I was told this by a rep at Austin Kayak.com, pretty reputable retailer w staff that seem to be very knowledgable but I wanted to consult the pros here to be sure. If not, what is?
Also, is a roof rack w cross bars such as Thule or Yakima definitely significantly easier than using a foam block kit? I plan on going multiple times a week so I ordered the glide and set thinking it would be much less hassle but I just watched the YouTube demo and it appears you still have to tie it down. What is the point of spending $700 for a fancy roof rack system if you still have to fool w the hassle of strapping it down? One of the reasons I went w this is to avoid the hassle of all of those straps and cut down on the time it takes to load. Also the bow and stearn straps from the foam block kit rubbed some of the paint off of my hood. I got it buffed out but do I still need to have straps securing the bow and stearn in front and back of my car?
The reason you spend a whole lot of money on a good roof rack is that it is more secure. Now if you have an auto liability insurance with millions of dollars limit, disregard. Of course you still have to tie down a boat! What did you expect… dancing ladies that would hold down the boat in transit.
Bow and stern lines are ALWAYS good insurance against winding up in court and forking over all you own and earn.
You didn’t do much research into anchor points of bow and stern lines. Nowadays most use loops of poly or nylon that bolt to the frame of the car under the hood. Thule sells straps that do the same thing but are freestanding requiring no bolt or messing with car frame. https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/sport-rack/accessories/thule-quick-loop-strap-530-_-530999
you can make your own with webbing and a short length of PVC pipe.
Fancy dancy schmanzy… I have had one of those rack systems for 30 years. Now some 600000 mlles later its still working… Foam blocks? Ever lose one on the 401? Never again. I did. Never again.
**“Is a dedicated rack system better/easier than using foam blocks?” ** (funny thing, but the boldface-type feature won’t activate for this line)
If I said the answer is “so much easier that it’s like night and day” it would be a huge understatement. Foam blocks provide very little restraint, as far as keeping the boat stable front to rear, and especially side to side since the usual tie-down methods don’t do much to assist in that way. Tying your boat to the roof with only front and rear tie-downs is very inefficient and marginally effective. Taking steps to improve your anchorage would involve straps through the interior of the car, which not only prevents you from opening the doors when the boat is secure, it gives rain a ready path to follow inside and drip all over the place. Most cars carrying boats on foam blocks end up having boat aligned at an acute angle, because it doesn’t matter how tight you make the end tie-downs - if you yank the boat back and forth and you’ll see that there’s slop in the system. You won’t find that with a proper rack. Foam blocks are also much more awkward and time-consuming.
Whether the “Glide and Set” is best or not is probably debatable. There are many ways to load a boat with minimal effort, and many very good ways to secure it to the rack.
"What is the point of spending $700 for a fancy roof rack system if you still have to fool w the hassle of strapping it down? One of the reasons I went w this is to avoid the hassle of all of those straps and cut down on the time it takes to load."
The point is that it holds the boat secure with minimal effort needed. Not needing to mess with tie-downs at all is a totally unreasonable expectation. Look online at any of the multitude of websites that provide advice for how to tie down your boat, follow that advice (and learn a few knots as well), and pretty soon you’ll wonder what you were worried about. Sure it takes a few minutes to strap your boat down securely, but you’ll see it’s no big deal, especially once the procedure is familiar to you.
"Also the bow and stern straps from the foam block kit rubbed some of the paint off of my hood. I got it buffed out but do I still need to have straps securing the bow and stearn in front and back of my car?"
Whether you need front and rear tie-downs is a somewhat-hotly debated topic here. I’m in the camp that says, even if your rack holds the boat very securely, bow and stern lines are advisable to keep everything on the roof in case the rack attachments fail (actually, I prefer the rear lines to attach well forward of the stern so that they oppose the front tie-downs in tension, thus actually being capable of keeping the boat and rack from wandering very far should the need arise). Still, with short boats that are well secured (which you can NOT do with foam blocks), you are likely to be fine going without front and rear tie-downs. However, again you are going about this wrong. Straps will abrade the paint on your car, but soft rope will not. Learn some appropriate knots and use rope, and you won’t have any trouble. I’ve been frequently hauling boats on the same car for 22 years, and only in the last year or so has the slightest bit of wear become visible where my front ropes pass around the front edge of the hood (and you’d never see it if I didn’t tell you to look closely). This is the third car I’ve had which I owned a very long time and frequently used for hauling boats, and I’ve never once gone without front tie-downs, and the previous two had no paint-wear issues either (well, the one car eventually did, but only after spending more than 30 years parked outside so that the paint developed a scuff-prone layer of oxidation). Still, you can do what some folks do, which is to place a soft rag between the rope and the painted surface. Or, you can do as Kayamedic suggests, because that works great too (but you’ll still find that using rope between the boat and the loop is better).
rope or straps will abrade the paint if they move at all. Once you go through the clear coat there’s no buffing it out. I tie front and rear to eye hooks and safety chain holes on hitch. I wrapped terry cloth towel on front straps where it passes the hood. You need to keep the towels clean if you use it a lot by rinsing off road grime. Otherwise the towel will turn to sand paper. If you use straps give them 3-5 twists to keep them from flapping back and forth in the wind. Once you get your setup all adjusted the lashing goes fast you will not be guessing. I keep a 18" plastic tool box with all I need in it. I carry knife, wire cutter, duct tape, cable ties, red flag, the straps and or ropes to tie down front, rear, and two cradle straps. I also keep and extra strap and rope in case I need it. Yakima makes front and rear tie down ropes with a ratchet which is fast. Don’t leave things flapping in the wind. If you hit the brakes you don’t want to be saying hope the kayak stays while doing it or an accident even at low speed produces a lot of G force. I know a guy who had 5,000 kayak on car and didn’t bother to tie front and rear down. Went to a parking garage and boat got caught in low clearance hanging by chains. Kayak folded up and turned to junk. Tie downs may have helped. Always walk around and check everything. The first few times you do it pull over and check it all after a short distance. I usually still check everything on a longer trip. I have a Ford Excursion 7’-10" + few inches for saddles above roof so I use a small step ladder but it is still fast once you get a system. https://www.amazon.com/Yakima-Bow-Stern-Tiedowns-2-Pack/dp/B00066YTZK
They show plastic tubes to protect paint but towel is better as dirt between tube and paint will damage it. Dirt can some what get lost in the towel.
some decent vids on youtube on tying kayak down.
@Ohioguy25 said:
I was told this by a rep at Austin Kayak.com, pretty reputable retailer w staff that seem to be very knowledgable but I wanted to consult the pros here to be sure. If not, what is?
Also, is a roof rack w cross bars such as Thule or Yakima definitely significantly easier than using a foam block kit? I plan on going multiple times a week so I ordered the glide and set thinking it would be much less hassle but I just watched the YouTube demo and it appears you still have to tie it down. What is the point of spending $700 for a fancy roof rack system if you still have to fool w the hassle of strapping it down? One of the reasons I went w this is to avoid the hassle of all of those straps and cut down on the time it takes to load. Also the bow and stearn straps from the foam block kit rubbed some of the paint off of my hood. I got it buffed out but do I still need to have straps securing the bow and stearn in front and back of my car?
This is another of your troll posts, right?
I have two Thule Hullavators on the roof of my SUV. They were expensive but they make loading a kayak very easy. And securing each boat with two cam straps takes all of two minutes.
It takes another two minutes to attach a bow and stern line to each boat. There are plenty of options for attaching them where there will be no paint rubbing issues. I do this because I’d like to think I have at least an average amount of intelligence and I’d much prefer not to see the car behind me impaled by my kayak. It would make far too much mess.
Wait a minute - are you the guy who wanted instant advice on buying a kayak so you could go out with others like 7 days later, then got the boat that people advised against here anyway, then had to return that boat to get the right one, then complained about that too? A couple of years ago I think. Or am I remembering the wrong person?
It occurs to me because this reads like a troll post. But in case anyone takes it seriously… I/we when my husband was around used a couple of short ropes attached to the hood bumpers to anchor bow lines thru five cars, four of which saw decently over 100,000 miles. There was no paint loss on any of them from rubbing. If you are experiencing that you are doing something different than we did.
Assuming you mean stern lines, as above there is a difference of opinion on this board. Regardless, the idea of not securing the boat to the car/rack as securely as you would to foam blocks/rack/car is totally ridiculous.
Hullivators reduce load time, but you still have to use straps and at least a bow line. For longer trips I double strap at the two main points on the boat, even with the Hullivator, one strap being secured around more than the Hullivator unit. But if you like the idea of your boat flying thru the air and into another car and having a huge liability suit on your hands, certainly skip the straps.
@Celia said:
Wait a minute - are you the guy who wanted instant advice on buying a kayak so you could go out with others like 7 days later, then got the boat that people advised against here anyway, then had to return that boat to get the right one, then complained about that too? A couple of years ago I think. Or am I remembering the wrong person?
You got it right. Late 2016. I think the OP is a bored member of B&B.
1.Don’t buy a boat, paddle, or pfd.
2. Don’t buy roof racks; you won’t need them if you don’t have a boat.
3. Don’t buy any straps or rope for bow/stern tie downs, or to secure the boat to the roof rack. You won’t need them if you don’t have a boat, or roof rack.
4. Spend your money on a new tv with a larger screen; stay home, watch t.v., and just “chill out”.
5. You’ll save money on gas &, food you’d consume driving to a paddling location, and later having to drive home.
6. No energy expended on paddling, loading, and unloading your gear and boat.
If you feel the need to get wet on occasion; invest in a kiddy pool.
You whole life wiil then be hassle free.
You don’t need no stinkin" boat.