I’m looking hard at a Delkin Dual Suction camera mount for my new Dagger Stratos kayak. The suction cups need a smooth surface, of course, but my question is whether or not the surface of the Dagger is smooth enough. I tested with a small suction cup I have at home, and that held. But I don’t know if the surface of the Dagger is too porous to hold for a day of paddling. I’ll definitely also use some sort of tether, but does anyone have any relevant experience with suction cup camera mounts on plastic kayaks?
In short - likely not smooth enough. If you do use it, I would definitely use a leash from camera to deck line or the like.
Not a Dagger thing, but a polyethylene thing. Rotomolded kayak are made of polyethylene, which has a roughish surface. Suction cup mounts have trouble holding on to them. This is a problem for all rotomolded plastic boats.
The suction cups do usually hold pretty well on thermoformed plastic (like what Eddyline and Delta use) or composite (fiberglass, carbon, Kevlar, etc.) boats. Leashes are still recommended.
The Stratoses (Strati??) have a textured surface on part (or all) of the deck and hull. I’m trying to remember where exactly on my 12.5 but am coming up short - it might be just on the hull. But as mentioned before, the suction cup mounts tend to not stick well. You could through bolt a couple of mounts if you don’t mind putting some holes in the boat, and either way a tether is always a good idea.
I would not use a suction cup for a camera. I have a Dagger and had tried a suction cup mounted light for it. It would not stay attached and had to scoop it out of the water several times. I use something else now, but I would definitely not trust a camera to a cup mount on these boats.
Thought I’d post an update in case someone else has a similar quandary. I ended up buying the Fat Gecko Dual with the thought that if it didn’t “stick”, I’d glue some smooth acrylic circular pads to the kayak’s deck as Plan B. It does not appear I’ll need Plan B. The surface of the kayak just forward of the cockpit is smooth enough for the suction cups to get a substantial grip.
I tested it overnight, and one of the two suction cups still had enough grip to lift the boat. So despite feeling somewhat confident the suction cups will hold for longer than I’ll paddle at a time, I wanted more security. What I do is cross over the deck bungees to form a very tight grab “loop” surrounding the base as shown in the picture. I will not be paddling in whitewater or heavy surf and am very confident this will hold securely during my trips.
That setup looks solid. However, I’ve never trusted Velcro nor suction cups. I’d probably do a hack. Remove everything below the cross piece that has the lower ball joint and drill two holes to bolt it to the deck with stainless bolts, fender washers below and thread lock nuts above. Assuming you can unbolt the staff from the ball joint, it wouldn’t leave much sticking up when you don’t need it.
That is an option. I’m currently using this setup just to hold an iPhone 13 Pro, so there’s very little weight on the end of it. In addition, I have a separate tether holding the phone to a different piece of deck cord.
I got the kayak mostly for camping and photography. I am currently trying to determine a safe way to bring my DSLR. If I can do that, I’ll also be mounting the DSLR to the Fat Gecko. If that much weight is too much, I may well bolt it to the deck as suggested.
But for now, I’m hoping I can take advantage of the ability to move the rig to different spots on the deck (still secured by crossed deck bungees) to capture different perspectives providing I can find a way to control the camera function while paddling.
no, the dagger Stratos surface is not smooth enough, EXCEPT for that circle by the front hatch. I’ve been using the single Ram Mount suction cup with no issues ( I can lift the kayak by pulling up on it).
I also use a tether just in case.
