Thule  Hull-a-Port Kayak Carrier

Have used this with a sit-on-top kayak. The straps with clamps, rope and hooks are excellent quality. I have mine attached to a Thule Wisperbar. Not ideal as the bar is almost too wide to accommodate the Hull-a-Port attachment. Probably better with the square crossbars. The only issue I had, and it was my lack of experience, was the kayak came loose the second time I used it. I didn't have the right angle in the craddle. The boat needs to be leaning more towards the middle of car, not upright as I had done. I also (now) run guy wires from the kayak to the opposite side of the bars. Much better! I would also strongly recommend the Thule "Outrigger II" load-assist bar if you're going to be loading alone. After a day of paddling, my arms are a bit tired making the lift to the top of the car harder.

We decided to transport two 8-foot kayaks on a recent vacation, covering over 1000 miles roundtrip, some at high speeds. I had high anxiety about transporting the kayaks, hoping they wouldn't blow off the top of the van. The Hull-a-Port was the solution and removed my fear. We purchased two sets of Hull-a-Ports, and both did the job perfectly. They were easy to install and securing the kayaks was a snap. We checked the straps and bolts along the way and only had to tighten the bolts slightly. The kayaks did not sustain any damage while being strapped. We are very happy with the performance and won't hesitate to use them on our next trip.

I bought these and they came with 50 & 65mm bolts to clamp the Thule Hull-a-port to the Thule aeroblade bars. The 65mm bolts were too short to thread properly. The 65mm bolts barely caught the fastener threads. The tech shop in the store gave me some 80mm bolts and they were perfect. Seems odd to me that Thule had mis-matched bolts for two of their products meant to be paired together. That being said, the Hull-a-port did a solid job holding my 13.5' kayak in place. No problems with transport, even at 60+mph with a small crosswind.

The first time use went great. The kayaks we stable even with gusty winds up to 20 to 30mph. I feel confident to travel with 2 kayaks on the SUV with these systems. The only draw back is that it is easier to take off my rack system then it is to take off the kayak mounts from my rack. If you have the extra $50, buy the folding model. It will look better and have less drag and noise when not in use. overall, it was a great purchase.

Used three of these on my Yakima Rack and Roll trailer for a family trip to Prescot, AZ (camping, biking and kayaking). The trailer had two bikes and 3 Ocean Kayaks (2 Malibu 2XLs and 1 Venus 11). I was concerned about shifting and loosening, but they didn't budge. I recommend the Yakima Bow & Stern tie downs with these. Honestly, I checked the kayaks at each stop, but didn't need to adjust anything! I also recommend the trailer if you're 5' 5" like me and have a 5' 2" spouse (makes it an easy load/unload). Again, these performed as advertised, and then some.

New REI member. Rack system: ARB53, 480R, 1852 fit kit. 834 Hull-A-Port load bar attachment - the provided carriage bolts, plates and knobs confidently secure the J-Cradle to the bar. Contrary to other online reviews, you do not need a xadapt11; nor do you need longer (.75 to 80mm) carriage bolts. The provided M6x65mm are long enough. The adaptor only permits a t-rail install on the top side of the bar. The folding Pro model at a $75 premium would be an upgrade but I plan to mount only when needed. Very easy to remove. In fact, so easy that theft comes into play. ps. Kudos to tel rep "Jeff".

I really like this product with the use of carrying my kayak to my lake house. Before I had it, I had to shove my kayak into my little station wagon and strap it with bungee cords. The only problem I had with the product was that the instructions were not very clear. I had to research a youtube video on my phone to understand one part of the instructions because the instructions try to tell you how to put it on multiple cars.

I purchased this kayak carrier to go on my 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser and it worked perfectly with one exception . The straps that come with it don't work well at all. I purchased some industrial grade ones at home depot that worked perfectly with the rack.

This kayak carrier is basically only for square crossbars. Do not buy this if you plan on putting it on any other sort of crossbars because the bolts are too short

I needed to go to a J-cradle type system for my new car, so I got these to replace my Mako saddles. These work well; the only thing I don't like about them is they are a little wiggly on my Subaru Outback factory crossbars, becase the concave cut of the rubber blocks that touch the crossbar is somewhat unstable - they want to slide foward or back. Once I tighten the wingnuts down *as hard as I can* it's stable enough, but that's hard to do while reaching upward from underneath the mount. But it's workable. The other thing I wanted to say was, to the two reviewers here who complained about trouble with tying the kayak down - yes, the manual is wrong. Illustration 5A is indeed quite wrong - the loop they show the strap going thru doesn't exist on this rack. But I think anyone with a modicum of mechanical aptitude will quickly see that running the strap down, under the crossbar, and back up again makes for an extremely secure solution. So if you have zero mechanical aptitude, perhaps this rack is not for you.