Bringing kayak with you...

[texasAUtiger]

I tow with a pickup that has a 6.5' bed and am thinking about getting a hard-sided kayak---preferably a tandem kayak---to bring with us.

I was thinking it would just need to be strapped down in the bed with a good bit of it hanging out over the tailgate.

Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

[texasAUtiger]

phillyg wrote:
I had a 14' tandem yak and an F150 with a 5-1/2' bed. I bought a Darby Extend-a-Rack that can be used with a front receiver or on the regular rear receiver. It can be used horizontally or vertically on the rear.

Does this work when your TT is hitched up to the truck? Because I am looking for ways to transport the kayak while also towing my TT.

[phillyg]

I had a 14' tandem yak and an F150 with a 5-1/2' bed. I bought a Darby Extend-a-Rack that can be used with a front receiver or on the regular rear receiver. It can be used horizontally or vertically on the rear.

[campinia]

I have a smaller truck bed, but, I know it did not work for me with my 12 foot SOT fishing Kayaks. I bought a Sea Eagle Fast Track Kayak. My 10 year old son and I take it with us when we go camping and it is very high quality and moves almost as well as our WS Tarpon 120. With an electric pump the Fast Track only takes a few minutes to set up, is very stable, and has a high weight capacity. The Fast Track Kayaks are expensive though and you can get a pretty nice roof rack for trucks and have a cheaper hardside for the price. If you are ok with spending $900 or more on a kayak, check out the Sea Eagle inflatables. You can even try them out risk free and send back if you don't like them from what I have read.

[PeteK-Hou]

We bought an Airis Play Tandem inflatable. Works out well for us..takes up hardly any room whether in the camper or in the bed of the truck.

Here's a video

[skripo]

I know it's very expensive but I feel like I use my Kayak a lot more because of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPA3Q6gxJzA

I use it to haul my 70lb 15' tandem.

[Danattherock]

Of course. Spend $600-800 and you will have a good boat most likely. Don't discount the idea of a slightly used boat or factory blemish, which I can rarely tell from others. Again, you will need to go to a real paddles shop.

Wilderness Systems makes a Pamlico tandem, or did for years. It was the first kayak I bought 20 years ago, still have it, great shape. If your son is 10, I would get two smaller one person boats. Nothing sucks like being tethered to an adult. My son will be three in October and I'm buying him his first kayak this coming spring. Like a 4 footer I saw. Granted, I will be within arms reach of him, in his under crotch strapped Titanic issue PFD, but the fun is in controlling your own destiny. Or a similar illusion as it may be. Ha ha.


Edit, they still make Pamlico tandems. But will be long and heavy. Easier to handle two small yaks if carrying up high on rack. But the autonomy is worth considering. It's very easy to paddle a kayak. Very, very, hard to fall out of one. With high quality paddling specific PFD and dad a few feet away, I personally feel it a viable option. But respect any reservations you may have of course. If looking at two boats, be sure to check out the Ride and other newer models. Pungo is the old school. I love mine.

But the newer sit on tops are MUCH easier to get in and out of. As are my two newest yaks, NuCanoe Frontiers. Love the sit in tops. But the older sit in styles are great too, especially if your not fat, uncoordinated, and such. If the latter applies, or bad knees, back, etc, you definitely want a sit on top. Many good companies, Jackson, Perception, among others, but I'm a big fan of Wilderness systems.


If I can help, send me a PM.

http://www.wildernesssystems.com/kayaks?field_activity_tid%5B%5D=11
http://www.wildernesssystems.com/kayaks?field_activity_tid%5B%5D=11



Dan

[texasAUtiger]

Danattherock wrote:
You can use many plain ole lumber racks or ladder racks as they are called. I found the Thule XPorter rack system recently, and it looks to be very high quality. My suggestion, get it up out of you bed space and use that room for other stuff. Compare weights of kayaks carefully. I own five, going back 20 years. You go to Dicks and get a $259 yak, that's one thing. An easy mistake to make, unless you are a very infrequent casual paddler.

Find a real paddle shop and look at Wilderness Systems Pungo, new or used. Great boats and two of ours are 12 footers weighing about 50 lbs. this will matter if your loading up high. The smaller you are, the more so. I will caution you against buying a cheap (often heavy) yak. A double worse version of this played out a thousand time story is buying a cheap/heavy shorter kayak, to save money or reduce weight over the long cheap heavy yak.

A 10-12' or longer yak up to 14' will track considerably better, be faster, more efficient, and have ample room for your comfort and a fishing rod or three, soft sided beverage cooling system, portable water proof classic rock machine, or whatever. They last forever if cared for, avoid warping from improper storage in sun, and wipe down twice yearly with liberal application of Aerospace 303. Get a good boat. That's my advice.



Ally pack canoe....

If space is really an issue, and money not so much, check out the Ally Pack Canoe. 16.5' DR (downriver) model. Now sold at REI to my surprise. I've had one ten years and floated numerous remote rivers in Alaska with it, mainly above arctic circle, hundreds of miles from nearest town/village, 80-120 miles each trip. My buddy bought one too, for same reason. Holds about 800 lbs, I'm 6'6" 320 lbs and carry wife, two weeks of food, gear, guns, fly fishing gear, tent, stove, fuel, etc.

I've tested personally, and is great in class I-II rivers easily. Great on ponds and lakes of course. Aquabond will custom make two piece canoe paddles. Canoe breaks down and stores in large backpack. Skin is made of incredibly durable Tarpulon, a lighter version of Hypalon used on Zodiac rafts. Ally is original pack canoe, made in Norway, and used in expeditions all over the world since the 70's. It's the bees knees man. Love it.

Ally pack canoe on REI

Bergans of Norway


Dan

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I was looking at the Pungo's but do they make a tandem? Do you have any other recommended brands/models for tandems suitable for me (185 lbs) and say a 10 yr old?

[Dennis_Smith]

We carry a tandem kayak 21 feet long. Use a ladder rack on the back and we bought a Thule rack for over the cab. Just make sure you slide the kayak forward enough not to hit the trailer. When we sit in the cab we can see the front of the kayak. It doesn't block vision unless you pull under a red light. We have put many thousand miles and it works good. Our new truck has a shell on the back and we put a bolt on Thule rack on the back and it works good. Just a little more work to get the kayak up on the rack. but I am 62 and can manage it.

[ZeeLet50]

Had the same dilemma. Since I have a cover over the bed I bought a rack that carries the kayaks. You don't have to spend $800 on a fancy one. I paid $300 for mine and it is steel and very strong. I think I got it from Autoanything.

[Hiker_01]

texasAUtiger wrote:

Hiker_01 wrote:

texasAUtiger wrote:


Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

The tandem kayak we have (hard sit on top) is 13'6", which is about normal for tandems. That will give you an idea of how long it might be.

Does it work okay traveling with about half the kayak sticking out the bed of the truck?

Sorry for any confusion, but was just giving you a size estimate. Right now I pull a popup with a jeep and the kayak is on a carrier on top of the jeep. It's obviously longer than the roof of the jeep so I do have to secure both ends as well as the middle.

Don

[JD_and_Beastlet]

texasAUtiger wrote:
I tow with a pickup that has a 6.5' bed and am thinking about getting a hard-sided kayak---preferably a tandem kayak---to bring with us.

I was thinking it would just need to be strapped down in the bed with a good bit of it hanging out over the tailgate.

Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

As it happens, we have a new-to-us 2013 F-150 with the 6.5' box. The truck came with a tonneau cover and we wanted that to be usable with a kayak rack installed - that meant a stake pocket rack. Dissatisfied with the commercially available options, we made our own - it uses Thule cradles and carries our three kayaks perfectly. Installation, loading, unloading and removal are all simple.



You can see my build thread here on RV.net... Stake Pocket Kayak Rack.

[LynnandCarol]

Yes we carry 2 kayaks as mentioned. see pic in profile.

[NanciL]

It won't work !
When you make a turn it will hit the trailer

Even if you had a cap on your truck, you would not be able to have much sticking over the back.
I carry two eighteen foot sea kayaks and a 17 foot canoe, on my cap and I have a rack on the front of the cab roof so I can keep the boats well forward

Jack L

[Halmfamily]

Jetta03 wrote:
Tandem Kayak will be pretty long, 12-13 feet plus. We use a basic over the cab roof rack same as you would do on a car or suv. It keeps the kayak out of the way of the trailer and leaves the box free for other stuff (mtn bikes etc.)

X2. We have a Thule roof rack for our truck.

[Jetta03]

Tandem Kayak will be pretty long, 12-13 feet plus. We use a basic over the cab roof rack same as you would do on a car or suv. It keeps the kayak out of the way of the trailer and leaves the box free for other stuff (mtn bikes etc.)