Kayak Maintenence: Replacing stretched out Bungee

 

Fresh bungee. 

The beauty of owning a kayak is that it does not require much maintenance if you treat it properly. If you own a boat that is over a certain age certain parts wear out and need to be replaced. One of the easiest parts on the kayak to replace when it is worn out are the bungee cords. My brother has a 2009 Hobie revo that is in great shape except for the saggy bungees. The front hatch bungees had stretched over time and were allowing some water in when the revo would cut through waves. The paddle holder had stretched to the point where the paddle would rock and pivot while strapped down.

Don't make it too tight or it will wear out faster.

What you will need:
25 feet of Bungee Shock Stretch Cord 1/4"
Hobie key tool
Scissors
Lighter
Marine Silicone
Phillips screwdriver
Small thin screwdriver
Tape measure

removing the nut without the key tool
resulted in a bloody knuckle

The procedure for replacing the bungee is pretty easy once you have the tools and new bungee material. First thing first you should order your replacement Bungee  I ordered from here and its very high quality. There are a lot more colors than the than the black your boat came with and we decided to go with red. The procedure for replacing the bungee is pretty easy once you have the tools and new bungee material. First thing first you should order your replacement Bungee Shock Stretch Cord 1/4" I ordered from here and its very high quality. There are a lot more colors than the than the black your boat came with and we decided to go with red.

once we found this fit it was
smooth sailing.

Once your order comes in step one
is to remove the old busted bungee by unscrewing the special flush screw in nuts that Hobie uses. To do this you need use the special key tool

this would have saved a lot of time.

or find a pair pliers or something else that fits in the two notches on the nut. I'm sure the Hobie designed tool makes this job much easier as we damaged the grooves in one of the fittings and a knuckle trying to unscrew the first one. Fortunately we found a 50GAUGE wire crimp that fit and made quick work of un/screwing the screw in fittings.
Once you get the bungee removed you can measure to get a length be sure to cut a little longer than you measured so you have enough to tie the knot on the end. After you cut the new bungee burn the frayed ends to make it fit back inside easier and/or use a small diameter screwdriver to push it through if it still gives you trouble. For the front bungees they have a different fastener that uses a stainless screw through the hull this one was much easier to remove with a standard Phillips screw. The process for securing the bungee is the same you still have to push it through a hole and tie a knot.When you replace the screw remember to put fresh Silicone on the threads as you should with any screw that goes through the hull. It took us a little over an hour to do every bungee on the boat it would have went much faster if we had the right tools from the beginning. I think the red looks really sharp and makes the hull color look brighter. One last tip make sure your new bungees stay in good shape is to unhook the bungees before you store your boat . Hopefully these tips will help you replace your kayak elastic bungee and keep your boat look better and stay in tip top shape.

If it won't push through easily use a small screwdriver to push through.
Before screwing it back in add silicone to the threads of the screw.