Yakima  EvenKeel Kayak Saddles

Works well for me. 2013 Outback with oval factory crossbars, carrying a 12' rec kayak 40 lbs. Easy to install, very easy to slide boat onto the pads. Would probably not choose this for a long or heavy boat. I cut some lengths of bike tube to slip over the clamps before installing to protect the crossbars. There is no slippage at all in use. The tie down straps are very long which allows walking the straps around the car instead of trying - and trying and trying - to pitch them over the boat and roof. Great design point.

I purchased these in May 2010 for transporting my new, custom carbon ultralight kayak (14 ft, 26 lb) on a 2009 Honda Fit with round Yakima crossbars. I thought their compact size would work well with my small car and ultralight kayak. They seemed great the first 2 times I used them. Both trips were to a nearby estuary roughly 20 miles away, along a coastal route with little elevation change. Then I transferred them to a friend's round Yakima crossbars for a paddle 2 counties away over a coastal mountain range. (My friend uses Mako saddles with a 16 ft carbonlite Eddyline kayak and loves them). When we arrived, I noticed that the Even Keel saddles had moved away from each other on both the front and rear crossbars. I reset them to the proper distance for my hull. When loading for the return trip, each time I tightened the straps, the Even Keel saddles spread laterally away from each other, dropping my kayak toward the crossbars. This happened no matter how much we tightened them. By the time it got dark, and about an hour after we started loading the boats, we realized that they just weren't going to stay put. So I wrapped thick cloth padding around my friend's crossbars, set the saddles as best as I could, used bow and stern tiedowns, and off we went. By the time we got home (watching my boat through the sunroof all the way), my carbon boat was resting on the crossbars, as the saddles had separated entirely away from the hull. Fortunately, the padding we wrapped the bars with prevented hull damage. I thought perhaps there was something about my friend's crossbars that made my saddles separate. A few days later, I reset them on my crossbars and loaded my kayak. It seemed secure, though I was careful not to pull the straps too tightly, and I set off 20 miles for my favorite local put in. When I arrived, I noticed that the saddles had separated a bit, but my kayak was still sitting in them. Unfortunately, it was not sitting on the nice rubber cradle insets; due to the saddles moving apart, my boat was resting on the hard plastic that surrounds insets. After my paddle I cleaned off my boat and reloaded. Once again, I couldn't tighten the straps without the saddles moving away from each other. I'd pull on the straps, and the saddles would scoot apart by several inches. The mounts couldn't grip the crossbars strongly enough to stay in place, even with the little rubber grippers that come with the mounts. I did the best I could, meaning I didn't tighten the straps as much as I'd have liked to, as I didn't want the saddles to move so far apart that the boat would fall onto the cross bars again. I secured bow and stern tie downs, and headed home at less than normal freeway speed. I could see my boat moving around a little as I drove the flat, coastal route home. By the time I got home, the saddles had separated so far apart, that the boat was barely resting on the inner edges of the saddles. The saddles had moved several inches apart, and another quarter of an inch would have brought my kayak onto the crossbars. As a consequence, the kayak was riding lower, and the straps attaching it to my crossbars had significant slack. I think the bow and stern tie downs were the only reason my kayak made it home. These are going back ASAP. I'm not about to risk my $4300 custom boat on them again.