Most of you probably like to experiment and come up
with your own adaptations, rigging, and
repairs of your kayak to your own specifications.
Having the rights tools, equipment and parts
is very important. I’m not saying that having the
right tools will allow you to install a fishfinder
or put running lights on your yak. You might want to
leave big jobs like that to Brian here at
OEX in order to avoid the frustration and time
consuming details of such installs.
Here, we'll provide a list of some must haves for
tackling rigging jobs at home. Even the minor
adjustments and rigging can be
done easily and efficiently as long as you have these
items:
POWER TOOLS
Roto zip or a dremel with cut out bit - allows
you to make cut outs like flush mount rod
holders without needing a starter hole. You have
better control of the smaller circular
cuts than a jig saw.
Jig Saw (preferably with 2 speeds) this
would be used for the longer straight cuts, like a
hatch install.
Cordless Drill – this will be used of course to
drill the holes to apply rivets and to make
smaller holes for wire seals with spade bits.
Solder Iron with an iron tip – makes mistakes
easy to fix. Keep all your cut out material
from previous jobs so you can use them to fix
unwanted mistakes or cracks. You can
use the solder iron to carve out a small dab of plastic
and then melt that over the small
holes or cracks. For larger holes or cracks it’s a
great idea to take a template of the
area and then trace it over the scrap plastic and cut
it out. If you need a larger piece of
scrap than you have, come by OEX we can usually
accommodate. Put some tape over
the area to hold the plastic in place and begin to
solder the exposed area. Take the
tape off and continue until all is done. You will find
that it will be good as new once the
plastic cools.
Shop-Vac with long pull out extension cord.
This allows you to get inside the yak to get
to those hard to reach places to pick up scraps and
dust left behind during an install.
TOOLS
Rivet Gun – This is a must for rigging
Files – after the cuts they should be filed
down to a smooth non-jagged opening. We
have found metal files work well, both flat and rat-
tail.
3/16 drill bits (for rivets)
Set of spade bits (for smaller holes, wire
seals, etc.)
Screwdrivers - Both Flathead and
Phillips
Wire Stripper
Vice Grips (we use this to crimp the tag wire
to all connectors)
Small Butane Torch – to heat up the shrink
connectors and shrink tubing.
Large Butane Torch – to heat up and fix
small cracks and cut outs
Scissors – Many uses
MATERIALS
Marine Goop – This is the duct tape of the
kayak world. It can fix anything and is a
must have.
Contact Grease – Great to coat your
electrical connectors after every 5 or so trips.
Zip Ties – Good way to keep your wires neat
and together.
Electrical Tape – If money is no object, get
the 3M 130C tape, it is stretchable and
wraps very tight and uniform.
Electrical Connectors:
~Butt connectors – If money is still no object get
the shrink butt connectors,
otherwise you’ll need shrink tubing to use over the
regular connectors.
~Terminal connectors – These will be used to
connect the wires to batteries.
Wire – 18-22 Gauge black and red wire
There are many more materials you could get but
unless you are doing heavy duty rigging for
multiple boats these are pretty much all you will need.
Something to take away: Take your time – measure
twice and cut once. If you have any
questions come by OEX, we are here to help. We do
rigging and installs almost every day so
if you don’t have the time or tools to do what you
want we can do it for you.
