ratchet straps
Careful with the ratchet straps. It’s easy to apply far too much pressure to a kayak with those. The spring-loaded cam straps are plenty tight, and they can’t distort or crush a kayak.
keep your loose ends near the boat.
Another important tip for bow/stern lines is to attach them with any extra rope near the boat, rather than near the bumper. If that extra rope comes loose, and gets under a tire, it will rip your boat in half. If the loose end is secured near the bow or stern then it shouldn’t be long enough to reach the ground if it comes uncoiled.
Very good tip
My wife (not me of course) put a ratchet strap on out trailer and the loose end came loose and went under the tire, in the 35-40 mph range. It made a loud pop as the strap broke after twisting the ratchet. I don’t think it would tear the boat in half, but it most likely cause damage to it or the car/rack.
use them
Many years ago, while we were all headed to the Poconos to celebrate graduation, my high school friend died instantly after a big metal canoe came off a vehicle driving locally (just a few miles)
at ~40 mph. She was in the passenger seat of the following vehicle. She was decapitated. The people
who owned the canoe were devastated.
Takes a few minutes to use tiedowns.
P.S. A Yakima or Thule rack are indeed well made,
quality systems. Own a Yakima system myself, love it.
But human error in strapping boats to the rack will always be a factor. Unforeseen wind gusts buffet boats, long ones especially. They can become a big sail on your vehicle.
If you depend on just the gunwhale straps you cannot tell if they are loosening or coming off until it’s too late. Using bow and stern tiedowns you have an early warning system that something is going wrong plus another two points of attachment.
What is a few extra minutes compared to damaged boats or being the cause of a serious or fatal accident?
Not always true…
I have good quality Thule racks, and tiedowns. They are done right, my partner is a sailor, and he is extremely safety aware. We were at 55 mph, and even with bow and stern tie downs, the wind caught one of them, and tried to wrench it sideways. The wind didn’t succeed, and we stopped and did an additional cross-tie, just to be on the safe side. If we hadn’t had the bow-stern tie downs, the outcome could have become a disaster.
“Be safe out there”
Donna
Hooks
I was afraid of that too and modified my Thule tie-downs to use carabiners instead of hooks:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2917662820102304487AmvLCJ
Thank you.
Thank you for all of your feedback. I really appreciate it, although now I’m a little paranoid about using the factory rack. 
I saw the loopy things that Fat Elmo posted, but I’m not sure where I’d find those - any ideas? And I’m still not sure where exactly to attach them on the front and back of the car (Toyota Sienna minivan).
Seen that happen
A bowline not secured to the car wrapped around the front wheel of a friend’s car and imploded a kevlar Looksha 4 on the crossbar.
No matter what you’re doing, you have to do it right.
Those loopy things
are your own fabrication. Open the hood and look for a substantial bolt. Double a piece of nylon webbing, burn a hole through it with a hot nail, and secure it beneath that bolt with a large washer. Use good judgement here, it won’t be effective unless you keep a mind to strength. Get some advice, if needed, from a mechanical friend.
top ties are what they are called
rutabaga has them.
Nylon webbin’ - yer kin find it in any
outdoor store or hardwaar store.
FE
depends on trip
Down to the landing rarely use front or rear tie downs. Highway speeds(over 35mph) use front tie downs primararly because of wind shear from large trucks. Only use rear tie downs if rack is too short. Rear tie downs can be a real diasaster backing up. I always have a tie down place available and rope for rear tie downs if needed due to conditions or local cops…
Probably don’t need them…
– Last Updated: Jun-22-09 9:13 AM EST –
However, a good properly installed roof rack such as Yakama or Thule combined with cam-lock buckle straps wouldn't have helped in this case:
http://www.kajak.nu/bilder/bilder2003/div03_1/rails.jpg
Luckily a front tie down prevented the boats from leaving the roof. With a only PhD in structural mechanics I don't think I myself would have been able to foresee that particular accident.
I know of a similar accident at my local paddling club. No tie downs meant that the boats and rack all strapped together into one very solid unit landed in the opposing lane. Luckily the highway was empty and nobody got injured/killed.
Use tiedowns!
It seems that JackL has argued against the use of fore and aft tie-downs for years. This is America and JackL can do what he wants and advocate his own personal beliefs. Those are his rights.
However, the originator of this thread should take note. I and the vast majority of other posters to this thread clearly feel that tiedowns should be used (just re-read the posts). Furthermore, most (if not all) of the boaters I know personally also use fore and aft tiedowns. Have you ever heard, read about, or seen something occur that you could have sworn would never happen in a million years? I certainly have. I don’t believe my rack system will ever fail. However,if it does fail those tiedowns may give me a few extra seconds to avoid a possible catastrophe. Personally, I’d rather have my yak hanging to my vehicle by a rope and tearing up my car than flying through JackL’s front windshield.
Each to his own.
I’m the idiot that passed you going
nearly a hundred with a 17’ Royalex canoe tied on to factory racks with 1/4" nylon rope from the hardware store. Yup, that was me. But that was a long time ago and, even then, I used a single bow line.
Now, I don’t drive quite so fast (though at least one person I know might argue otherwise), but I still use the factory rack and ropes, two bow lines fastened to fender bolt loops, two belly lines, and a thwart lashed to a crossbar. No stern lines. No mishaps in 20 years.
My thoughts…
bow and stern lines take me about 1 minute each to install.
2 minutes to avoid possible weeks/months in court when someone sues you for not securing your kayak/canoe good enough. Not to mention possibly losing your kayak.
But, I have a Dodge Neon, with a whopping 24" bar spread…so I HAVE to use them. If I had my old blazer still (shoulda kept it) I might not use them when I go to the bay, but thats only a few (3?) miles of 30-45mph driving. Id still use them anything over just 2-3 miles though.
Never need tie downs
I have never needed my seat belt either, but I still use it. The same goes for my tie downs…
always worth repeating.
Kricky - thanks for posting the topic. It always is worth repeating every season bec. there are new paddlers here or those who are loading new boats, or longer boats, or an assortment of sporting toys.
It is not “doomsday” thinking - it is realistic and practical.
It is past argument for me. My father used to gently mock a stubborn position by saying “My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with facts.”
A few minutes for an extra layer of assurance that saves lives and protects equipment. Protects you from legal liability in the awful event of injury or death. And, in some states, if you do NOT use tiedowns and are in a vehicular accident, you will automatically be cited for failure to properly secure a load.
I trust the sky won’t fall down but I use tie downs to make sure my boats don’t fly off.
I don’t ALWAYS use them
If I’m only driving a 20 minute drive I often don’t use them. But when I do that, I don’t think I’m doing the right thing. I know I SHOULD be using them for the short drive too.
But choosing not to use them sometimes is not the same thing as advocating against their use. I wouldn’t do that. I also sometimes drive after two beers. But I wouldn’t argue that it’s the right thing to do.