Best Kayak Saddles for Car Topping a Hobie Outback?

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chinookhead
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Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:44 pm

Best Kayak Saddles for Car Topping a Hobie Outback?

Post by chinookhead »

I recently purchased a Hobie Outback. I bought a 2nd pair of the Thule Glide and Set 883 because I had such good luck with them in the past with my Ocean Kayak Proweler and Jackson Cuda 14.
https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/sport-ra ... 83-_-13706" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I really liked how they held my kayaks in a solid manner at highway speeds and how easy I could independently just roll it up on my Subaru Forester with just a carpet placed on the back windshield. However, I recently had two issues with them on my recent use of them on a 6 day trip to Port Aransas from Dallas:

1) The Glide pads made dents in the kayak when the kayak was on the car for longer periods of time (especially on the 7 hour trip back to Dallas and on the day that we surf fished on a windy day ).

2) I had issues with the saddles flattening out and holding the kayak keel high enough so that it did not rest on the bar.

The dents appear to have popped out by just laying the kayak upside down outside in the sun. However, I do not want to this issue to repeat for the integrity and longevity of the hull and I want to be more confident with it at highway speeds.

Have you had success with any saddles or wings with a Hobie Outback? I am thinking about trying Mako Saddles, which seem to have a higher pad, so they may have an easier time with holding the keep above the bar. I'm also considering the Malone Seawings.

I know that Hobie recommends putting the kayak with the rails down and the hull up........but if at all possible, I want to avoid this because I usually kayak fish alone and it would be very inconvenient for me to have to load the kayak rails down alone. Whereas, when it's loaded hull down, I just lean the front on the back of the car and then just push it up. Another issue that would make putting it up with the rails down is that I have gear track that is permanently attached on the rails. I would not want to push on the gear track as I slide the kayak on the roof rail down or put teh gear track on the bars of the roof rack.
Last edited by chinookhead on Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Z~MAN
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Location: RGV,Brownsville,Texas,Kayak: hobie revo-Let's Go Fishin..Coco.!

Re: Best Kayak Saddles for Car Topping a Hobie Outback?

Post by Z~MAN »

Hey chinook

I use Malone seawings with the Malone stinger on my outback when I travel with my Honda Accord.
I only have them on there for 2-3 hours round trip and a day if I spend the night.

For your dent issue avoid over tightening the straps and use stern and bow lines

For my revolution 13 I use the Malone saddle up pros and they work too on the outback
It holds the area with a stiffer plastic on the sides.

And as a last resort use some PVC tracks to spread out the weight

And I drive 75 mph with both yaks on my car.

Hope this helps
Z-man
chinookhead
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:44 pm

Re: Best Kayak Saddles for Car Topping a Hobie Outback?

Post by chinookhead »

Z~MAN wrote: I use Malone seawings with the Malone stinger on my outback when I travel with my Honda Accord.
I only have them on there for 2-3 hours round trip and a day if I spend the night.

For your dent issue avoid over tightening the straps and use stern and bow lines

For my revolution 13 I use the Malone saddle up pros and they work too on the outback
It holds the area with a stiffer plastic on the sides.
If you were going to buy one specifically for an Outback, would your buy the seawings or the Saddle Up Pros? The price of the Seawings are essentially half of the Saddles, so that makes them appealing in that way.

Also, my idea is to just use one of the above two Malone options alone on short trips and when the boat won't be sitting on the car overnight on big trips.

However, when I travel on big trips I plan to try putting on 4 bars to spread the weight by also using my Thule Glide and Set (Saddle and pads). I now have 4 bars because I got 78 inch after market Thule bars for two kayaks and I still have the Subaru Aero Blade bars that come with the car. Do people think that this sounds silly or do you think that using all 4 bars would have a practical benefit in preventing dents through spreading out the weight?
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Z~MAN
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Location: RGV,Brownsville,Texas,Kayak: hobie revo-Let's Go Fishin..Coco.!

Re: Best Kayak Saddles for Car Topping a Hobie Outback?

Post by Z~MAN »

Main...with that many cross bars I would use the wings and the other as addl support if u feel it need it.
I think it's too many but then I'm not traveling 8 hrs.

If u have them use them the worst thing is that it take u longer to set up and take down.

Let us know what and how it works out for u


Let's go fishin....Coco!
Z-man
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