How Would You HANDLE This?

[kareem korn]

I seem to have gone thru alot of handles. I've tried different types. They always rip. One handle was justified ripped on my mini x while playing in the surf. The rest (6 total) just failed.

My kayaks are stored inside. How I use the handles: I roll the kayak on it's side away from me, grab the handle on the opposite side and flip up the kayak so the kayak is resting on top of my knees. I grab the bottom edge and raise the kayak onto my shoulder to lift it up onto the rack. They get used very little compaired to the diehard fishermen on here. So anyway the handles don't go thru any heavy workouts. IMO they are poorly designed. All the pressure is transfered to one edge causing them to rip as in the pictures.

Anyway, I'll find the right handle one day.

[Billy V]

Were they through bolted with SS Bolts, and 1" SS fender washers, and nylon lock nuts ?

Maybe you should make your own handles out of Heavy Duty tie down nylon straps with the SS hardware I described above.
Go commando - form follows function.

[kareem korn]

Yes, I drill out the rivets and replace them with hex head ss bolts, washers, and nylon lock nuts. I'm getting some ideas. If I come up with something solid I'll share it.

Also found out that if you have the molded in female thread jackets that my x-factor had, it's a good idea to once in a while unscrew the bolt and coat it with some "never seize". The jackets were aluminum and the bolts were stainless. The two different metals along with salt water will weld themselves together causing the bolt to shear. Leaving you with the option of drilling and retapping or drilling new holes for a different handle configeration.

Just passing along some stuff I've learned the hard way.

[thien]

Purchase a Hobie handle, one specifically made for the Outback. Cost me approximately 5 bucks. They are rock solid and heavy duty. I use all stainless steel bolts, thick washers for inside/outside of hull, and nylon lock nuts. Haven't failed once, and show no signs of wear.

[kareem korn]

I'll look into those. Thanks.

[kareem korn]

Those are three different types of handles in the pic that failed. The one's that held up the best are the ones that had like 8" of material that would fold under and lay on themselves (doubling up the material on the bottom). The ones that had the plastic ends held up the worst. They always failed where the fabric meets the plastic.

[h2ofishfo]

yeah go w/hobie handles & question are collecting handles as a hobby