simple canoe bodies became the main product. An additional reason was that following the breakup of the Uniroyal empire, product specialists were lost and there was no longer a team to drive the concept. Royalex was developed by Uniroyal in the 1970s. In 2000 the Spartech Corporation took over the Uniroyal Royalex Manufacturing Division and secured the rights to manufacture Royalex at their factory in Warsaw, Indiana. In 2013, plastics company PolyOne, of Avon Lake, Ohio purchased Spartech, and decided to shut down Royalex production due to its low volume. The last sheets of Royalex were shipped from the factory in December, 2013. Production will be shut down in April 2014. If another manufacturer does not emerge, existing Royalex canoes in retail outlets may be sold out by 2015. Equivalent materials for canoemakers do not exist as of January 2014. T-Formex, an equivalent to Royalex, has been developed and is manufactured by the canoe manufacturer Esquif. Canoes in the material are available from Esquif and several other manufacturers, including Swift and Wenonah. Uses The best known use of Royalex is for the manufacture of canoe hulls. Royalex is lighter, more resistant to UV damage from sunlight, more rigid and has greater structural memory than non-composite plastics used for this purpose, such as polyethylene. It is also quieter and more user friendly in cold or hot conditions than aluminium, described by canoeist Kent Ford as "noisy, heavy and hot. "Royalex was soft, quiet and slippery on rocks, and not too heavy if you kept the gunwales light,” according to Kent Ford. " Royalex canoes are, however, more expensive than aluminium canoes or canoes made from traditionally molded or roto-molded polyethylene hulls. Royalex cannot be made as light as fiber-reinforced composites made with Kevlar or carbon fiber, and therefore less suited for high-performance paddling. However, Royalex is cheaper than Kevlar or carbon fiber, with better durability on rocky rivers. References External links , video For the Canadian Royalite Company (1921-69), see here Composite materials Canoeing and kayaking equipment