Following the public safety message from the post about flipping and always wearing a PFD, I want to send out another PSA. Yesterday for the first time ever my kayak almost came off on the highway. I was using Yakima j bars on a round crossbar and the front j bar rotated forward. Before leaving my house I'd noticed no matter how much I tightened the j bars to the crossbar, they still were a little loose but my confidence got the better of me and left it as-is because I'd used this setup a dozen time on the highway with no problems. For 30 minutes everything was fine but then suddenly heard a big thud and saw the kayak come into view. Luckily the yak was still hanging by the rear strap but this was nearly catastrophic as it was high speed and lots of traffic. I managed to pull over with the kayak hanging on the side of the vehicle and readjusted everything (that kayak loaded flat instead of using the j bars) all with lots of traffic flying by. Just a reminder to not get too confident in your gear and always over-secure them! The system I have been using is over ten years old and I think the foam/rubber grips on the j bars have compressed some and no longer can get as tight as they used to. I plan to replace those. Also I need to upgrade to NRS style straps instead of the cheap harbor freight ones I've been using. One extra tip- luckily I had lots of extra straps with me which allowed me to over strap things enough to still go on the fishing trip and get home without being a complete nervous wreck.
TLDR: don't be a dumbass like me. Over-secure your yaks if going on the highway and get proper straps!
Posted by Accomplished-Bug5055