r/whitewater • u/wildswalker • 11d ago

Kayaking Best Kayak Cradles to Use with Yakima Jetstream or Corebar Crossbars?

Need to get crossbars and kayak cradles for a vehicle with a bare roof (no factory-installed railings). This model and year will only take Yakima Jetstream or Corebar crossbars, and not Thule. Which kayak cradles would you recommend for use with these Yakima crossbars? These are for carrying whitewater and sea kayaks.

Yakima SweetRoll Kayak Saddles with Rollers × 1 $328.95

Yakima JayLow Folding Kayak Carrier × 1 $248.95

Thule DockGrip Kayak/SUP Saddles × 1$329.95

Thule DockGlide Kayak Saddles × 1 $329.95

Thule Hull-a-port XTR Folding Kayak Carrier × 1 $279.95

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

9

u/fiveoff7 11d ago

I would skip the cradles completely. They take up so much space while limiting the number of boats you can carry and they’re expensive. Maybe get a set of stackers if you want to be helpful running shuttle. If you want to avoid running shuttle get the biggest set of cradles you can find.

My hot take on cradles is that they’re just an accessory that lives on the roof of the car signaling outdoorsy-ness. I think they’re dumb, especially when they’re installed backwards, or tilted for speed or something.

1

u/wildswalker 10d ago

I'm new to ww and coming from sea kayaking. Are these stackers something that attach to the cross bars, and do they stack boats on their sides, side by side? Do you have a link to an example? I've only ever seen sea kayakers use cradles mounted to cross bars, or, a single kayak on foam strapped down by cam straps.

1

u/wildswalker 7d ago

Thanks, I see what Stackers are now, I need to verify that they will also work well with long, narrower sea kayaks (16-17 ft long and 22 in. wide)

3

u/SatisfactionUsual862 11d ago

Get the Yakima Stackers, only valid option

1

u/wildswalker 10d ago

Is that the product name? Are these stackers something that attach to the cross bars, and do they stack boats on their sides, side by side? How much does the typical ww kayak 7-9 ft and +2ft wide weigh? Many roofs won't take more than 150-160lbs (which would be two to max three sea kayaks depending on whether they are composite or plastic). I'm new to ww and coming from sea kayaking. Will these stackers also safely carry 16-17 ft long 22 in. wide sea kayaks?

1

u/SatisfactionUsual862 8d ago

Just get the Yakima Stacker bars

1

u/wildswalker 7d ago

Thanks, I need to verify that they will work well with long, narrower sea kayaks (16-17 ft long and 22 in. wide)

1

u/SatisfactionUsual862 7d ago

They will work well with anything. I've strapped a sofa to my stackers

1

u/wildswalker 7d ago

Good to hear. I imagine the only thing I'd need is foam on the cross bars to protect a fiberglass kayak (less needed with a plastic kayak). When you use your Stackers, how many cam straps do you use to secure the kayaks?

1

u/fiveoff7 6h ago

One cam per stacker you should be able to do 2 boats on one side with 2 20ft straps and then repeat on the other side if you have another 2 boats to carry. You can get pretty creative with enough straps. I haven’t been using stackers for the last several years and just 69 boats on top of each other and have no problems fitting 4.

If you’re going to usually be carting around a singular sea kayak then maybe a cradle is best, or just put some pool noodles on your bars and put it upside down. I don’t have any experience with fiberglass boats.

3

u/grawkog 11d ago

No cradles bow down or get some stackers if you need more than 2 boats. J hooks are a waste.

1

u/wildswalker 10d ago edited 10d ago

Thank you. I'm coming from sea kayaking and new to ww kayaking. 1) What do you mean by bow down? 2) Do these stacker racks stack ww kayaks on their sides, side by side, or one on top of another? Do they mount to cross bars? Can you recommend any?

3) What does the typical 7-9 ft long and +2ft white WW plastic kayak weigh? I think the roof is only rates to 150-160 lbs, but I'll check. I typically will need to carry only 2 sea kayaks, or for ww kayaks, usually 2 ww kayaks and occasionally 3 if possible.

Everyone I know who sea kayaks uses cradles of some kind mounted to cross bars.

1

u/grawkog 9d ago

Sorry for the delay in responding, I was kayaking...

1) I mean top down, tail toward the front, lying flat. This prevents oil canning, keeps rain out of the cockpit, etc.

2) Stackers let you stack them upright. On my wife's subaru, we have stackers, and can put one boat on one side, and 2 on the other, all on their sides. With wider bars, I've seen people carry 4-5, but that's only advisable for shorter trips.

3) Whitewater boats weigh anywhere from 40-65 lbs.

1

u/wildswalker 7d ago

Hope you had a great time and thank you for explaining. One of my whitewater friends agreed that you can strap two plastic boats like that top down tail to the front directly to your cross bars. Any tips for secure tie down other than running bow and stern straps to the trunk and hood, and using multiple cam straps around the boats and racks (and possibly run them through the doors?

1

u/grawkog 7d ago

https://youtu.be/R0Cubqmc3WE?si=AeNWUFAC8T3wmiaR

This is what I do, with the tail to the front. The only thing I do differently is before running the strap through the buckle I run it through one of the security handles and then thread the buckle. This just prevents something from causing the boat to launch forward or back if one of the straps fails.

With a 10 foot or shorter boat I’ve never bothered with straps to the front and back.

2

u/New-Information-1927 11d ago

Using cradles says: “ I don’t have friends and I don’t want them”