Does anyone have an IR Reggie on their kayak that is primarily in salt water? I was wondering how the ratchets hold up or if they corrode over time. I had one on my Explorer for years but that was primarily in fresh water.
Yes - I paddle salt almost exclusively
All new Reggies are all stainless. No problem.
Mine is from before this and has seen 2.5 years use and is fine. On these older ones there is one pin on each ratchet that the lever pivots on that is not stainless. This one part has light surface rust - but should last many more years(everything else is stainless, nylon, etc. Not that much metal to worry about - nothing like a cam buckle system).
Mount it without the ratchets
I’ve installed several IR Reggies. On the first one, I ignored the ratchets and installed it using only the webbing straps and a bit of bungee on the rear to hold it up. After that, I ordered some without the ratchets directly from IR. IMO, ratchets in a sea kayak are next to useless.
Decide for yourself
Do what works for you and your particular installation. The Reggie allows a lot of options.
Brian has one view about the ratchets - and decent reasons for it. I hold a different view about them and have my reasons. The difference is really about the boats we have them in.
I have one in a Pintail Brian’s way (it’s the logical way for the Valley boats - and a quick no tool install) and one with the ratchets (actually using both sets of straps at the same time) in a QCC.