Best Kayak for Diving?

[-JD-]

Yup. That or a legit ladder rack. I’ve always wanted an excuse to get a ladder rack for my truck. I believe a kayak would give me that excuse.

Ladder racks are great if it is a work truck or are hauling stuff all the time, but significant weight and drag if it is mostly a daily-driver.

I could loan you a 17' canoe as a rationale. (My yaks don't get enough use, but I'm not surrendering the option and they aren't dive types anyway.) I'll need it back for trash-barge use when we do the creek & lake clean-ups next year.

 

[-JD-]

@rsingler My cousin has an older Mad River Synergy (14 I think) that he uses for lake snorkeling.

They seem to be discontinued, but maybe a used option for you.

I'm headed up there in a couple weeks. I'll try diving off of it and report back.

 

[lexvil]

These are cheap and easy
https://www.amazon.com/TMS-Universa...rds=bolton+lumber+rack&qid=1599662858&sr=8-10
You can buy clamps to fix them the the bed and not drill anything. I recently gave a set away.

 

[rhwestfall]

Wilderness Systems has a sit on top mentioning diving. I would have bought in already, but missed the last one in a 4 state area and Canada by a week...

Talking with retailers, COVID has led to an explosion in sales, but manufacturers aren't going to do extra production runs as the season is ending (is also difficult still with the pandemic). There is a significant fear of a flooded market of used kayaks should we get in a better place with the pandemic in some type of near future. That would cripple sales, and cause manufacturers to sit on inventory, which costs them money...

Good luck finding what you seek...

 

[rhwestfall]

Also, a hitch extension is really nice. I have one that gets various uses.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Ladder racks are great if it is a work truck or are hauling stuff all the time, but significant weight and drag if it is mostly a daily-driver.

I could loan you a 17' canoe as a rationale. (My yaks don't get enough use, but I'm not surrendering the option and they aren't dive types anyway.) I'll need it back for trash-barge use when we do the creek & lake clean-ups next year.

I appreciate the offer.I don’t really have a place to use one as a dive platform though. I think it would be neat to use for shore diving in Venice, FL...assuming I could find one that was stable enough for me to get back into it post-dive.

 

[rsingler]

Thanks for the input! I'll let you guys know what I hear back from my inquiries to Ocean Kayak and Malibu.

Looks like I need to retitle the thread, "How to rig a pickup for kayak diving", bwaahaha!

 

[Still Kicking]

Also, a hitch extension is really nice. I have one that gets various uses.

View attachment 610883

In california (and possibly other states) the vehicle code says your load can extend 2/3 of the wheel base *past the last point of support*. With a hitch extender you can carry a very long kayak in the bed of a standard pickup.

It looks a liittle odd but it's safe and legal. Easier to load thatn a ladder rack but you lose storage space in the bed of course

 

[rhwestfall]

FWIW - I have used one (hitch extension) with a car, and a single roof bar.

 

[-JD-]

@rsingler My cousin has an older Mad River Synergy (14 I think) that he uses for lake snorkeling.
View attachment 610881
They seem to be discontinued, but maybe a used option for you.

I'm headed up there in a couple weeks. I'll try diving off of it and report back.

@rsingler I regret to say that I was unable to try diving from the Synergy. The trip was to build a 2-year delayed garage for my aunt. We spent all day (10-12 hours) of every day building the thing. No "fun stuff" at all; Wake, work, eat, sleep, repeat - for 8 days, bracketed with 8-hour drives.