How to Get Poles from Point A to Point B
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:54 pm
It always seems to pop up . . .how to get the poles to the meet in one piece! When faced with a vehicle not equipped with a luggage rack your options slim down in a hurry.
If you tighten the ratchet straps down too much you wreck the roof of the rental car. . . and that's considered a bad thing. I'd stay away from duct-taping the mirrors of new cars. Some of them have popoff mirrors, and that would be quite a surprise at 60MPH.
One method I picked up from my kayaking/canoeing buddies is the use of foam in the right place. Cabela's, Wal-Mart, BassPro, or pretty much any boat place that sells canoes or fishing equipment also sells the foam pads for placing a canoe upside down on your cartop. They are waterproof and weigh practically nothing. Normally, the grooves/ridges cut in the foam go down the edge of the canoe to protect the car finish and are about 12-16" long with 4 in the set. You can take them, turn them sideways and place your pole tube on top of them. You could also cut a arc in the pads where your pole tube could snuggle. There is less contact with the actual car roof, and they won't slide sideways if secured properly. Once you have your foam pads in place, you can use a short ratchet to hold the tubes together and provide a tie point at each end of the tube. These can be found at good ole' Wal-mart as well. Then you run a strap up from each end of the bumper to the middle where the tube end is and carefully tighten down each side equally. You would want to tighten all 4 snug and then each one a little more. If all goes well, the poles will not move. A word of caution though, make sure to check the straps every so often, because new straps stretch some and make sure the tube has good endcaps so you don't stop suddenly and find your pole being launched out the front of the car like an air-to-air missle. Spectacular, but somewhat disheartening. You might also want to get a red flag to tape on the end. Some state troopers are picky about how far things stick out, and most of you may end up with a rental thats way shorter than your case.
For those of you with plastic cases such as Essx ships their poles in, and a luggage rack you can use the "canopy tiedowns" from Wal-Mart and easily secure your pole to the rack. Shorten them as neccessary and use three or four. This method has been field tested at 70MPH so I know it works. I carry two poles and have banded them together with two-sided strechy velcro (Lowe's,HomeDepot,Etc.) and they carry pretty well. Just make sure you put the curves in the case facing the same way or you kinda look retarded when you walk in. Hope this helps.
If you tighten the ratchet straps down too much you wreck the roof of the rental car. . . and that's considered a bad thing. I'd stay away from duct-taping the mirrors of new cars. Some of them have popoff mirrors, and that would be quite a surprise at 60MPH.
One method I picked up from my kayaking/canoeing buddies is the use of foam in the right place. Cabela's, Wal-Mart, BassPro, or pretty much any boat place that sells canoes or fishing equipment also sells the foam pads for placing a canoe upside down on your cartop. They are waterproof and weigh practically nothing. Normally, the grooves/ridges cut in the foam go down the edge of the canoe to protect the car finish and are about 12-16" long with 4 in the set. You can take them, turn them sideways and place your pole tube on top of them. You could also cut a arc in the pads where your pole tube could snuggle. There is less contact with the actual car roof, and they won't slide sideways if secured properly. Once you have your foam pads in place, you can use a short ratchet to hold the tubes together and provide a tie point at each end of the tube. These can be found at good ole' Wal-mart as well. Then you run a strap up from each end of the bumper to the middle where the tube end is and carefully tighten down each side equally. You would want to tighten all 4 snug and then each one a little more. If all goes well, the poles will not move. A word of caution though, make sure to check the straps every so often, because new straps stretch some and make sure the tube has good endcaps so you don't stop suddenly and find your pole being launched out the front of the car like an air-to-air missle. Spectacular, but somewhat disheartening. You might also want to get a red flag to tape on the end. Some state troopers are picky about how far things stick out, and most of you may end up with a rental thats way shorter than your case.
For those of you with plastic cases such as Essx ships their poles in, and a luggage rack you can use the "canopy tiedowns" from Wal-Mart and easily secure your pole to the rack. Shorten them as neccessary and use three or four. This method has been field tested at 70MPH so I know it works. I carry two poles and have banded them together with two-sided strechy velcro (Lowe's,HomeDepot,Etc.) and they carry pretty well. Just make sure you put the curves in the case facing the same way or you kinda look retarded when you walk in. Hope this helps.