Materials RZ96
... and what makes them perform the way they do.

Frame
Pouch carefully crafts the frame for the Touring Double RZ96 of wood.

Weight for weight wood has higher strength and resilience properties than most manmade boat building materials. Also it is not prone to fatigue failure, i.e. repeated flexing does not harm the material or change its properties.

(In contrast metals suffer from “work hardening” resulting from repeated bending cycles, even if these are in the form of vibration ... although this is significant more in aircraft use, not in this application; glass fibers set in resins “work” within their individual resin voids as the whole matrix flexes and vibrates, hence fiber glass skins become soft over time ... but back to folding boats.)

Fittings:

Pouch uses metal fittings to connect the frame members.

The use of metal fittings trades off some weight gain against elegance and simplicity in use as well as space savings in construction. Also metal fittings are secure, strong and do not change over time or as a result of use.

back to materials: fittings