Hi,
Kind of a dumb question probably but I will ask it anyway. I have a home-brew trailer that I carry four kayaks on using J-Hooks. I am currently using Thule cam straps to secure them but hate having to “thread” the straps thru the top of the hook, throw them over the kayak and then have to thread thru the lower loop and then the cam buckle itself. I know that this is standard practice but it seems like there should be a quicker way.
Does anyone use cam straps with hooks on the ends instead? This would then require only hooking the top loop, throwing the strap over the kayak, and hooking the bottom loop. The two pieces of the strap itself would not even need to be separated. You would then only need to pull it tight and move to the next one.
Bad idea? Thanks for your insight …
JL
The way I do my straps
Before loading the kayak put the buckle through the gap between the back pad and the top loop then lay the buckle on the roof where you can reach it after loading the kayak. Take the unbuckled end and poke it under the side rail and let it lay on the window. If you need to have most the strap laying on the hood that’s ok because you only need enough coming through under the side rail to get a hold of it.
Throw your boat up on the racks.Grab the buckle and toss it up and over the kayak so it falls down to you. You might want to hold onto the other end until you learn how hard to throw it. Pull the unbuckled end of the strap so the buckle is where you want it, thread the end through the bottom loop and through the cam and cinch down. My kayak is strapped in the J cradle and strapped to the sidebar. If the crossbar failed or the cradle came loose I would still have a loop around the sidebar.
nylon rope
I would suggest using some nice soft nylon rope and learn to tie the appropriate hitches and knots. Camlocks, ratchets and such have no place around any of my boats. Well, except for the safety strap that holds one of them in it’s storage perch.
basic concept …
this is the general idea …
http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Cargo-Control/Master-Lock/3065DAT.html
thanks guys …
thanks for the suggestions guys (good idea on the extra protection of the sidebar).
I know all about hitches and knots but don’t have anything so special that I worry about ratchets or cams … they don’t touch the boat anyway. It looks like most people here that use J-hooks must be content enough with the standard ways of tie down. Just seems like time that could be better spent actually kayaking … 
thanks anyway … I guess I will just try a few things and see.
JL