Same hands. Same precision.
A new mission.
Kevlar Hurricane Shutters grew out of Florida Boat Canvas — a Sarasota fabric shop with a perfect 5-star reputation and four years of demanding marine work. Now those same hands are turned to one thing: keeping Florida homes safe when the storm comes.
Three generations of fabric
Our Story & Mission
I grew up in this business. Southern New Jersey was a hub of clothing manufacturing then, and our extended family owned two of the largest firms in the area.
As my dad, the youngest of eight, was preparing to return from Germany in 1945, he got a letter from his brothers: “Don’t worry about a job. You’re with us.” Several years earlier my grandfather, uncles and aunts worked for a pants factory in tiny Rosenhayn, NJ. One night the conversation at the dinner table was very different — the eight of them decided to open a factory on the family farm.
But it was my mother’s father, an Italian-trained tailor, who made them successful. An amazing man, sought after by some of the largest names in clothing such as London Fog, he first trained in Naples, Italy as a child — using the grid of the family floor’s tiles for his work drawing. Toward the end of his career he joined my father, elevating them from a pants factory to a “#5 coat factory” — the highest classification for detail and excellence, as in Marine dress uniforms.
I fondly remember my first suit, hand-tailored at age five. I remember those initial measurements, and a suit of canvas, made and fitted from it. Then deconstructing it for patterns, Grandpop made the final fabric suit. Oh how I’d love to have that suit to this day; but the memories will last a lifetime.
–Don Chinnici
From canvas to Kevlar
The craft found a new purpose.
My very first suit began as canvas — a pattern, cut and fitted by hand before the final fabric ever took shape. Decades later, I still work fabric for a living. For the last four years that’s meant marine canvas here on the Gulf Coast: biminis, enclosures, covers — technical fabric built to take sun, salt, and storm.
Kevlar hurricane shutters are the natural next step. The same craftsmanship and the same attention to a precise fit, applied to a tougher fabric — and a mission that matters more with every season: keeping my neighbors’ homes safe when the wind comes up.
Why Kevlar · Why now
Storm prep, made easy.
Light enough to do solo
After the last few seasons I watched neighbors wrestle heavy aluminum panels — often needing a handyman just to put them up. Kevlar panels are light enough to install on your own.
Fits the hardware you have
Our panels fit the existing aluminum-shutter clips many Florida homes already have, made with DuPont™ Kevlar® and tested to 150 MPH. Florida building-product certification is in progress.
You talk to the owner
An owner-operated shop. When you call, you reach the person who knows the product — and makes it. We live and storm-prep here too.
Proof, from the canvas shop
The same hands, already trusted.
A note on these reviews
These are reviews of our canvas company, Florida Boat Canvas — the shop Kevlar Hurricane Shutters grew out of. We show them in full because they reflect the same hands, and the same standards, now behind our shutters.
“Don was fantastic! He went out of his way to repair my boat cover the same day. Very personable and very skilled in his trade. His high quality standard is very apparent in his workmanship.”
Steve N. · Google review
“During TS Debby we had a vent pole pierce through our cover. Don was able to get me in the same day I called him. He made the repair — better than new — while I waited. Highly recommend.”
Larry L. · Google review
“His craftsmanship and canvas quality are both top notch. I wouldn’t hesitate to present him with any canvas job you could dream up.”
Jeff H. · Google review
Let’s get your home storm-ready.
Tell us what you’re protecting and we’ll send a no-pressure quote. You’ll hear back from the owner.