Two Outback Mods

While these mods were created for the Outback. They can be applied to other Kayaks with similar designs.

First:

The Outback is a great kayak but has limited storage... especially if you use the Hobie bucket in the front compartment. Several years ago my son and I solved this problem by building a foam "wall" behind the front storage compartment. This allows the entire nose to be used for storage and provides about the same storage capacity as the Hobie PA storage bucket.

We took our time and cut 4" thick foam blocks to fit precisely. We had to make it in three pieces to fit snugly. We left a small opening behind the battery to allow water to drain into the larger hull (just in case). Once everything was dry fitted, we Marine Gooped the pieces into place. It has been holding firm since 2018.





Second:

My son is now hauling his Outback in a pick-up with a spray-in bed liner. I was concerned that the nose of the Outback would wear a hole in the bed liner.

So, I made a hook out of a piece of aluminum flat bar and rigged it to a 4" Transom Saver. This allows him to hang the transom saver on the nose of the Outback before loading.

Now there is a 4" piece of rubber (16 square inches of rubber) riding against the bed liner vs a 1/4" piece of hard plastic (0.6 square inches of plastic). I don't have metal fabrication tools and was able to hack this together with a Dremel tool and bench grinder. All and all, I am pleased with the solution.

Nice post!. The only reason why I'm looking to move up into a PA14 is storage. I love my 2020 Outback but I find myself bringing more and more gear with me every trip lol

Thanks.

If storage is your main concern, give it a try!

This is the foam that we used ( https://www.austinkayak.com/Closed-Cell-Foam-12in-x-24in-x-4in/ACK1134P.html ). It is a little pricy for a hunk of foam, but it holds up extremely well to gear bumping against it. Additionally, it cuts well (I think we used a drywall keyhole saw and drywall shaper plane?) and the Marine Goop adheres to it really well. Best that I recall, we used one and a half tubes of Marine Goop... it ain't going anywhere!

For what it's worth, I took the above pictures over the weekend (3 years after the foam install). The foam is holding up really well.

Do yourself a favor and put the Outback on a set of sawhorses. It takes a lot of template making, fitting, scribing, and shaping to get the blocks to fit precisely. We started with a cardboard template fit to the bottom of the kayak. Once we had this, we made a template and fit it to the inside of the Kayak. Even still, we had to do a lot of shaping once the blocks were cut. It took a couple of hours to get everything dry fitted. You will have an easier time if you are not bending over the entire time.

Whatever the case, the foam and Marine Goop are a lot cheaper than a PA14. LOL!