Hanging Kayaks

[a2cpc]

Another noob question. Is there any reason to hang the Rotomolded Kayaks on their side? It seems like every hanger I see has them on their side like they would ride on a roof rack. Where I hope to put in my garage kind of dictates that they hang bottom down. I am trying to get the little things prepared before I buy the kayaks.

[keith]

Great question, and the answer is yes there is a reason to hang plastic kayaks on their side. The plastic is soft enough that it can deform slightly while hung and the sides of the kayak are less suscesptible to this due to the shape of the hull. Ideally, you also want the supports to be positioned right under the bulkheads (if the boat has bulkheads). However, storing the boat on edge isn't absolutely critical. If you have to store a boat right-side up, just try to store it upside-down half of the time. Of course, the possibility of deforming is much greater in warmer environments and boats should be kept out of direct sun when in storage.

[a2cpc]

So, my whole though of being able to just drive up and lift my Kayaks straight up, directly from my car to a sling, has to be modified. Have to go remeasure headroom now.

[keith]

Well, it depends. There are commercially available kayak hoists for just that purpose and I doubt that they would continue to be sold if they proved to be a wholly inadequate way to store plastic kayaks. Longer kayaks such as sea kayaks are obviously more susceptible to deformation. If your kayaks are shorter and it doesn't get too hot in your garage, you might be fine. Or, if the supports that touch the kayak can be moved further apart or closer together that would probably mitigate the problem too. Nylon straps are better than rigid supports because they transfer the weight over a larger surface area, and they can also generally be moved slightly forward or backward. Ideally, you just wouldn't want a plastic kayak to always be hung right-side-up with supports that always contacted the kayak in the exact same spots. BTW, when kayaks are hung on their side (e.g., against a wall) they don't take up much space. I use a nylon strap hanger that holds three kayaks (two 17' sea kayaks and a 9' whitewater kayak) on their side so the bottoms of the kayaks rest against my garage wall. Of course, that also means that loading and unloading the boats isn't as easy as it would be with a hoist.

[a2cpc]

I think I am looking at the same system now, is it a Riverside system?. Won't be quite as easy, but you do what you have to do.

[keith]

Ours is the Harmony 3-kayak rack (http://www.kayakreview.org/go/harmony3kayakrack/). We've been using it for almost 5 years. Highly recommended.

[a2cpc]

Thanks Keith!

[borrows123]

I don't think that there is any reason for hanging this...