Someone likes Swedish long roof vehicles. 
Me too…I’ve been webmaster for swedishbricks.net since, um, forever.
@willowleaf I think that Volvo dropped gutters when it went to FWD vehicles (V70, etc). I always had factory roof rails, when possible, and searched for six months before I found my current SUV with factory roof rails (an option, and many didn’t include them, as was the trailer hitch.).
lml999: I was a Luddite brick pilot: would not buy one after Ford took over the marque, so all of mine had gutters. Had a maroon 1975 164E (“the luxury car for people who think” per Volvo’s advertising), a blue 1992 740 (which I should never have sold, in fact at one point it was somebody else’s Volvo of that year and model that held the international record for lifetime mileage in the high-miles club) and a black 1995 950 Turbo (“Darth Vader”) to which I added a class 3 hitch so I could tow the 19’ camper we had at the time. That last was a beautiful car but I was nervous about the turbo and our local Volvo dealer moved out of the county so I sold it before it needed any major mechanical work. I have not owned a vehicle since that I liked as much as those bricks.
The newer Volvos have lost their charm and spaciously boxy utility as far as I’m concerned, and are nearly indistinguishable from every other wind tunnel-rounded, over-accessorized and cramped squishmobiles with mostly needless and gas guzzling 4 wheel drive.
Fully equipped!
One slightly worn Chesapeake 17 atop a slightly worn Land Rover Discovery
Heading out tomorrow for a quick jaunt after work.
@SailingSpark Nice looking Disco. Lifted?
Long time ago, before I bought a County LWB, and then a 4.0, I would rent a Discovery from Enterprise and go four wheeling with the Bay State Rover Owners Club, or go playing in a four wheeling playground south of San Jose. So capable!
No, not lifted. I have her on heavy duty, but stock height springs and bilstein shocks. The sailboat in the background is one of the reasons I both have the disco and why she is not lifted.
I have put a lot of money into keeping my disco on the road, but like you said, so capable.
The issue we have is we Overland with a
RTT in the Alps and we need a rack that goes on the roof tent but husband says it is not possible.
Any ideas most appreciated.
Have you considered folding kayaks for some of your adventures? Since you are in Europe, there should be dealers for folding kayaks by Nautiraid (French) and PakBoat (Norwegian, a ScanSport brand). Nautiraid has a demo program so you can test them. Nautiraids are costly and a bit heavy but have many different models, more than Pakboat.
A PakBoat Quest 150 costs about a third of what you’d pay for a Nautiraid and are half the weight (under 30 pounds which is remarkable for a seaworthy 15’ kayak). These are competent open water touring craft that you can not only stash in the boot of any car but check as airline baggage. Also convertible since the deck can be left off to have an open boat, nice in calm water on hot days.
I’ve owned 9 folding kayaks which I have used in the coastal Atlantic and Pacific as well as the Great lakes over more than 20 years. I flew from the US to the UK and back in 2017 with my slightly smaller PakBoat kayak plus all the gear and kit I needed including 4 piece carbon paddle, PFD, etc. packed in one rolling duffel and never had to pay excess baggage fees. I also like the security when I travel of having my boat locked inside my car or hotel room.
My dilemma on which boat to take starts in the garage these days. Though I have figured out that i could load 2 on the trailer and tow it with my box truck camper with the other 4 boats stashed inside that along with the 6 folding kayaks in their duffel bags and take the whole fleet to the launch site!
They sound great! I’ve never known anyone who has used them so I’m happy to hear about them.
I guess I was always a little dubious only because I don’t know anything about them.
I’ll have to check out their website.
HMMM 
but maybe I could take it camping when we have the tent on the roof. I’d be happy to even just take one boat and take turns.
They have long been more popular in Europe due to their tending to have smaller apartments and houses and no garages to store a hardshell. In Deutschland they are “faltboots” and you’ll find a lot of YouTube videos with that in the search. Most of the makers show up at the outdoor sports fairs in Europe so those are a good place to check them out.
Some shots of a few of my folders in the current fleet:
. The red one with me using the GP and the lime green PFD is a 15’ 8" Feathercraft Wisper (unfortunately company closed down in 2015 but used ones do pop up). I bought it from a couple who used two of them to kayak camp around the Aegean for 2 months. They only sold the boats to buy a Feathercraft K2 tandem folder.
The yellow and grey one is a Pakboat Quest 135, a smaller version of their current Quest 150.
The smaller red and black PakBoat on the roof of my rental Citroen in Yorkshire a 24 pound 12’ Pakboat Puffin. It’s more a small stream and lake boat, not one I would use for windy lakes or coastlines with currents and chop.
I also have a 16’ Feathercraft hybrid inflatable/folding sit on top that can convert from solo to tandem. Pakboat makes some models that are solo to tandem convertible as well.
These are tough and well made boats that are used by outfitters. Pakboat makes folding canoes too, nearly identical to the Ally canoes that are popular in Europe (the Pakboat founder worked for Ally). Both brands are heavily used by hunting and fishing guides especially for remote fly-in locations. A lot of cruise lines bought Feathercrafts over the years to provide for their clients for outings on coastal routes.
There are some YouTube videos of the Pakboat Quests being used on open water that show how nimble they are.
There are some other European and Asian folder companies but since our best forum resource for keeping aware of these closed down over a year ago I can’t recall the names or status of them at the moment.
US made Trak is another maker of impressive folding kayaks with hardshell matching capabilities, but at $4000 and a company with a hideously bad reputation due to failure to deliver their product on a remotely timely manner, I can’t recommend them. Some people paid up front and waited years for their boats.
Although I’m not opposed to paddling alone, IMO there is greatly improved safety in numbers when paddling. 
I’d be driving the other way in a hurry if I saw that!! Bonus points for creativity though.
How it all started….
We had just moved to Clearwater, FL (Central Command runs the Middle East operations) and my husband was working 14 hour days and flying to Pakistan every other week. I was really desperate for something to do and we were at this beach where I spotted this lone guy who had come down to drink.
I asked him “hey where can I buy a canoe around here?” And (I think he was drunk) he said “you can have this one for a hundred bucks” 
So I bought it and told my husband he had to load it(we did live very close 
) he gets very annoyed 
That’s when I realized my dog loved it and it was the ticket to private beaches. While not the Glacier Bay we had in Hawaii, it would have to do!
Somewhere along the way we sold it to a dad wanting to take his boys out, for….a hundred bucks.
Good river karma, pay it forward!
