# tie down a kayak



## yeeyak (Dec 14, 2010)

hi all. just want to know is it recommended to tie you kayak down from the front and rear as well as from the sides. because i cant seem to find a good point on my car at the front that wont impeed my vision. dont want to give the police any reason to through the book at me :shock: cheers yeeyak


----------



## skorgard (Oct 6, 2007)

I think that it is essential. There have been reports of airborne yaks and it is only good luck that no one was killed. I screw in the towing eyes on my car for fixing points.


----------



## yeeyak (Dec 14, 2010)

cheers mate. i will figure something out.


----------



## Ralphy (May 10, 2010)

At a minimum, tie it to the towbar. It won't stop it sliding forward or backwards a bit but it will stop it from shooting off under heavy brakes.


----------



## bluezooky (Apr 17, 2006)

I'm not sure it's necessary but you should be fine as well the strap is less than 30mm wide, they are more concerned about the overhang at the back and having a red flag


----------



## yeeyak (Dec 14, 2010)

cheers guys. thanx for the insight


----------



## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

What kind of car are you putting it on ? I also have removed the plastic square in my bumper, screwed in the tow hitch and tie the front strap to that. Saw a yak fall off the roof of a car on Brighton road Adelaide a week ago. Not pretty but it was a plastic SOT dodn't appear to be damaged. I do think the driver aged mid 50s would have needed a blood pressure check soon after !


----------



## yeeyak (Dec 14, 2010)

yeah i reckon. its a mitsubishi magna sedan 2001


----------



## dunamis (Sep 27, 2009)

I had mine fly off on the highway- broke the bow rope. I now have a bow rope to the front bumper, a stern robe to the towbar and a tie down ratchet on both roof racks.


----------



## labrat (Jul 25, 2008)

Yeeyak, my Verada may well have the same front tow hooks as your Magna so the set up I use may suit you too. I use a y shaped rig as shown below with the black hooks going to the tow points under the front bumper.

The rope is used at the top because when I tried a strap I found that the wind made it vibrate - it's also thinner so impedes visibility less. Another solution to these aspects may be to twist the strap. Straps are used at the bottom to help protect the paintwork. The black strap is on an adjustable buckle for tensioning. The weak points are the snap on connectors but they seem adequate as I have had it up to 100kph.


----------



## Eddy (Jan 13, 2011)

I absolutely despise anything in my field of vision when driving, so I tie back to the rack. Simply run a line from the rack, forward to carry handle/ tie loop / whatever, and back to the rack again. doesn't need to be cinched up real tight, just a little pressure, to catch any movement. Then I do the same at the back so it looks even ..  :mrgreen:


----------



## actionsurf (Jul 8, 2010)

Yep. I think a front tie down a must...I just couldn't imagine the carnage of an airborne yak in traffic; Here's another reason why. This was posted today (sorry barrabundy, but timing is everything )

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=45245
Cheers
Hally


----------



## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

actionsurf said:


> Yep. I think a front tie down a must...I just couldn't imagine the carnage of an airborne yak in traffic; Here's another reason why. This was posted today (sorry barrabundy, but timing is everything )
> 
> viewtopic.php?f=17&t=45245
> Cheers
> Hally


Yes, and I'd read posts from others wondering how hte heck something like that could happen....it does. The lesson for me is to pay extra attention to the safety aspect of tying down. After loading/unloading many many times over the last few years I guess I got a bit complacent and didn't listen to the voices in my head telling me I should replace my straps as they were getting a bit old and faded (12months)

Everyone has different methods of tying stuff down but whatever you do, pay attention to what CAN happen, take precautions and ALWAYS err on the side of caution. Going to that extra trouble and something NOT happening is actually a good thing rather than a waste of effort....the alternative is not an option and if it happens you'll be saying _"I shoulda..."_


----------



## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Eddy said:


> I absolutely despise anything in my field of vision when driving, so I tie back to the rack. Simply run a line from the rack, forward to carry handle/ tie loop / whatever, and back to the rack again. doesn't need to be cinched up real tight,


Do similar to Eddy except I put a saddle on the Swing deck to have a shorter leash [blue line] .... on long trips and highway speeds also use a second strap over the front rack.


----------



## labrat (Jul 25, 2008)

The bow rope is most important for sedans and wagons because the roof bars are relatively close together so not only is there more stress on the tie downs but there is a danger that the front bar (followed by the rear) will actually be ripped off the car. Tieing the bow back to the rack would not serve any purpose in most cases.

On a van the racks are usually well spaced and the bow is not sticking out over the front so the dynamics are much friendlier.


----------



## emufingers (Aug 11, 2010)

Redundacy is the key. Three tie downs mean two have to fail to loose the load. If one fails it is usually obvious and can be fixed with no load instability. 
Three fixing points is much better than two. This spreads the load on the tiedowns and over the length of the load which deal better with lifting and sideways forces while driving.

I agree that vehicles with close spaced roof racks are more at risk so require extra attention. The loads that quite thin ropes can take is remarkable so there is no need to worry about vision being blocked by a front tiedown.


----------



## badmotorfinger (Mar 15, 2010)

yeeyak said:


> hi all. just want to know is it recommended to tie you kayak down from the front and rear as well as from the sides. because i cant seem to find a good point on my car at the front that wont impeed my vision. dont want to give the police any reason to through the book at me :shock: cheers yeeyak


You can also get these little beauties for a quick and simple tie down point - http://www.austinkayak.com/products/237 ... -Pair.html

I'm sure someone in Aust would sell similar


----------



## KhoisanX (Aug 27, 2009)

I have a large 4x4 so the spread between racks is ample to set my Oasis up with plenty stability.
Almost a year ago now we made a trip down to Robe - first big outing with the yak. I had two standard Rhino Rack kayak straps, one on the front rack and one on the back. Passing a few large B-doubles and road trains (pushing lots of air out the way) coming in the opposite direction on a single carriageway road starts getting you thinking about security.
Then I searched and read a few posts here about the same thing - blood runs cold to imagine what your 20-30kg kayak might do if it broke off at speed and hit an oncoming vehicle. I'm no legal expert but in the event subsequent investigation were to determine you were negligent in some way.........
I bought an extra strap and now travel with two on the front - just in case!

Recently during our trip to Coffin Bay the wheat harvest was in full swing all the way down the Eyre; road trains every other minute. There were times I thought the kayak and racks would be ripped off.

Some piece of mind knowing if one strap fails you're still ok.

Cheers

Hank


----------



## odgers (Sep 30, 2010)

i think you should always tie down from front rear and at leat 2 in the middle  never had a problem doing that way


----------



## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

labrat said:


> Tieing the bow back to the rack would not serve any purpose in most cases.


Bob agree, re holding down the the vehicle.
The rope back to the rack is purely to prevent forward slide in the unlikely case a front strap coming really loose.


----------



## legs2691 (Jun 19, 2010)

A front tie down is most important because it gives an indication of any kayak movement, that can be seen immediately as the tie down is in constant view. Any change of angle or slackness stop immediately.

Most motor bike riders will not use ratchet strap on bike trailers because they do seem to come undone. I only use rhino rack straps with a pull down buckle lock, but always tie off the tag (loose) end.

Ratchet straps, have been responsible for breaking old fiberglass kayaks due to over tension or not tightening them enough being to scared of breaking them. Where as pull down types give a nice feel of tension.

I do know of 4 wheel drivers who also mount the scupper holes over the roof rack and lash through these directly to the rack as well as tie downs.


----------



## yeeyak (Dec 14, 2010)

cheers all. some very good insight here. very much appreciated 8)


----------



## labrat (Jul 25, 2008)

Richo, that rope to stop the forward movement makes a lot of sense.

And just to add another dimension to the topic -

....does anyone know where I can get a roof rack for a convertible? :? :lol:

Seriously.


----------



## Ralphy (May 10, 2010)

labrat said:


> ....does anyone know where I can get a roof rack for a convertible?
> 
> Seriously.












You won't even need to tie the kayak down, you can just hold on.


----------



## emufingers (Aug 11, 2010)

A roll cage will do the trick and protect your head when you roll it.


----------



## jawjerker (Nov 19, 2010)

I've used NRS straps for tying down kayaks to vehicles for 20 years, these straps won't let you down. I used these in the whitewater industry for strapping down gear to rafts, I've never had them fail, even when I've flipped a boat load of gear in class 5 rapid. I've never used a bow or stern line. http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product_list.asp?deptid=1188


----------



## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Here's my set-up and, as you can see there's a pretty good spread between the front and back bars so there's no need for a bow line in this case.

I've taken the suggestion of an extra front strap onboard and will continue to do so, just like turning up to work and checking the fluid levels in a machine every single day even thought they are always ok....the consequences of getting caught out even once are substantial.

A very worthwhile thread and maybe there should be something similar in the saftey section if there isn't already.


----------

