough enough for an application like this? Would some other adhesive be needed, and have you tried this method?

Although I haven't used it, I've heard the "Industrial strength" adhesive backed Velcro is pretty good. If you go the Velcro route, I'd suggest getting some matching non-adhesive Velcro for the fabric. I've sewed small bits of the adhesive Velcro onto fabric, and it gums up needles pretty bad.

Wow, I really appreciate all the thought you two have provided on this. I've got a lot of ideas to consider.

Tomcat, I'm especially impressed by your ability and willingness to mock up some ideas. You are the canoe MacGyver! I do like the idea of such a cover having a higher center line (parallel to the canoe) to help with water running off over the gunwale rather than falling into the boat by the thwarts. Such bilge water becomes its own problem for the dogs. So if I can get it most of it to go over the side, so much the better. My black thwart already has a slight upward arc, so I like providing some sort of arc at the yoke too. Mounting tensioners like in the first photo might work, but could also interfere with the way I strap in my spare paddle.

One thing that occurred to me while looking at these photos is that the support for the arch does not necessarily have to be rigid and attached to the boat before putting the cover on. I stumbled on a thick zip tie while looking for something in a drawer and have been playing with it - it has a bends but when formed into an arc might be rigid enough to support the cover. I am going to poke around and see if I can find some sort of strip or dowel rod of HDPE that might work. Such a rod could be sewn into the fabric, and then the arch would form when the snaps or velcro on the side were attached. This would make it more difficult to lose too. As I thought of it, I realized when my nephew was young he had a pop up tent that worked this way.

I'm going to take some time to look around for possible options for such a dowel or strip of quality plastic.

By the way, I was looking at the photo of my canoe and it reminded me of a funny story. You can see on my wooden yoke a plastic disk and a compass with two strips of tape. The disk is the mount for my Garmin Striker 4 fish finder, which I only bring on certain trips. A couple years ago, days before my 20 day trip to Wabakimi, I was thinking it would be nice to have a compass mounted on the yoke for when I was on remote rivers or crossing big lakes with lots of islands. I bought a basic orienteering type compass and cut the platform part into a circle, then used a little silicon to mount it into the fish finder mount. I thought this was a great idea!

Well, I got up to Wabakimi and right away paddling up Little Caribou Lake I kept thinking "Hmm, that doesn't seem like north". I got out on Big Caribou - a huge lake with a lot of islands - and again kept thinking something seemed off. There was dense, low cloud cover so the sun was no help. Finally the next day I pulled out my regular compass and my cell phone compass to compare and found that sometimes my mounted compass was accurate and sometimes not. That night I realized what was wrong - the screws I used to secure the mount had enough iron in them to swing the needle when it got close! After a few self-administered head slaps, I cut the compass out and mounted it with duct tape, and it worked just fine. I guess they make "iron-less" screws for boats, so I'll have to look into that!