Like a Keowee?
I’d strap one boat upside on the factory rack. Strap it down completely. And tight.
Then put the 2nd boat on top of the first, right side up, so they are hull to hull. Strap it down independently of the first, then also a seperate strap that just goes around the two boats, strapping them together as one.
It’s a matter of choices
I have lived paycheck to paycheck, though not in many years. I’ll never forget it.
But I’m still willing to pay for good equipment that I use. While the prices for kayak racks do seem, uh, inflated, at least some of the stuff is worth the money. Definitely not all of it.
Disposable income is a bad term. I don’t consider cable TV, alcohol, cruiseship vacations, dress clothes, or drapes to be necessary or even desirable in my life. But some people who do would undoubtedly view my kayaking, biking, and other expenditures as frivolous or extreme.
It depends what your priorities are. I want to be able to transport my kayaks safely–for my own body, for other drivers around me, and for my vehicle. While your own body and vehicle are yours to take chances on, please don’t gamble with the lives of other people driving near you.
a few options
Your kayaks are best transported on their sides - very typical for plastic hulls.
Some sort of stacker is probably the best way to utilize real estate on the roof. You only need one set to transport two kayaks
Malone STAX is selling for 60 dollars.
80-20 aluminum system is very easy to work with, some good deals can be had on e-bay. If you’ve never heard of it, google. Simplest project, in my opinion, stacker
I’ve seen home made J cradles made from conduit bent into J shape, attached to crossbars with ubolts
Here is DIY project for really nice looking cradles
http://www.blueheronkayaks.com/kayak/index.html
I’ve come to a decision
and that is just to pony up and get the Thule stacker rack. The Thule is simple enough to be put on and taken off quickly which means I can negate the threat of theft by taking the rack off and stowing it with tie downs in the car when not in use. Also, even though I know I can make a suitable rack, probably cheaper even, it becomes a diminishing returns thing. How much time and screwing around do I want to expend tracking down materials and assembling something when I could just pay the $125 and have something all ready to use.
fortunately you’re married
and don’t have to impress anyone.
Kayaking is expensive. It costs a lot to break into the sport. Compared to, say, buying a basketball and playing on the play ground court. Which is too bad because it’s always struck me as a young man’s sport. But the prohibitive prices keep it essentially an old man’s sport. Like old men in expensive sports cars.
Just saw this homemade rack
on John’s website. Looks like scrap wood he had laying around from kayak building projects and plenty strong. It would take time and some skill but it’s fun and kayak related.
www.outdoorplace.org/paddling/rack/rack.htm
?
Why not just use the factory rack that you already paid for instead of buying another rack that you are worried might get stolen? (If you posted why not, then I missed it, sorry).
Don’t get me wrong, i think I own a couple thousand dollars worth of Thule (I’m a former Thule dealer).
Racks get stolen
I have the factory roof rack to which I was going to attach something like cradles or one of the stacker style racks. Unfortunately, I’ve heard/read about how lucrative it is for thieves to steal things like cradles and such off of cars and then turn around and sell them on Craigslist or that online auction site. I’d rather not spend even $100 on a stacker and then have it stolen off of my car. My comprehensive deductible is something like $200, so I’d be out of pocket for that. Fortunately, it looks like the Thule stacker is one of the simplest designs in that it uses hardware that can be tightened down without tools and quickly which means I should be able to take the stacker rack on and off fairly quickly as I need it. Oh yeah, and I live in Chicago and have to park on the street all the time, so I know my car is not exactly ever 100 percent secure.
I didn’t intend to make a gross
generalization - however I would have to say, a lot of paddle sports folks I’ve met wouldn’t bat an eye at dropping large sums of cash on this past time. I personally have never been there. I’m sure there are a lot of folks like myself who are cash strapped and just trying to have a good time with this without breaking the bank.
I agree wholeheartedly
Through this whole debate - home made versus store bought I’ve learned a lot. Mostly I’ve learned that I just can’t bring myself to make a rack. I honestly don’t think I can do it for cheaper or less hassle than simply buying something ready-made. Mostly the deciding factor for me, besides believing making your own to simply not be worth it, is that I know factory made racks are designed to be safe and secure and I felt that was the most important factor. I know I could have manufactured something and used grade 8 bolts and other hardware and probably created something more stable and secure than any factor made rack. However, I think my time is better spent on other things rather than trying to figure all that out. I’ll end up paying more but I’ll get something designed to securely hold and transport kayaks. Ultimately it’s one of those “you gotta pay to play” things. This is one area I personally don’t feel comfortable cutting corners.
Roof Racks
You don’t mention how much you are going to pay for your boats or how far you will be traveling and how fast. If you are transporting $3k worth of boats and traveling at 80mph on a highway for 5 hours, spending a few hundred dollars on racks is not out of the question. I have had my Thules for almost 20 years and use them to move canoes, bikes, lumber, roof boxes and kayaks - I think my money is well spent. If you are moving inexpensive boats locally, then by all means use foam blocks and a couple of $12 straps. Another thing to consider is ease of use. I can car top my canoe and tie it up in about six minutes. After finishing a day of paddling the last thing i want to do is spend alot of time car topping my boat on a wet rainy night while being eaten alive by mosqitos!
Inexpensive rec boats locally
Just car topping a couple $280 Emotion Comets and mostly just locally albeit at highway speeds in a lot of cases. I’d pretty much decided at this point (still haven’t bought), to get one of the stacker designs that are made by several different companies. At this point I’m narrowing it down based on which rack is either the quickest to remove or most secure to leave on.
You made the right decision.
Kayaking is expenive ? Compared to what other water sport?Skiing ? hah! bass fishing? hah! jet skis? hah!
Once you have your racks,boats,PFD, and paddles you are essentially done.Until you get into the escalation phase,then you are never done.
how much roof rack theft is there?
– Last Updated: Aug-31-10 10:58 PM EST –
My guess is that theft of roof racks is probably pretty rare. I stopped worrying about it years ago. I've left my car with Yakima roof rack plus 2 sets of Land Shark cradles all day and often overnight plenty of times in launch sites all over MA and NH, oceans and lakes, and never had a problem. And on city streets in Boston plenty of times too. I just can't see that anyone looking for a quick $20 would go for a kayak roof rack over hubcaps. I'm sure it's happened, but I'll bet the chances are pretty low, even over 10-20 years.
For me it's one of those things like getting it by a ferry or cigarette boat that I got a little nervous about in the first year or two of kayaking but now seems so unlikely that it's not worth worrying about.