Great, easy kit for adding cargo rigging to your kayak!
I bought 3 of these kits to add deck rigging to (2) Mainstream Twist kayaks and (1) Ocean Kayak Yakboard kayak. These were all sit-on-top kayaks, that had no rigging. I found that drilling the hole with a 3/8" self-centering drill bit was the easiest way to install these. On my first eyelet, I reemed the hole out so the well nut would push into it easier. That was a big mistake! As soon as I put the bungee through the eyelet, the well nut shot out of the hole with the eyelet still attached. I ended up using one of the extra well nuts the kit comes with and adding some super glue to it and then pushing it back into the hole. It seems to be holding up so far. I guess if it fails, I will have to reposition that eyelet. The rest of the project went without a hitch. I drilled the holes exactly to the 3/8 size drill bit, at a straight vertical angle. I added silicon to the well nuts for extra water protection, but also because it made an excellent lubricant. I used a $5 rubber mallet from Lowe's to drive the well nuts into the hull and then used a damp shop rag to clean up the excess silicon. (I coudn't get the well nuts into the hole until I added the lubricating silicon, and I learned that is how tight they need to be.) I screwed in the eyelets and then wiped off the excess silicon again. When I finished putting in all the eyelets, I added the bungee cord. I actually made several large cargo sections over the front and back of each boat and one for a bottle holder and still had plenty of cord left over. If you are using it for rigging all the way around your boat, you can buy extra cord for 20 cents per foot at the bulk station at REI. I checked out several other kits, but this was the only one I could find that came with well nuts, for a reasonable price. I paid $20 each. I didn't want to have to pay for a rivet tool to use rivets and I couldn't use the nut and bolt style because I didn't have access to the bottom of the bolt, so these well nuts were perfect. I would definitely recommend this kit to anyone looking for a quick and easy way to add rigging to your kayak. It was easy and it works great! I actually briefly picked the 40lb boat up by the cord and none of the eyelets came out, so I think they should hold up just fine for my cargo areas.