Sticky Subject

Selling marine supplies to people so ignorant about boats that they barely know the pointy end goes first can be aggravating but I sure have learned a lot over the past few years. For instance, I’ve discovered that if you ever need to glue one thing to another and nothing you try seems to work, there’s a solution: West System G/flex 650.

This stuff is fabulous and, with proper prep, will adhere to damned near anything including the types of plastic they use for glue bottles because most other glues won’t stick to them. I’ve even used it to repair blown seams on inflatable boats that were given up for dead. It’s not cheap—around $30 for 250ml of resin and hardener—but worth every penny if you have a difficult gluing job.

There’s also a thickened version, #655, that’s good for situations where the glue running out of a joint is a problem, such as on a vertical surface.

Where's the like button?

If there ever was a need for a like button, this would be it. Until then, this will suffice. Thanks for that Carl!

Noted for future reference. I ALWAYS find myself in need of stuff like this.

I've used a different epoxy for alpine ski repair, but that is on my check it out list.

West System makes a number of different epoxy products. Living and working on fiberglass boats the way I have over the last six years, I’ve used most of them and they are all excellent.

Gougeon Brothers, the parent company, is one of those rare companies that seems to really care about both the quality of their product (their QC regimen is rigorous) and the success of their customers. They publish a book on fiberglass work that sells for less than ten bucks but is worth many times that.