V bars

Has anyone tried these kayak racks, I need more support

for my long boats.Keystone kayaks sell them.

New to me
Those V-bars from Keystone are new to me. I’ve been using a similar product, the EZ-Vee from Kayakpro, for 4 years now. I wanted a wide bar separation for a flat water boat that had no bow or stern tie-down points, and because my Mini is so short. It’s a great system, as far as I’m concerned - the boats never move once tied down (I use straps over the bungees), and I’m always the first one done loading. I rarely use bow or stern tie-downs.



The Keystone item looks pretty well done. I’m not crazy about their method of bolting to the crossbars - too many sharp points sticking up to damage the hull. The Vs look very good though, as does the padding.



The Kayakpro setup appears somewhat stronger. The Vees are welded, not bolted. The longitudinal bar has internal X-bracing that makes it quite stiff. There is less padding (I added more). The Thule and Yakima adaptors are incredibly beefy. However, I’ve adapted them to my own factory crossbars (I’m a mechanical engineer). The Kayakpro item does cost TWICE as much.



Here’s some photo sets showing the EZ-Vee Plus for comparison. I’m thinking of adding a second carrier for occasional use, I may go with the Keystone just because I carry two boats fairly rarely. I think either is a much better system than saddles and the whole mess. I get more questions about my roof rack than anything else.



http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l234/carldelo/Pachena%20on%20Mini/



http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l234/carldelo/Struer%20on%20Mini/

I use them.
We ( our group) bought 6 of them. I love them. Father in law has the kayak pro ones and likes keystones better because the support area is 4" wide not 1.5". Not as nice looking as kayak pro’s but for the money you can’t go wrong. Chaz