acceptable levels of oil canning ?

[idive2]

I've been looking at some used kayaks and have only recently learned
about oil canning and keel line wear. I'm finding that resale values on used
kayaks to be rather high when the kayak is in good condition. I'm wondering
if trying to save a couple hundred on a one to two year old kayak would be worth it unless
the kayak is in near new condition. I'll be using a J rack to avoid any oil canning,
however I am noticing the used kayaks that have been transported on standard
crossbars without saddles seem to have oil canning present. Also is there an easy way
to determine keel line wear ? The scratches I can live with but if the keel line is worn
significantly I certainly would consider new. Thanks for any comments.

 

[mctrvlr]

Bump - interested in this question myself...

 

[Nemrod]

Keel wear and oil canning are not the same. The plastic kayaks, rotomolded etc, should not be cinched down on a car top carrier with the keel down and straps over the top. The proper rack is the type that holds the kayak on it's side. Yakima has an excellent carrier and I have carried my yak hundreds of miles with no problem.

Sometimes if the keel is oil canned you can straighten it with a heat gun or just set the boat out in the sun on a HOT day right side up, supported on the ends.

N

 

[idive2]

I purchased the J mounts for my rack and as much as they are probably
the best for the hull when transporting I found it much more difficult to
car top these with one person. I've gone back to just putting it topside down
onto the rack and even then being careful not to overtighten straps. Topside
up with keel against the rack is probably the worst way to load it. With regards
to keel line wear, just dragging the kayak around on its' bottom will wear the
keel some. With rentals I'm sure they get dragged around across asphalt and
concrete as well as sand. My new kayak has a neat little wear pad on the
rear keel in a location that would incur the most wear.