Bamboo boats

Bamboo is an interesting material to work with, and has some cool properties, but one must always keep a very important thing in mind when it comes to trying stuff with it:

Bamboo is a Grass, not wood. Cellular structure is very different, and not nearly as forgiving as the material you will find in most woods.

 

I think all the seemingly contradicting assessments above are valid, depending on which of the over 1000 types of bamboo you have experience with.

Some bamboo types have a higher strength to weight ratio than CF and it is an extremely fast growing renewable resource. So it has been used for airplanes, blimps, etc.

There are solid bamboo types that can be nailed without splitting.

Bridges have been built using bamboo, which means some species are resistant to weathering and mold/mildew. Financing is available for houses made of bamboo by one company, in Hawaii.

Don't know if one species can do all of these things though, and there are many species that can't do any...

Might be interesting to make a lightweight skin on bamboo frame boat. Joints would have to worked out though...

Porta

 

You can learn a lot from the book Bamboo World. Drilling is suggested prior to driving the nails.

Just one source so you can see the book jacket:
http://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-World-Victor-Cusack/dp/0743200667