J-Craddles vs. Deck Down

[summersoff]

Am I missing something, and I am being serious and not feciosus, is there a reason for J-cradles over deck down. I get it if you a a bunch of mounted rod holders and other paraphernalia on the deck making J-cradles an obvious choice, but if your deck is clean, wouldn't deck down be easier to mount, less precarious and obviously cheaper? I see tons of stripped yaks mounted in j-cradles and always wonder why. I had them and they were a pain in the butt to load a yak, you basically have to do a deadlift followed by a weird shoulder press to get it on. I get the two yak thing, but I see tons of single in j-cradles. Are they safer? Because anytime I used them, I had two things to worry about, the yak and the cradles. Every time I used them, after strapping down the yak, I would always said to
myself, "Hmmmm, is that really going to work?" Also, taking that damn j-cradle sail across the Bay Bridge on windy days caused many white knuckle trips, something I never worried about deck down.
Something I'm pondering before I head out on the great morning.

[Mark]

One advantage I can see by using J-Cradles is that you can carry two kayaks (with two sets of cradles of course) in the space taken by one kayak strapped deck or hull down.

Each of us who uses a roof mount of any sort is dependent on the foundation strength of the roof rack itself, and how well we tie our kayak to it. I check the movable parts on my roof rack for tightness (the cross bars) before loading and I check the tension on my tie-down straps before departing. Still, I think about the possibilities of my Revo or Ultimate turning into a large Frisbee as I cross the Bay Bridge. I keep my moon roof open and glance upward periodically while driving to make sure it's still there!

[Jman]

I always worry about my Revo flying off too Mark, I check it all the time going on the HRBT. I don't think J-Cradles are any less safe, when compared to the deck-downs, but there are some advantages and disadvantages to both. The J-Cradles allow you to easily stack or carry multiple kayaks and for me it's easier to load/unload my kayak from my roof. I have a 16' Revo, which makes it hard to load on a deck-down for me and I worry about a back injury with it. I feel comfortable doing the deadlift with the kayak, because I can control it in one movement. One of the disadvantages I recently discovered with J-Cradles, is your vehicle won't fit in most parking garages. I don't have a place to store my kayak, so this limits my parking choices.

[Mark]

Jman,

Lifting any kayak, even a relatively light 13 foot Revo is a struggle for me. I use a roller on my rack and/or my buddies for assistance to get mine on the roof of my van.

Lifting a 16 footer in one movement is quite a fete.

Regarding J-Cradles, I've never used them but I have wondered about their aerodynamic effect on gas mileage. I notice little difference in mileage with my kayaks sitting low on the roof rack. They reduce mileage less than one mile per gallon. I would think two boats raised high on a roof would have a larger impact -- not that that would stop me from using them.

But running into the ceiling of a parking garage would. Actually, my method of carrying my kayak may not fit into some garages. My van is tall to begin with and those ceilings can be low. I recently had a situation where I headed to the water after first making a stop at BW Med Center. They have a parking garage but I found an outside spot to avoid damaging my kayak that was secured to my roof.

[Jman]

Jman,

Lifting any kayak, even a relatively light 13 foot Revo is a struggle for me. I use a roller on my rack and/or my buddies for assistance to get mine on the roof of my van.

Lifting a 16 footer in one movement is quite a fete.

Regarding J-Cradles, I've never used them but I have wondered about their aerodynamic effect on gas mileage. I notice little difference in mileage with my kayaks sitting low on the roof rack. They reduce mileage less than one mile per gallon. I would think two boats raised high on a roof would have a larger impact -- not that that would stop me from using them.

But running into the ceiling of a parking garage would. Actually, my method of carrying my kayak may not fit into some garages. My van is tall to begin with and those ceilings can be low. I recently had a situation where I headed to the water after first making a stop at BW Med Center. They have a parking garage but I found an outside spot to avoid damaging my kayak that was secured to my roof.

My gas mileage goes down quite a bit, plus I have square bars. I have a small, short car, which helps me out. I think the ideal situation would be putting it on a truck bed.


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[Gary G]

Laying a Hobie down flat is way better than putting it in J cradles. In fact, Hobie states that you CANNOT store it in JCradles, it has to do with the style of construction. Hobies are not strong on their side edge, and storing them that way leads to denting and damaging them. Best way is to lay them down on the roof rack wet side up and go. I wish this was not the case. I recently replaced my 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 2017 4Runner. On my old jeep, I could just lay a rug down over the back of the vehicle and just push my Hobie up onto the roof rack from the rear; the 4Runner has one of those airfoils there which isn't structurally sound and I can no longer do that. I bought one of those Malone ratchet style loaders that connect to the Malone J cradle on the roof rack and allow you to load the kayak onto hooks down low on the side of the vehicle and then ratchet the kayak up into the J cradle. It worked great, the only problem is that when I looked at it i didn't like the way the Hobie looked sitting on its edge in the J cradle. I called Hobie to discuss and they said do not do it, it is not designed to be strong on edge, but only laying flat. I now hang my rug over the side of the 4Runner and load the Hobie on the rug and push it up on top of the roof rack and strap it down flat. Currently I find it easier to push it up on top of the vehicle wet side down, and then flip it over wet side up, but i think there is some room for improvement yet in my technique. But the bottom line is that Hobie Inc. doesn't want their kayaks transported on their side in J cradles.