Rating: 
Summary: An excellent value
Review: I just got Nick's book last night. I only had time to skim it, but here's my first impression. If you're looking for a book with step by step instruction from start to finish, buy Nick's book. I think anyone with reasonable shop skills could successfully complete a kayak with this book to guide him. If you want a good discussion on design philosophies, and an overview of what goes into designing a kayak, without detailed mathmatical analysis, then this is for you. Nick doesn't try to be artificially eloquent and use excessive jargon to appear intelligent, and thereby make his book difficult to understand. Instead, he uses common words with enough terminology to understand the information being given. There are good quality illustrations throughout the book which make the building techniques described easier to understand. If you're looking for a hardbound coffee table book full of beautiful color pictures, you might be disappointed. Pictures are, in most cases, the best way to communicate. The effectivity ranking of pictures is, in my opinion, as follows: 1. Color illustrations. 2. B/W illustrations, drawings, and sketches. 3. Color photos. 4. B/W photos. The only thing I would like to see changed in Nick's book, after a brief perusal, is more color. But, I realize that this would add to the cost of the book. The book is priced quite well, and it is a very good value. I feel I definitely got my money's worth. When a hardbound coffee table version full of color illustrations and photos of beautiful boats in beautiful surroundings becomes available, I'll probably want to order an autographed copy.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource
Review: I purchased the book nearly a year ago, and I've reread it almost 4 times. It's an excellent resource for any wood kayak builder (or potential builder!). The book has a great primer on design and helps the reader understand why a boat's hull is shaped the way it is. Nick explains just enough so that you could design your own boat. There is a great section on what tools are necessary, which ones are nice, and why. Building instructions are excellent, and the chapter on getting artistic really gets two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: I wish this book was available when I built my boat
Review: If anything, I tend to overdo the book research before starting anything new. When I started my cedar strip canoe, I had already purchased and read three books on the subject, and they were all very good. Nick's book came out after my boat was done, and as I read it. I kept thinking 'I wish I had seen that six months ago'. I recommend the book to anyone considering cedar strip construction of either a canoe or kayak.
Rating:
Summary: Obsession: Building my own Guillemot Kayak
Review: My parents bought this book for my birthday two years ago. Last week I finished building a gorgeous (with all modesty) Guillemot Kayak. Mr. Shade seemed to understand that there were many "right" ways to do the same thing and he allowed for different skill levels. In addition, nearly every task was described with an accurate degree of difficulty and understanding of the problems associated with each task. In fact, the only difficulty I had was when I deviated from the book's instructions to complete the hatch hold downs. If you want to paddle and have fun, go buy a "plastic" kayak. If you want people to exclaim, "What a gorgeous boat! Where did you get it?" and will derive pleasure in saying, after an appropriate pause, "I built it myself", buy this book and get started. One warning. This is a BIG project and will take several hundred hours to complete (depending on your skill level), but the book can be read and followed by anyone with average woodworking skills and the end result is quite fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Nick has really outdone himself. Reading Nick's book got me motivated to the point I have a kayak springing to life in my basement as I write this. At any moment if I get confused on what to do next, I thumb through the book and usually find detailed instructions. When that fails, Nick is always available to answer questions on his Bulletin board. His web site is very informative with lots of color pictures. "Two Thumbs Up!"
Rating:
Summary: Be the envy of your canoe club.
Review: Nick Schade has transformed the kayak into a functional canvas to display intricate woodworking paterns. He shows several different ways woodstrips can be assembled and discussed those tradeoffs. The reason I bought this book was to learn how to join the hull and deck efficiently and accurately. Caution: The strongback may not be as straight as desired.
Rating: 
Summary: Looking for some inspiration?
Review: Nick Schade's book on strip building kayaks is well worth the read, if you are looking for some inspiration. It is well laid out and on the whole gives you the information you need. You might decide you want to skip the difficulties of lofting your own plans and just buy some, but if you are math minded and put in the hours, this book has enough information to build a very nice kayak without the need for buying plans.
Rating:
Summary: The Best [money] you will spend toward kayak ownership.
Review: Readers will not only know how to construct a variety of kayaks but will understand why they are built they way they are. Specifically, you will understand how relative thickness of wood to fiberglas contributes to strength of the epoxy encapsulated composite. The result of this form-follows-function engineering is also esthetically stunning, as the wood strips are what you will see beneath this incredibly tough and TRANSPARENT epoxy and glass. Mr. Schade also explains how you can lengthen or shorten a given design to match your own physique, so in reality, you get more than three designs...if you have the kayak bug this book is indispensible.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for some inspiration?
Review: Si estás pensando en construir un kayak de madera, este libro es el mejor. Compré cuatro libros sobre éste mismo tema y la verdad que con el que escribió Nick basta y sobra. Además, la construcción del bote se divide en pasos realmente fáciles de seguir. Es un proyecto que te va a dar un montón de satisfacciones.
Rating:
Summary: El mejor libro acerca de construcción de kayaks
Review: Si estás pensando en construir un kayak de madera, este libro es el mejor. Compré cuatro libros sobre éste mismo tema y la verdad que con el que escribió Nick basta y sobra. Además, la construcción del bote se divide en pasos realmente fáciles de seguir. Es un proyecto que te va a dar un montón de satisfacciones.
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