Outback roof rack help

[King Saba]

Saddles are your best best anyways. They give maximum support and hold for your kayak.

[goldenglory18]

Originally Posted by King Saba

Saddles are your best best anyways. They give maximum support and hold for your kayak.

100+

BUT, for those that cant swing the cost of saddles or another kayak specific accessory, there is absolutely nothing wrong with transporting your boat upside down on a (basically) bare rack IF YOU STRAP IT DOWN CORRECTLY.

Two cinch straps in an upside down basket rig, and a safety strap for longer distances and I've never had a problem in my almost 10 years paddling...

[GTboosted]

Saddles are not the best option. They are the easiest option.

The best way is to have a roof rack extender (you can make your own) and having the kayak upside down on 3 or more padded crossbars. You can also add a T bar to your hitch if you have one. The top deck sides of a kayak are much stronger than the bottom.

I used to carry my Tarpon 140 upright on saddles. This is a kayak that is lighter and has thicker plastic on the bottom than the Hobies. On hot days where the kayak sat for a while on the saddles you could see indentations. They would mostly fix themselves but I started noticing that it would no longer track straight.

This probably wouldn't be noticeable on Hobies or other kayaks with rudders but that's my observation. Personally, if anything is going to get dented, I would rather it be the top instead of the bottom so it doesn't affect performance.

Btw. I even had a Hullavator at one point. Still carried my yaks upside down on it lol

[jorluivil]

I used to roll around in a 99 civic and a 2006 honda with roof racks and I always preferred to have it secured upside down, it's far more secure that way.