Is nylon (cordura) better than other synthetic fibers like dyneema, spectra, dynel, xynole, innegra S, kevlar, twaron, etc.? If it is, why isn’t it readily available from stores that sell composite materials? Nylon has been around for a long, long time.
Any suggestions for layup? My idea is to vacuum bag on either a thin layer of glass or surfacing veil on the foam core and let that cure to give the foam a hard shell which can handle higher pressure when vacuum bagging on the rest of the fibers and prevent the core from soaking up excess resin from the laminate. Then either some sort of bulker or a heavyweight non-crimp(knit) bi- or triaxial fabric, then some sort of impact resisting synthetic cloth and thin layer of glass on top for something to sand into. Maybe a patch of some carbon/kevlar grid under the feet for reinforcement against pressure dings. HD foam insert for leashplug and fins of course.
On the other hand I can’t help but think that some reinforcement under your feet and on the rails would go a long way in preventing dings.
Another option I’m considering is a sandwich board without wood but with tech fibers. I’m repairing a sandwhich board with carbon and kevlar right now. The guy who owns it have just taped over a bunch of dings, mainly after running over the board with his car, and kept surfing it. Although it has a number of cracks, they only go into the sandwich material so it doesn’t soak any water and i still lightweight after many years of abuse. This guy usually kill a regular board in a year or two. It a nightmare to fix though as you sand so easilly through the thin glass on top and into the kevlar.
This looks kind of interesting for shock absobing http://www.auxetic.com/science.htm