I finally got around to adding some deck rigging to my kayak this weekend.
On the way to my parents’ house for a visit, I swung by and grabbed a deck kit from Academy. With my dad’s help (and tools), we rigged it up pretty quickly (not counting the time we spent searching his shed for the elusive silicone that wasn’t included in the kit).
Instructions are clear on the packaging, and the job was pretty simple. The hardest part was lining everything up just right, especially for a couple of perfectionists. We ran a line of tape down the center of the kayak & measured out from there.
Note: if you can’t access the inside of your kayak (e.g. if you have a sit-on-top kayak), you will need a pop rivet gun. I am able to access mine, so we used the screws & nuts. However, we did need two sets of hands for this, as there is no way I could have reached inside and outside of the kayak at the same time to tighten them.
Essentially, you’ll need:
Drill
Silicone (optional, but recommended)
Pliers (for clamping hog rings)
Phillips Screwdriver
Ratchet (if you can access the inside of your kayak)
Pop Rivet Gun (if you cannot access the inside of your kayak)
Hair Dryer (for shrink wrap)
The only weird part was closing the bungee loop at the end. The process requires you to clamp the overlapping sections of bungee with hog rings, then shrink wrap over the clamps. It all worked well enough, but leaves a less-than-ideal bulge in the bungee (I still used some electrical tape to cap off the end). It’s not terrible, but I’m on the lookout for a good way to cover it up.
Outdoor Explorer 