I’ve thought about how to go about installing float bags inside a recreational kayak for a while now. I have read suggestions by others which are drill a hole in kayak to put an attachment in, to lashing float bag to kayak foot peg, to installing a padeyes, etc. I came up with a simple, easy and affordable solution. Just go out to a hardware store and get yourself self adhesive cable tie mounts and some cable ties, clean inside surface of kayak where mount will go, peal and stick cable tie mount, slide cable ties through mount and attach to grommet on float bag. No metal or sharp points that will puncture the float bag. These cable mounts are very strong (one guy I read used four of these to mount a t.v. on a wall) and are low profile. They are cheap too. When I asked an Old Town Rep what is recommended, they replied nothing because the float bag won’t come out. So here’s my solution and I hope it catches on.
Let us know what happens.
It is notoriously difficult to get things to stick to poly, especially if they carry a load.
I tried them to mount something
else in my boat and they did not stay stuck. I’m sure different places sell better quality mounts.
4%
chance that will stick for long. as soon as it heats up or cools down or just sits there for a while.
I’m not saying it is impossible, im just saying 4% chance.
Ryan L.
Agree
The pressure sensitive isn’t likely to stay stuck to poly for very long, especially when wet.
But you might be pleasantly surprised.
On the whole, it’s not a bad idea. The cable mounts are available without adhesive, and a gob of G-Flex just might hold fine.
G flex
I agree with Mintjulep. You might try d-rings on pvc patches (NRS, West Marine, etc.) glued in with G flex. I mounted a North Water under deck bag in one of our poly rec boats using G flex and it has held tenaciously. Follow West Systems’ directions for prepping poly. The d-ring patches would give you a lot of surface area for adhesion vs padeyes.
just wondering…
To the OP:
Did the float bag come out on you before this?
Or is this a pre-emptive fix.
I favor using fittings attached by
drilling the hull. I own a Necky Looksha Sport that has no front bulkhead, so I had to add a float bag. The rear “ears” of the bag could be attached to the front ends of the footpedal tracks, but I wanted a front attachment too, so I installed a Harmony drain plug kit as far up in the bow as it would go. The bag attachment is to the bottom end of the drain plug, via a swivel, so that I can detach the bag when necessary.
G-flex does work on polyethylene
if the poly surface is properly prepared by light sanding, cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, and then (after allowing the ETOH to fully evaporate) briefly passing the flame tip of a Propane torch over the surface to be bonded.
Over a year ago I used G-flex epoxy to repair a cockpit coaming that was completely cracked off the hull of a polyethylene C1 using a thickened epoxy fillet on the external side, and a strip of fiberglass cloth on the interior side. The boat has been in an unheated environment since and this is an area on a C1 that gets considerable stress. The repair shows no sign of delamination or cracking on either side.
Thanks!
Thanks for the tip.
Googled and found a bunch of choices. Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Startech-HC102-Adhesive-Cable-Mounts/dp/B00008VFBE
No pillars?
I assume your kayak does not have minicell foam pillars?
If it does, far and away the quickest and easiest way to secure float bags is to take a short length of fairly small (say 3/4" diameter) PVC pipe cut as long as the pillar is wide. The PVC pipe can be pushed right through the minicell pillar. Remove the foam “core” from the pipe and run a length of parachute cord through it to tie onto the grommets of the bags at each end.