UKH

Afternoon,

Ive just mounted some j bars to carry a sit on kayak.

Is this tying on method correct?

Buckle is at the top of the kayak facing out.

Rear—-The tail goes around the top j bar loop,, down the back of the canoe and through the rear scupper plug. I’ve then looped around the car roof fixed rail and then up to the buckle. I’ve not looped the bottom j loop.

Front—- same as above but no scupper plug. The strap tightens on the narrower side of the kayak. Seems solid. I have t driven it yet.

ta

Dave

In reply to Dave the Rave:

Without seeing pictures it's tricky to say but looping around the top of the J bar and not the bottom should be fine.

I would say it's worth backing the cam straps buckle up with a couple of half hitches just incase the buckle loosens or breaks.

I personally use a front and rear tie on. These are incase the cam straps loosen or break and stops the boat flying off on the motorway. I know multiple people in my canoe club this has happened to. At minimum it trashes your boat, worst case goes through someones windshield, not worth the risk for me.  although I find most people don't bother with these.

The front strap goes through the handle of my boat and under the bonnet or to the front towing eye. The rear goes through the rear boat handle and to the rear towing point.

In reply to Cameron_S:

Thanks Cameron.👍

In reply to Dave the Rave:

I've got a police traffic friend who told me he once had to remove a 3.5K  composite sea kayak from the outside lane on the A55, the owner was oblivious it had come off !  Might be overkill but I use 2 at the front and 2 at the rear just in case, a combination of ratchet and grab types, they do loosen off after a while.

In reply to Clwyd Chris:

I’ve had a rejig after the first drive, moving the rear roof bar backwards so the kayaks middle carry handles sit centrally between the two rails.

This doesn’t allow me to loop through the scuppers, but both straps are on the thinner ends of the kayaks. 

I am going to put bow lines on both kayaks, and a security strap around both through the scuppers and under the fixed roof rails.

thanks a lot

Dave 

In reply to Dave the Rave:

Kanulock straps are a good investment

In reply to kevin stephens:

What do those do Kevin?

thanks

Dave

In reply to Dave the Rave: they have locks and embedded steel wire so your kayak doesn’t get stolen. The locking action also stops the cams slipping

In reply to Dave the Rave:

Shouldn't really need J-bars, unless you have other stuff on the roof - I use uprights when I can't just put my boat direct on the roof bars, or taking >1 boat. Anyway, the principle is the same and well explained here (among other places):

https://palmequipmenteurope.com/blog/2021/12/03/how-to-transport-your-kayak...

You really don't need to over-tighten the straps, or you could damage your boat, especially if it's hot and the plastic softens - I fully endorse straps to the front/rear grab handles as back-ups.

You shouldn't need to pass anything through the scupper plugs, but can be a great solution to make sure the boat can't slip out of the straps. Also good for putting a lock through.

Many years ago, I was a victim of the "lemon pip" principle, which was a combination of the shape of the boat, the width between the bars on that car (fixed mounting points) and getting stuck for 2 hours in a traffic jam on the M4 on a stinking hot summer day. In my case, I was the reverse of the 2nd pic in the link above - I'd purposely hooked the back of the cockpit behind the front roof bar so it couldn't go forwards under any amount of braking and I'd thought the widest part was just forward of the rear bar, but a softened boat and vibration on the road must have conspired to loosen the straps just enough that it shot out backwards on the M4! Fortunately, no other traffic around, I saw it go and, by the time I'd got to the hard shoulder, it slid to a gentle stop just behind the car! Boat was fine and duely returned to the roof in a modified fashion!

My current boat has a flat bottom, so sits upright on a couple of foam pads and no issues at all with strapping it on.

In reply to Clwyd Chris:

I don't recommend ratchet type straps - easy to put too much force on them and wreck your boat. Cam lock ones are fine, I just tie the ends off to stop them slipping.

Good point about checking regularly, though.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

Thanks bud.

I have two kayaks and for the last three years have stacked them and sat them on roof bars and secured via the scuppers to the roof rails.

The only problem is it’s a bit of a pain to get them on and off, and secure from 4 sides, plus, they stopped the boot opening fully.

I had a look at uprights and felt that if my cam straps slipped then they would tumble off.

I now have 2 sets of j bars which are easy to load and strap by myself. They’re sit on kayaks, Ocean Franzy.

If I put a ‘thank god strap’through the scuppers and secure it to the car roof rails( not the bars)in such a way that it prevents detachment to the rear or front on braking/acceleration, then I reason that I could do away with bow/ stern lines.

Apparently, bow/ stern lines are only there to prevent them flying off forwards or backwards on  braking/ acceleration.

Thoughts? 
ta

Dave

In reply to Dave the Rave:

I use uprights to put my boat on edge when I have surf boards on the other side. Pre-thread one of the straps, poke bow of boat through and then you can hold it with one hand and use the other to pull the strap tight, then do the other one. J-bars are easier, but some take up more roof space than others.

My kayak may well be lighter and easier to handle than the Ocean Frenzy SoT, though - I had an Osprey OSX briefly and it was a pain to handle.

Boot opening issues are a bit of a given with boards/boats - my boat is fine on last 2 cars with a bit of careful positioning, but I've occasionally had to loosen the rear straps with boards and prop them up a bit. New car might be a different matter, though, as it's got a huge trim panel on the top of the boot lid - will have to see once I can get the foot pack for my roof bars.

Bow and stern lines can be used to stop boats flying forwards/backwards as you describe, but are also very useful, if tied to the front/rear towing hitches, for stopping the ends swinging round on cornering. Long boats, like sea kayaks, can potentially generate enough torque to rip roof bars off, depending on vehicle and distance between bars. Worth putting your bars as far apart as you can (within reason), if you have rails.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

Thanks.

The boats are a lot shorter than a sea kayak and when on the bars I can no longer see them through my front screen and the boot opens fully.

I am going to slide the rear bar as far back as possible to increase the stability/decrease risk of torque.

ta

dave

In reply to LastBoyScout:

I've never had a problem with over tightening,  even on my glass boat, and I'm just worried if it came off on the motorway it could take some ones eye out -)