Manufacturing canoes is a small, specialized industry.  Because it's such a niche market, nobody develops materials purely for the canoeing business, so builders have to adapt and innovate with what's available.  

That's exactly what happened when Old Town Canoe discovered a material called Royalex several decades ago.  The company’s success with this new construction material sparked widespread adoption across the canoe industry.

What is Royalex?

Royalex, a composite sheet material made up of ABS, ABS foam and crosslinked vinyl layers, is ultra tough, abrasion resistant, lighter and more rigid than polyethylene, and has amazing structural memory.  A Royalex canoe can be wrapped around a rock and bounce back into shape.  It is UV resistant, quiet to use, and slides over rocks.  It became THE material for whitewater and river tripping canoes.

And then it died.

What happened to Royalex?

In 2013 the plastics company PolyOne purchased Spartech, who had the rights to manufacture Royalex.  Due to low overall demand for the material outside of canoe building, PolyOne made the decision to halt production. The final sheets of Royalex were shipped in December 2013, and manufacturing ceased entirely.

The search for Royalex alternatives

In shocked response, canoe manufacturers began working to develop a replacement. Some of these alternatives include:

• Three-layer polyethylene (used by Old Town Canoe)
• Tuff-Weave (developed by Wenonah Canoe)
• T-Formex (introduced by Esquif Canoe)
• Tuff Stuff (offered by Nova Craft Canoe) 
• Duraflex (Clipper Canoe's composite solution)
  

All of these materials have their pros and cons, but so far the closest replacement we have found is Esquif's T-Formex. Just like Royalex it is a ABS plastic laminate with structural memory and impact resistance. Canoes made of T-Formex look and perform just like Royalex canoes.

What's next?

Over the years following the death of Royalex, paddlers scrambled to buy up the remaining inventory before these beloved boats became a thing of the past. Today, most canoe retailers have exhausted their stock of Royalex boats.  

On the bright side, the forced adaptations have resulted in more autonomy within the canoe manufacturing industry.  It will be interesting to see what happens in this post-Royalex era as manufacturers continue to refine their material alternatives.