WadeFish 15

[paddling4sharks]

Mornin';
....only wish it was my brain child. Here's the story on the magnetic hatches, interesting build I must say:http://www.roguepaddler.com/ultim12.htm

[Kayak Jack]

P4S,

Very interesting. I learned something new. I'll share, only once more, some experiences. Then you make up your own mind.

I used to ride dirt bike a lot. We would lash on lunch, rain gear, etc. to a rack over the back fender. We'd ride rough all day long. I lost some gear. Here's what I found.

I'm aware of two ways to fasten something down: One is with something "elastic". this will hold a constant tension or pressure on an object, but doesn't do a good job of containing large bounces, nor does it contain mass & momentum so as to limit outer travel.

The other is with something "inelastic". This doesn't maintain a constant pressure or tension on an object, but it does limit outer travel.

If I put a 1 quart thermos on the rack of my 400cc Suzuki dirt bike with only bungee, it would get bounced off at some point. In a particularly nasty stretch of trail the mass of the object would bounce, bungee would stretch, and the bottle would slide in that one, short moment.

If I put the same 1 quart thermos bottle on with only rope, no matter how tightly I lashed it, the bottle would be lost. Though the rope did an excellent job of severely limiting maximum bounce, nothing was holding the bottle down constantly. The bottle was lost.

Only when I used both methods - bungee and rope - did I stop losing lunch & rain gear.

Earth magnets will do an excellent job of elastically holding down a hatch. And, may in 99.9% of all uses successfully limit out travel. But, it takes only once for Murphy to succeed . (Mr. Murphy of "If something can go wrong, it will. And at the worst possible moment" notoriety.)

I recognize that a hatch does not have the mass nor potential momentum of a 1 quart thermos bottle. Don't be lulled by that fact. Neither do straws have the mass of a steel rod, but they get driven into trees in the right circumstances. Mother Nature is the most beautiful woman I know, but she's a trickster too.

I suggest to you that, if hull integrity is important to you, you have a backup system. Moving parts don't, and leak proof tanks do.

If, by mistake or senility, I ever broach this subject to you again, please remind me that I promised I wouldn't.