What is best glass to use in new dodger

[kmusbach]

I am building my bill of materials for making our new canvas dodger. Looking for advice on the best glass to use. Sailrite seems high on Strataglass, but when I went to there site they only show it on power boats. We do raise and lower our dodger in high winds. Any thoughts and suggestions greatly appreciated.

s/v Take Five

[k1vsk]

Either will crease if your not careful since they are not intended to be folded but Strataglass, which is more popular now for any application, will last longer than Eisenglass

[TrueBlue]

Isn't Isinglass (the correct spelling), actually no longer, or at least very rarely used for boat "glass"? I believe it was originally made from sturgeon air bladders, or of thin sheets of Mica. The name is still used generically to identify any clear plastic material sewn into boat canvas, whether in dodgers or full bridge enclosures.

[speciald]

I have polycarbonate windows in my dodger. They are on zipper panels as they must be removed to fold dodger. That obviously is a disadvantage but the great advantage is that I have an undistorted view through the windows. New formulations are more UV resistant as earlier polycarbonate tended to yellow in tropical sun after a few seasons.

[teshannon]

I'm not sure which type of glass I have in my dodger but it was installed by the PO about 10 to 15 years ago. It is still in excellent shape. The front panel rolls up for ventilation quite easily with no creasing. One reason I think it is in such good shape is that it has matching snap on covers for each panel. When not in use they are always covered. I'd consider doing that as part of your project.

[Vasco]

Strataglass is pretty good, nice and clear and not as fragile or fiddly as lexan. My lexan window split right in half!

[Lion35]

I have Strataglass and I've been very happy with it. One warning I was given by my canvass guy: The stuff doesn't like sunscreen. Wash any sunscreen off your hands before touching the windows.
On my first dodger the thread and sunbrella went before the windows. This time around I went with Gortex thread and shade fabric for the window covers instead of full sunbrella covers.

[telekitr]

In my professional opinion....speaking from 30 years of designing and working with this stuff, Stratoglass is a nice option at this time. Stratoglass has not been around all that time but when I started to use it for my projects, I found it to work very well. I am troubled by your notion of having to take the dodger down in heavy winds. That tells me that you may have bigger problems in the integrity of the frame. A well designed dodger should be able to stay up in strong winds ......at least up to 35-40kts. Dodgers are made to stay in the upright position and not fold up and down. I've seen more nice dodger designs layed down... just because an owner wanted to "get some air"......yuk...All that does is crease, deform and scratch the glass. If you want more ventilation, build in zippers into the front panel so you can roll it nicely or lay it flat on the top. Also, if you want the dodger out of the way entirely for racing, build in zippers into the attachment sleeves which would allow you to unzip the fabric from the frame and stow it below when not wanted. Hope this helps.