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Great Kayak Carrier

I have a Thule Roof Rack on my ‘08 CR-V and this Kayak carrier fits on it quickly and securely. As far as the kayak, I have a 13′ Necky Manitou and it seats very well in the J-hooks. The supplied straps for each J-hook and the two ratcheting straps for either end of the boat really help to secure it down.

There is virtually no movement when traveling over bumps and >70 mph on the highway. In fact, it moves far less than my bikes do when they are on the roof rack. Getting the boat off is a breeze too (assuming it’s light enough and your car isn’t too tall for you). You unlatch the 4 straps and lift the boat right off, takes all of 45 seconds.

As far as wind noise of the J-hooks when you DON’T have a kayak on the roof - you don’t even need to worry about it. Each J-hook fits on top of the rack and a plate swings underneath the roof rack and gets screwed to the J-hook via a thumb screw. And that is the beauty of it… when the kayak isn’t on the roof, you undo one thumbscrew, swing the plate around, take the whole J-hook off and toss it in your car/truck. Saves on gas mileage and noise. Putting it back on takes 1 minute. The whole installation and removal of the J-hooks is so fast that getting the more expensive 835PRO with the fold-down J-hooks almost seems useless. Why fold it down and have someone steal it right off your car (these do not have thule locks or any lock for that matter) when you can just take it off in 20 seconds and lock it in your vehicle!

For those worried about locking the kayak to protect from theft while transporting, I have seen specific “Kayak Locks” made for J-hook style carriers that wrap around the kayak and roof rack (which I’m assuming the roof rack is locked to your roof…it should be!). They fit snugly too so you can’t lift anything off the rack to get at the J-hooks. They are around $50 or so but they keep your $1000+ investment secure!

Update (2/6/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Thule 835XTR Hullaport Rooftop Kayak Carrier Sports Feb 28, 2008, was written by Duffman.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.