UKH

My old Skoda Fabia is impossible to fit roof bars to without getting rails fitted first.

I want to carry a sit on kayak and I've seen these soft pads that strap on to the roof.

Any experience with these or recommendations?

We use the Rhino Strap ones to put a sit on kayak on the roof of the clio. 

Works fine, although have only driven relatively short distances, up to about 50miles. It seems well fixed and hasn't damaged the roof, or the door seals (straps go right through the car).

Headroom below the straps is a bit affected, but not really a problem and no issues with reduced visibility. 

Plenty of surf shops do them, they work well with light surf boards - some are foam filled, some are inflatable.

Your sit-on-top will be a lot heavier, so be careful you don't dent your roof - you'll probably want the longest, widest onces you can get to spread the load. Be extra careful if you have a sun roof.

I have them on our 2009 Hyundai i-something-or-other and they work well.

Watch out for twisting the straps as you can get a lovely vibrating hum as the wind catches them at a certain speed, and I did find that they caused an issue with the seals in that when it rains the straps wick the water in to the car and it dripped somewhat, also (and this is probably old seals more than anything) the seals did not return to their original shape so the car occasionally leaks through the top of the door during a downpour. It is the 'piss and biscuit crumbs' car and we'll run it until its end of days, so not a massive issue for us.

I have a set from Handirack that I use for putting a bike box on the roof of tiny hire cars.  Works well, but needs some care with positioning to avoid 'popping' the roof panel - look for intrinsically stronger, curved parts of the roof rather than the flatter areas.  

Doesn't work with cars with roof rails without a gap underneath.  Like mine......

Or go for a seasucker.  I have a seasucker bike rack that i got when I finally tired of buying a new rack every time we changed the car.  A lot more expensive, but fits pretty much everything except a soft top - once in a life-time...

Those still give me the willies - to me, they lack any sort of security.

It's the reason I went for Whispbar (Yakima) roof bars - the foot pack whenever we change car is only £30, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than Thule would have been.

They lack any sort of security from theft, but are rock solid on the move.  I have an assortment of locks to which I lash the bike when parked up at a service station -  a cable lock that shuts in a door and another one that goes through a car wheel and a padlock that clamps the QR on the main fitting.

Wouldn't want to forget about that one before driving off! I'd be too absent-minded to trust myself with that.

I have very, very stern words with myself every time I do it!

I have a set that was used for surfboards. I wasn't able to get everything tight enough to prevent the boards lifting when i went over around 40mph so I only ever used them on short local trips.

Happy to sell them on if you're interested. 

If it's an old car, don't be squeamish,  just drill 8 holes through the roof and fit van roof bars.

Like nniff I also use Sea Sucker racks (for Mini Cooper).  Very unnerving at first use, but have found them pretty bombproof, security when unattended being the only issue.

Using the rack designed for paddleboards/surfboards to carry a Dagger Stratos 14.5L kayak which I think weighs in at about 24kg dry.  Only 30/40 mile trips so far, including motorway driving, but the kayak has never shifted and even over a couple of hours there has been no loss of vacuum in any of the six suckers.

High initial cost so keep an eye on the second hand market. 

great for light surfboards, for something heavy not sure the ratchet straps would be strong enough, you may need your own secondary straps, but even then you can't go too tight as the straps come through the window so could damage the seal on the windows and may dent the car roof... overall, i think would be pushing it with something heavy like a kayak

I would think the kayak would dent before the roof. I used foam blocks to carry a Stratos before I got crossbars. Still need bow and stern lines. Doesn't need to be too tight.

PS always use cam straps not ratchet straps with a kayak