In a message dated 11/27/98 2:04:04 PM Eastern Standard Time, BDenton_at_aquagulf.com writes: << I guess many years of flying have made me careful on my "preflight" which includes manually testing all the towers and straps for any sign of movement and checking the straps prior to use. I also tie up the ends in the event of a buckle failure. >> As a pilot, I second Bob's sentiment. And as a pilot, I can state definitively that I have never been killed in a plane crash; I cannot attribute this enviable record to the fact that I always looked for stuff nobody else would look for on a pre-flight, but I can't say it's <not> why I'm still alive, either. An earlier comment --- which I've lost --- was made about front and rear straps being <expensive insurance> in terms of time, given the likely payoff. Okay, there's a good argument if you're an actuary. Crummy if you're a pilot --- or if you're piloting an SUV around with two $2500 fiberglass ballistic missiles on top of your landcraft, too. There, the loss of the "missiles", in and of itself, is a pretty high price to face paying --- however unlikely it is that they'll become airborne on their own. But toss in the chance that they'll go through the windscreens of the two cars behind you when --- okay, if --- they ever came off, and the negative payoff gets really interesting! My way around this is that I always tie down my boats, forward and aft, but I've made it very easy --- "cheap" in terms of time --- to do so. I've rigged eyebolts forward and aft under the bumpers --- took a little time, but not much. I have a tubular nylon strap aft, 'biner type hardware store fittings on each end, adjusted with a cam buckle. Takes less than ten seconds to rig. Similar deal forward, but I don't use the tubular strap above the bumper --- just a good piece of five mil mountaineering line in an adjustable hitch through the forward lifting loop. Probably takes 20 seconds to rig. Make it easy, make it automatic, and the "premium" is pretty cheap. Payoff is usually non-existent --- just like non-crashing and non-dying. But it's worth it to me. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com wrote: <SNIPPED> > > My way around this is that I always tie down my boats, forward and aft, but > I've made it very easy --- "cheap" in terms of time --- to do so. I've rigged > eyebolts forward and aft under the bumpers --- took a little time, but not > much. I have a tubular nylon strap aft, 'biner type hardware store fittings > on each end, adjusted with a cam buckle. Takes less than ten seconds to rig. > Similar deal forward, but I don't use the tubular strap above the bumper --- > just a good piece of five mil mountaineering line in an adjustable hitch > through the forward lifting loop. Probably takes 20 seconds to rig. Make it > easy, make it automatic, and the "premium" is pretty cheap. Payoff is usually > non-existent --- just like non-crashing and non-dying. But it's worth it to > me. I did pretty much the same thing. My mini-van has no under bumper hooks as do many imported cars. So I worked some eyebolts and nuts through holes I found in the under side of the bumpers...I have two each in front and back of my car now. My bumper "ties", also like Jack's, consist of webbing and carabiner and adjustable cam buckles. However, I use them front and back; I don't have a problem looking through the one in front since I tend to attach it in front of the passenger. When seated in the passenger seat, it has not bothered me. It takes about 10 seconds to put on each. The only addition is that the back one has a red flag already attached so no one walking by at a rest stop bumps into the rear of my boat. I believe also that some states require such a flag depending on how much a roof object protrudes beyond the end of a car, which in a mini-van is a lot. Yakima sells a pre-arranged set of such bumper tiedowns that have tent line type tightening sliders to adjust the length of the cord and closable hooks to attach to eyebolts on your bumper. All the slider and hook hardware is quite hefty as is the thickness of the cord. You can basically adjust the system once when you first fit it to your car. Thereafter, it is just a few seconds to attach and fine tune the tension adjustment. I have seen it on a compact car (Jack, Joy H. has it on her car); I am not certain the cord is long enough for taller vans and mini-vans. I think that if I had to do a lot of actual tying down (and untying knots later) rather than just snapping carabiners in place on the boat and bumper and adjusting tension via a buckle or tensioning device, I would probably not always secure my boat to the bumpers. Of course, I could avoid all the hassle and worries of strap failure and theft (no one mentioned the time needed to lock the boats on the roof) by just transporting my boats folded in their bags inside the car. But then without the wares of this sport prominently displayed on my rooftop, no one would know that I was an intrepid, mean looking sea kayaker instead of an aging meek Clark Kent type. Alas, image is everything these days. :-) ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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