brackets are $89 suggested, and come with fancy straps I’d never use. Yakima also offers “loadstop” brackets for $55, no straps, but very similar to the canoe brackets I bought from Yakima a decade ago.
The uprights on the Loadstop brackets are a bit tall, but the vinyl plastic is easy to trim down.
Got both
I have BOTH of these versions on my yakima rack and either one works fine with me. I utilize the rubber-coated metal hook straps with cam-buckles that hook to the cross bars to secure the canoe. Really don’t know what questions you are actually asking though!!!
If you are seeking advice
– Last Updated: Nov-07-11 11:12 PM EST –
I have been using the Loadstop brackets for eons. Some shouldered tumblehomed boats do not quite fit right as the brackets are tall and they hit the shoulder rather than the gunwale.
That is easily solved with clear vinyl tubing 1.25 inch OD or pipe insuation (not as durable)that fits over the gunwales. Both raise the rail a little bit. I have a number of wood dacron canoes (show quality) and wood gunwaled utility boats and I find the vinyl tubing protects the rails..otherwise there will be scuffing.
Then you retain the versatility to use the loadstops for stuff like sheetrock and lumber.
Loadstops mar wood gunwales
The gunnel brackets seem to be kinder. I’ve used adhesive felt on my loadstops to protect my gunwales and it seems to minimize the rubbing.
You’re right, but my only wood
gunwaled canoe right now is a Millbrook, a whitewater boat, and I could care less about a little gunwale scuffing. The canoe brackets did look nice, but I didn’t need those straps, and didn’t want to pay the extra money.
I’ll cut the Loadblocker brackets down to half height tomorrow. In decades of hauling stuff, including a 350 pound load of plywood and sheetrock, I’ve never needed that much height. The blocking function is supplied by the crossropes.
Yakima universal snap around
– Last Updated: Nov-08-11 5:48 AM EST –
4 of them are $11. You have to buy the bolts and nuts at the hardware store.
http://www.rei.com/product/673999/yakima-universal-snaparounds-set-of-4?cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-product-_-673999&mr
No need to cut
Just invert the brackete if they interfere with the hull so that they catch the gunwales on the inside of the boat rather than the outside.
Cutting is too easy. And using the
uprights inside rather than outside doesn’t make solo humping of the boat over the uprights any easier.
One sign of Yakima’s intelligence is that when they designed the new “canoe” brackets, they made them much lower. But the old ones are very easy to trim.
I actually have a bunch of the old,
Yakima-only snap-arounds. Though I’ve also used hose clamps, cushioned with bits of Tygon hose.
However, the Loadstops and Canoe Brackets have that level bed which, when the boat is snugged down, can keep it in place during a panic stop. (tested.)
Believe me, I’ve panic-stop tested the
Universal Snap arounds too. They aren’t going anywhere.
But the boat will slide on the bars, no?
No, it can’t slide
– Last Updated: Nov-08-11 4:16 PM EST –
I'm not sure what you're picturing. The boat can't slide side-to-side because the snap arounds are on all four "corners" of the boat. And the canoe can't slide forward or back becuse it gets wider and snap arounds hold it in place. I've got a nice, long bar spread so my boats are always narrower where the snap arounds are located than it is in the center.
I'm not sure you're thinking, but don't the universal snap arounds function the same way as the load stops? Or am I missing something. I've never used them.
I think one of the great advantages …
– Last Updated: Nov-08-11 3:57 PM EST –
..... of using things like the canoe brackets (which I have) , or the load stops , wrap arounds , etc. , is that they fit the haul (gunnels) and basically lock it in place so it can't move forward or rearward . It's a wedge type fit that should get even tighter if the boat trys to move .
I suppose there could be just the slightest amount of give in a panic stop , but still it's a good line of defense against extreme movement , and there's no guess work when putting the boat in place , it drops right in same position always .
The broad, serrated pads of the
load stops were what stopped my MR Synergy from sliding. My crossbars, on the Honda Accord, have only about a 40 inch spread, and the Synergy doesn’t swell enough for the load stops to get a bite on the sides. Before the cross ropes are tightened down, I can pull the boat forward and back between the gunwale brackets, with only modest resistance. With all ropes tightened, the canoe is pulled down hard enough on the bracket pads that it doesn’t move.
Next test will be an emergency stop with our '08 Accord, where the crossbars are only 32" apart, and the car has ABS.
See my note above. My most-used
canoe is only 30" in beam, and doesn’t spread enough through the middle for the brackets to grab it firmly. But with the ropes tied down, it doesn’t move.
Measure it.
It’s not the brackets so much as the length of the belly straps that’ll keep your boat from leaving the rack in the event you should hit something or be hit. What’s preventing the rack from leaving your car is a separate concern.
never seen a boat like that
But I can envision it could happen with a boat that is straight gunwaled for a long stretch in the middle and racks that have to be close together.
Boat width has nothing to do with it. None of my boats can slide back and forth but my bars have a four to six foot spread . Narrowest boat is 23 inches at the gunwales.
The straps are the same
length whether the gunwale brackets are in use, or not. And the straps are the same tightness. What holds the boat from sliding forward during braking is the addition of the high friction bracket pad under the gunwale. Nothing else has changed.
If you look at top-down catalog photos
of MR whitewater boats such as the Outrage, you’ll see that the gunwales are rather straight through the middle of the boat. The Synergy is like that. (Same designer, Tom Foster.) Actually, the Synergy has that stepped in hull arrangement just below the gunwale, to get the gunwale more out of the way of the paddler’s hands. The bow of MR whitewater boats is fat. The combination of these results in the gunwales running straighter through the center of the boat. There is a slight swell, but not enough that the uprights on the brackets can get a good grab on the gunwales. Besides which, if they’re that tight, the boat doesn’t drop into place as easily.
One benefit of brackets is that one can be a bit less aggressive with rope tension. If a boat is sliding loose on the racks, a good part of rope capacity may be taken up as the paddler cinches the boat down. The brackets allow a little less tension, leaving more reserve capacity in the ropes.
I meant measure the girth of the
sections of the hull at your crossbars as opposed to at the center. I bet there’s considerable difference even on your WW boat.
I know what you mean about parallel gunnels, and those rubbery pads do help, but it’s the belly straps that should prevent the boat from sliding fore and aft, not the brackets so much. They’re more for minimizing side-to-side movement like when you get that blast when passing a semi-rig.
I like MacGrady’s advice of adding snotter lines and I always do it when I’m headed for the highways.