Rightline Gear Inflatable Kayak Carrier with Tie Downs

Video Transcript for Rightline Gear Inflatable Kayak Carrier Review

Hi, everyone. Aiden, here with etrailer.com. Today, we're gonna be taking a look at the Rightline Gear Inflatable Kayak Carrier. Now it's going to be a way to carry either a kayak or a stand-up paddle board on your roof without the need for a roof rack. This can be used with either a naked roof or one with raised rails, we've got it on our naked roof here today, and it's gonna basically be these two inflatable pads on either side, giving us a cushion between our boat and our roof offering some protection for our car. Let's check it out.

So the kit includes pretty much everything you need to get something tied down. So we've got the pads, like we mentioned earlier, we've got four of these attachment straps, one for each door. So these are gonna thread in right here and then hook into the door jam or around your raised rail. That's gonna hold the pad in place. We've got bow and stern straps with an S-hook on either end pulled through this buckle and with the excess tied up, and around the main body of the boat, again, two straps S-hook on either end that are pulled tight and they hook into these D-rings that are integrated into the pads, holding everything fairly okay.

Our side to side movement, there's some, it's okay. It's not as sturdy as a regular kayak carrier might be, but the front to back, there's definitely a lot more shake there just by the nature of these being just inflatable pads, and really there's gonna be some movement and some cushion there. So we're not gonna get a rock solid hold. One of the other issues I have with the overall sturdiness of everything is the fact that these hook into the door jam like this. You can see it loosen up as soon as I open the door here.

So if we are getting in and out of the car I'd be worried about this maybe falling out, but once you close it, it tightens up and you can pull it tight. That's about all we can get out of it there, I can't really pull this strap any more without moving the whole carrier. So it doesn't get the strongest hold. It's nice that there isn't the strap running through the vehicle, so if you have kids or something in the car they aren't gonna be messing with it going down the road, but that's still not my favorite way of doing it. I can see this working better in a raised rail application where the strap just runs around the rail and back to the buckle.

Each one of the inflatable pads is gonna be 35 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 4 inches tall. It's gonna be plenty big for our kayak like you see here. Everything's made of this puncture resistant material. I do think it feels pretty good. You've got these reinforced bits at the end to help it keep its shape. And when everything's not in use, it does come with this mesh bag for storage so you can keep everything nice and neat together. Now, personally, I wouldn't maybe use this with a larger kayak, like a fishing kayak. I would invest in a roof rack for something like that and a dedicated kayak carrier, just to get a strong hold on it. This doesn't have an official weight capacity listed. So stick to your smaller boats, maybe your paddle boards or an inflatable paddle board, something just smaller and more light duty. If this is for your personal vehicle, again I would recommend going for a roof rack at the bare minimum, at least strap it to the crossbar so it's something sturdy and solid. It's not gonna be a moving inflatable sack of air essentially. I would especially suggest looking into a dedicated kayak carrier like a J style carrier or a saddle style, something that's gonna really get a good hold and cradle your boat in there. You wanna protect your investment. If you're using this for something like a rental car though, you're maybe going on a trip, renting a car, and you're gonna want to rent a kayak and bring it around with you. This might be a good option because then there is that protective layer, it's very temporary, and it's gonna protect that rental vehicle when you're using it. And that's about it for our Rightline Gear Inflatable Kayak Carrier. It's not my first recommendation for your personal vehicle. I think it definitely has its place in the world of carrying kayaks and paddle boards. If you've got one of those use cases that we mentioned I think it'll work really well. It's definitely one of those temporary solutions, but if you're looking for something more long term I would just look into something that's gonna be more solid and last a long time. Thanks for watching..