Also with a high vehicle like I have, I have to reach across and down to get the straps off the roof. Kayak 32" wide and 16" deep is a reach. That’s why I am on top step of a 4’ ladder.
Why do you have to “reach across and down to get the straps” ?
I use long straps (12’ to 15’) and before i load the boats I loop them over the rack bars by threading them over at the sides near the rack feet and then walk to the back or front of the car and tug on both ends until the loop is centered in the bar and the ends hang down over my tailgate in the back and onto the hood in the front. Then once the boats are loaded, I just stand in the middle at the back and front of the car, pick up the ends of each strap and toss them left or right over each boat. Then I walk to the sides, pull the free end of each strap down until the buckle is flush with the side of the kayak, run the free end through the factory rack and roof rack, run it through the buckle and tighten it down. The long loose ends then get wrapped several times around the rack end and tied off, or if I am in a hurry and doing a short drive, I just slam them in the car doors.
This works when I am using j-racks too. I always lay out the straps though the rack components BEFORE loading the boats. I watch so many people loading who don’t do that and it always perplexes me. Straps (or ropes) first, then the boats. Why reach?
This has always been my method and even though I am short I never need to use a step ladder.
Given that this is Randall’s first boat I’d still recommend going as light as possible to give best chance of falling in love with paddling. My first canoe was too heavy for my tastes (and I was ignorant of loading tricks) so I didn’t start paddling regularly until I got a lighter boat.
Carts may work fine for many people in many situations. Sometimes it is a long way from the parking area to the launch, sometimes ground is not level or smooth, sometimes there are rocks or obstacles at a put-in that require one to lift (or drag) a boat to get to the water. Everyone’s car is different…I have to stand on my tiptoes to side load onto a 4Runner (yes I could slide it up the back if necessary but side loading is faster and easier). Everyone’s home storage is different. I do lots of day paddles…sometimes less than an hour, and sometimes every day. For me adding stuff like a tarp and a cart sounds limiting (and time-consuming) since I know I can carry my boat and daypack easily by myself and make one trip to the water even at a put-in I’ve never seen and even if the put-in is not close to the parking spot.
Same as Willowleaf - never done straps any other way. Get long enough ones to loop thru the appropriate rack element before the boat goes up, hang them over the opposite side of the vehicle, then toss them back over the boat to hang down on the opposite side once the boat is up. If a really tall vehicle I would hook them together before the toss to help the throw, and maybe get at least 15 ft straps, but the same process should work. Before this gets raised, this has worked whether using saddles, glide pads, rollers or stackers. I have tried them all. The ones that didn’t work so well are in two boxes in the basement.
Only diff is that as of the Rav4 I do stand on the step-in edge to tighten them down. Tall car.
TomL - amount of stuff depends on where paddling. When paddling salt water like in Maine, no way all my stuff can make it in one trip unless I have bakc to back days and some of the basics are just living in the boat. First Aid kit, paddle float, etc. And I never go without a spare paddle, paddling solo so I can’t risk a sudden failure of my paddle. But my cart for relatively smooth ground or sand beach is designed for a canoe, and sturdy enough that I can save a trip car to water by putting stuff in the cockpit.
Rocks is rocks, and so far all the solutions I have found are imperfect. But if you want to paddle you find a way.
I admit, if I am just going out for a quick paddle up a creek or a sunset float around a local pond, the 21 pound canoe often comes out.
Not throwing buckles over the truck. Sometimes I go under kayak and try to throw them over from bottom. Windy it doesn’t work so easy especially the end with no buckle.
My buckles are covered in rubber or plastic, depending on the brand. It helps if worried about dings… Wind is why clip the ends together.
After reading this thread, am SO glad I have a 47# kayak and a Hullavator. I like simple pleasures.
Ya think?
Part of it is communicating via the dratted word. A lot of the back and forth above would go away if everyone involved was in the physical presence of a lot of the equipment and behicles mentioned.
I have Yakima rubber covered straps too.
OK, so you are in the don’t throw camp for general reasons.
Again for folks just trying to figure out how to load a boat, as in the above responses there are multiple choices in how to do it. But in general it can be handled.
My trailer worked great today while y’all were discussing straps. There’s always a way.
Thought of trailer. I can even easily make my Boston Whaler trailer for kayaks. Pain if you want to eat or go into a town and eat or stop at most stores.
@Celia said:
OK, so you are in the don’t throw camp for general reasons.Again for folks just trying to figure out how to load a boat, as in the above responses there are multiple choices in how to do it. But in general it can be handled.
Different strokes for different folks. Many good ideas. All vehicles and boats combos differ along with people’s ability to load them. Also how much people want to spend.
@PaddleDog52 said:
Not throwing buckles over the truck. Sometimes I go under kayak and try to throw them over from bottom. Windy it doesn’t work so easy especially the end with no buckle.
None of this is anywhere nearly as difficult as a total newbie might possibly be fooled into believing if he were to read all that’s here. Just addressing this item alone, what you do is grab your strap with one hand leaving “the right amount” of free length hanging beyond that hand, with the buckle at the end. Now toss the buckle over your boat with your other hand. The buckle will drop down on the other side within easy reach, just hanging alongside the boat (it won’t make it all the way to your roof if you are paying any attention to what you do). Then you grab it from that side, wrap it around the bar on that side, pull some more strapping through until you have “the right length” again, and toss the buckle back over the boat the other way, whereupon the buckle is once again just hanging alongside your boat, but free of the roof. Then put a wrap around the bar on that side and connect the buckle. I swear I’ve done this a million times and never dropped the buckle onto the roof, and never imagined that the process could be perceived as risky or difficult (one reason I use this method is that it’s the easiest way I’ve thought of to have the strap be free of twists yet still have the convenience of throwing the strap instead of hand-placing it). And your judgement of slack in the strap need not be perfect, because you can adjust that by where in space you position your non-throwing hand as the buckle is clearing the far side of the boat. As far as wind goes, like some other issues of opposition that have been raised, it’s clear to me that you haven’t actually tried this. Wind will not matter. The buckle has enough mass that it’ll go where you want it to with nothing more than a slight adjustment in throwing technique.
And if you don’t like any of that, learn a few knots and use rope. That’s what I do for my main tie-downs 90 percent of the time.
I rarely actually throw them over. Mine are long enough that I just pick up the ends that are laying along the center of the hood or hanging down the middle of the rear hatch while I am standing in front of the fore or aft bumper of the car . I then lift them over the bow or stern of the kayak and walk with them to the side door, then pull the free end until the buckle is where I want it. Like GBG, I have done this hundreds of times and it’s a simple and automatic action. I don’t trust other people to secure my boats, so this is a methodical routine I do each time I load.
One thing I do as a routine that makes this simpler is that I always carry my kayaks hull up (inverted), for many reasons. With the bow and stern down it’s easier to lift the straps over them than if they are upright.
As I age, I have to admit the lighter boats have a lot of appeal. Often, I have to haul my boat over long stretches of sand to reach water. Usually, two paddlers are pulling two boats over the distance. I may not spend a lot of time hauling boats compared to how much time I spend on the water, but I dislike hauling boats much more :).
I am toying with the idea of making a frame out of bamboo and wrapping it with fabric. I can’t imagine a lighter boat is possible. This will probably never happen, but it sounds kinda fun to do as an experiment.
@rjd9999 said:
As I age, I have to admit the lighter boats have a lot of appeal. Often, I have to haul my boat over long stretches of sand to reach water. Usually, two paddlers are pulling two boats over the distance. I may not spend a lot of time hauling boats compared to how much time I spend on the water, but I dislike hauling boats much more :).I am toying with the idea of making a frame out of bamboo and wrapping it with fabric. I can’t imagine a lighter boat is possible. This will probably never happen, but it sounds kinda fun to do as an experiment.
Are you not familiar with Skin on Frame kayaks?
@rjd9999 said:
I may not spend a lot of time hauling boats compared to how much time I spend on the water, but I dislike hauling boats much more :).
Me too. I like playing in sand but not getting my kayak across it. Gave in last year and bought a sand cart. Makes that chore so much easier.
@rjd9999 said:
As I age, I have to admit the lighter boats have a lot of appeal. Often, I have to haul my boat over long stretches of sand to reach water. Usually, two paddlers are pulling two boats over the distance. I may not spend a lot of time hauling boats compared to how much time I spend on the water, but I dislike hauling boats much more :).I am toying with the idea of making a frame out of bamboo and wrapping it with fabric. I can’t imagine a lighter boat is possible. This will probably never happen, but it sounds kinda fun to do as an experiment.
You’re right – skin on frame boats are the lightest. I’ve owned 9 of them over the years, with 6 in the current armada. My rigid skin on frame (pegged and laced cedar strip frame with urethane coated ballistic cloth skin) is 18’ long and just 31 pounds. My lightest folding kayak (anodized shock-corded aluminum frame with coated dacron and PVC skin) is only 23 pounds. The others are 27 to 37 pounds.
Currently, Pakboats in New Hampshire makes the best range of quality reasonably priced light folding kayaks. I’ve owned four of their models.
The kayak designer Tom Yost has free instruction for building static and folding skin on frame kayaks as well as inflatable ones in this site:
And Brian Schulz has great information on building your own skin on frames (in classes that he and other conduct) or having them built for you. He has used laminated bamboo in some projects (I think one drawback to bamboo is that it can splinter – being a hollow tubular material means it does not have great tensile strength on impact, especially when bent,)
http://www.capefalconkayaks.com
One builder offered kits for making a bamboo skin on frame a few years ago but I don’t know if they are still available.
http://seawolfkayak.com/kayak-bamboo-kits-available-from-nw-bamboo
It’s not about loading the behemoth on the car, that’s the easy part. It’s about the rocky inclines beside the bridge access, the long flight of stairs down to the river, or a steep grassy bank, places where a cart just won’t work. My state is fairly flat, but we still have lots of accesses that a cart doesn’t do well on. I much prefer something I can sling up on my shoulder and walk.