Most people love kayaking, and you are not an exception. Previously you may use only one Kayak, but now you’ve brought another kayak for your family/ friends.
Probably now you are thinking about the transportation of both your kayaks. Is your truck bed too small to carry two kayaks at a time? Well, it’s a common issue that we all face most of the time.
In this article, we will cover up how you can ensure the safe transport of two kayaks at a time. Your truck may have short of space. Don’t worry, we’ve explained in detail how to transport two kayaks in a truck, what you can do when you’ve space limitations, and so on.
Essential Materials Checklist
When you are about to transport two kayaks, you need to collect a few materials that will help you to tie kayaks fasten. Have a glimpse of what you should stack.
- Straps (NRS 12 foot straps)
- Quicklash (Malone quick straps)
- Ratchet (Jaco)
Transport Two Kayaks
Having a pickup truck makes your transport system easy-peasy. Now, you have two options. Either you can carry through a truck bed, or you can choose a roof rack. Here we’re going to explain both. So, let’s get started.
Transport via Truck Bed
First of all, you have to measure the size of the Kayak and your truck bed. If your truck bed is shorter ta, then you have to extend your truck bed. You can extend your truck bed with a bed hitch extender. If you are planning to buy a bed hitch extender, we would strongly recommend these two:
Kayak’s size can be 6 to 16 feet. But the average size of a kayak is around 10 feet. So, consider what you’re going to do.
Multiple choices make our life easy and stressless. Now, you’re going to know how to transport two of your Kayak through a truck bed:
Get Ready the Truck Bed
Now, you have to secure rooms to transport two kayaks. Remove everything from your truck bed or cargo bed.
You may not expect any scratches or grimy substances to adhere to your Kayak. Try to secure no scratchy elements are left on the floor.
You could use a BedTred liner, rubber mat, cardboard, or plywood. Rubber mat used for securing your Kayak from serious scratch. Using any of these can be able to protect your Kayak from scratch and gouge.
Tailgate Down
Truck beds are getting short these days. Measure your Kayak’s size. Are both of them longer than your truck bed size?
If your kayaks are longer than your truck bed, then put down the tailgate and decide whether the truck requires an extender or not. When you’re going to down your tailgate, that time you can attach the tailgate with a newly adjunct bed extender.
If required to put down a tailgate, then follow the following steps; otherwise, skip.
Use a Bed Extender
Find a hitch attachment system in your truck bed. That will help you to add extensions to extend. Try to use an adjustable extender to make your transportation procedure easy. Extend truck bed size according to your Kayak’s shape and secure tailgate adjustment with a bed extender.
Use a Trailer
If you don’t want to use a bed extender, you can go for a trailer, a dedicated extender with two wheels. The trailer, an unpowered vehicle, basically use for carrying goods. Instead of a bed extender, you can use a single-axle trailer to make your transportation easy.
Load Your Kayaks
Here, you have two choices. You can load kayaks side by side, or you can put your kayaks one after one.
Now you may think of which one I should use? Well, the answer is simple. If your truck bed has a lack of space, then go for one Kayak after another. But, When you have ample room, you should set kayaks side by side.
Load Two Kayaks Side by Side
Drag down your two kayaks near the truck and lift them. Now set your Kayak’s front side upon the bed extender. Push your kayaks onto the truck.
Make more space for the next kayak load. After that, set your first kayaks, either right or left, so that you load the second Kayak.
Load Two Kayaks One After Another
If your truck floor lacks space, you can set your second Kayak upon the first Kayak using a couple of two-by-fours. Make sure your two-by-four wraps with fabric. Without fabric, your kayaks may get scratched.
Carry your first Kayak near to the bed. Pickup it on the cab bed.
Now, attach your two-by-fours onto the first Kayak. You can use more than three two-by-fours according to your position. Bring your second Kayak and put it upon the newly set two-by-fours.
Well, it’s time to tie your kayaks. Move forward to the next step-
Strap Two Kayaks
You need to ensure that you have perfectly tied down two kayaks before starting to drive. When you tie your kayaks with the truck bed, you need to use Cam straps, Malone quick strap, and Moose strap.
First, pick up NRS straps. Throw one part of straps across the top of the Kayak. Pass your strap into the truck anchor points and pull to tighten.
In the same way, you can fasten second kayaks with Cam straps with anchor points then snug it up. You can use moose straps to create space for Cam straps to tie with an extender. Make sure you fasten all around and check everything one more time.
Transport Two Kayaks on Roof Racks
On the top of your cab, you can carry two kayaks. If you had a previous setup of your roof rack, that would be easy to jump in the following steps. So, the process was the same as the previous one. But few more tips we included here to facilitate your journey. So, let’s get started-
Load Kayaks in Roof Racks
Loading kayaks in the roof rack is the same as lifting something on the top. Now what you need to do is, bow down and bend your knees. Grasp the front side of kayaks with your right hand, and grasp the behind part of your Kayak one end with your left hand.
Now pull up your Kayak and put it on your thighs for a while. Now, try to stand out(use your legs one by one), at the same time, lift up your kayaks. Then place it into the top of your cab.
Strap Your Kayaks to the Roof Rack
Take your strap. Stick it under the frame and adjust the tape(NRS 12) through the anchor points. Take one end in your left hand and throw the other part over the top of the boat. Secure it’s properly cross-over.
Create a U-shape to run the straps under the rack and throw it on both sides of the kayaks. In the same way, throw it over the Kayak’s end part. Now, time to Snug it up.
You tied your kayak right to left. But, you can also tie your kayak from back to front.
Use your mousse strap on the Kayak’s bottom. Bring your tape to tie from top to bottom. Find the end of the cam strap and put it down through the mousse-strap of two kayaks. Now, connect your straps with a hook. Lock your cam straps.
Pro tips: Don’t tie all the straps down as much as you can. Make sure your Kayak can move a little bit.
Use Red Flag
When you’re transporting kayaks, you should make other drivers aware that you’re conveying something that might be untied anytime and can cause an accident. So, the best option is to use a red flag in your truck to make you aware of other drivers who are following you. A red flag is a go-to element for caution signs.
Few Additional Tips
- Secure you are using a Rubber mat or any materials that save your Kayak from hull scratch.
- Don’t fasten tightly of your Kayak with hooks. Tied gently.
- Check your Kayak sticking perfectly.
- You can use moose straps in the rear part of your truck to fasten the Kayak.
- Use the top of your cab when your Kayak is longer than 11 feet.
Conclusion
Voila!!! You’re ready to go with your family or friends on a kayaking adventure. Before you start driving your truck, please make sure everything you have done perfectly.
Kayaking is highly entertaining that can able refresh your mind and soul. You can see the harmony of the seashore closely. Having two kayaks makes your journey much more interesting because you have your family or friends with you.
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