You need them in case of car accident
Always use them with canoes
Because canoes are open, even upside down they can catch enough wind to torque them around and break loose.
The other thing about not using bow/stern tiedowns on canoes is you have to fasten the straps too tight in order to secure the boats. This can deform or even crack a hull.
By using four points of fastening, you spread the stress over a larger area.
good thing you’re not paddling
in Flint, MI
http://s2.buzzfeed.com/static/imagebuzz/terminal01/2009/6/1/11/warning-falling-pants-2789-1243871188-4.jpg
More is better
I think the more you have the better. Canoes are big heavy wings. My E320 wagon gets blown around when the boat is on the roof. I can only imagine how much force it takes to blow a Merc into the other lane. The more ropes the better. Learn some good knots and it will only add 2 minutes on and off the car.
Driving a 10 foot kayak 15 minutes on a Yakima without them is probably ok. Anything bigger or on a longer drive strap it down.
-James
http://bit.ly/AdventureCanoe
F and R tiedowns
I have a personal mantra. Beter to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I am often over equipt, but, I am usually warm, comfortable, and leading an uneventful life, in the best possible way.
Chris
I predict that the new disaster
will not be because of a lack of bow and stern tiedowns (though I agree with and use them, unless I use extra straps instead).
It will be from people cramming wayyyy too much gear on their roofs. I’ve had occasion this summer to look at a lot of cars with boats of many types traveling through town on their way to or from the BWCA. It can look pretty scary at times, especially when you have a Subaru sporting 72-inch loadbars, 4 boats seemingly balanced on one another, then tied in place with clothesline, with the entire mess rattling as the person barrels up I-35. Accidents waiting to happen.
On another note, I did see an ingeniuous fellow last week with a motorcycle sidecar adapted to carry a kayak. Looked pretty good (wish I had taken a picture).
It really depends on the vehicle
and the rack system.
As long as you have a properly connected rack spaced wide enough that your straps are positioned on the narrower portions of your hull, end tiedowns are really not necessary. I just retired my minivan after 190,000 miles, 150,000 of it there was at least one, usually two canoes strapped up there and they seldom as much as wiggled in the wind.
That being said, if you do not have the luxury of being able to space your bars 6 or 7 feet apart or your vehicle or boat design makes it difficult to get the correct balance over your bars lest it be sticking out into traffic, you should by all means be using them.
Bottom line, you do what you need to do to protect your investment and keep from ending up on the 5 o’clock news as the guy who sent a canoe through the window of some church bus full of ten year olds coming back from the zoo.
better shot
– Last Updated: Jul-16-09 9:50 AM EST –
of my set-up, using a PICK UP TRUCK WITH RACKS which is what the original poster uses. Reference my post waaaay above.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2434166280094366337tXtUwO
For the long trips I do supplement the above set up with a long line secured to the rings welded to the bed, passing this line over the thwarts. This worked well for yesterdays 6 hour, 325 mile ride home.
Note bow is behind windshield, out of wind shear; something cars can't do.
No brainer
Straps fail. Racks fail. And the situations that might cause one to fail increases the chances of the other. Takes two minutes of your time to put them on. Could save someone’s life. If you are driving 20 miles an hour two miles down a deserted road you might be okay with out them. But if you are getting on a highway and don’t have them, you are criminally negligent, IMO, and should be stopped and ticketed.
Whenever this topic comes up, the folks who don’t think they are necessary usually focus on the risk to “their” investment, while the folks who think they are consider the risk to the lives of others. Whether you choose to use them or not is very revealing about your character.
That’s it, I’m a changed man! I can live
with my shame and guilt no longer! I’m going down to the station to turn myself in right now! Yes, I am a CRIMINAL!!!
Do you think I might get a sentence reduction if I turn State’s witness and give up JackL?
Celebrate your ignorance!
If you don’t, nobody else will.
I use front and rear tie-downs
most of the time, mainly when it seems necessary to me. So, according to my intuitive actuarial tables, as a result of my occasional criminal negligence, you would incur increased risk of having a passenger in your car killed or injured by a flying canoe on some roads, on some days, in the New England area. Please consider this fair notice. If I were you, I wouldn’t chance it.
FWIW, I had a nice conversation about paddling destinations with a NH State Trooper at a turn-off not long ago. He looked over my canoe (sans rear tie-downs) pretty well and never even mentioned securing it.
USE THEM!!!
I had a boat “float up, up & up” before… Luckily Longshadow got on the radio & told me about it & I was able to stop & handle the situation.
Longshadow had a boat come off his truck (very recently) due to trusting just the straps.
Wind is a natural element & does damage just like water… Ever hear of wind erosion? It wil wiggle your kayak ever-so-slightly that you won’t even know it. And without waning it will reach that point where it comes free. It could be while you are driving @ 20 mph or 80 mph.
But hey, it is your boat… And the lives of the people behind you on the highway…
Paddle easy,
Coffee