  The Lyapunov exponent spectrum and covariant Lyapunov vectors are studied for
a quasi-one-dimensional system of hard disks as a function of density and
system size. We characterize the system using the angle distributions between
covariant vectors and the localization properties of both Gram-Schmidt and
covariant vectors. At low density there is a {\it kinetic regime} that has
simple scaling properties for the Lyapunov exponents and the average
localization for part of the spectrum. This regime shows strong localization in
a proportion of the first Gram-Schmidt and covariant vectors and this can be
understood as highly localized configurations dominating the vector. The
distribution of angles between neighbouring covariant vectors has
characteristic shapes depending upon the difference in vector number, which
vary over the continuous region of the spectrum. At dense gas or liquid like
densities the behaviour of the covariant vectors are quite different. The
possibility of tangencies between different components of the unstable manifold
and between the stable and unstable manifolds is explored but it appears that
exact tangencies do not occur for a generic chaotic trajectory.
