Any ideas on how to keep gear from moving inside?

I took my Revo to the lake a couple of weeks ago and the gear that I had in the middle hatch moved to a point that I could not access them. I am going to pickup the liner for the front hatch, but anyone has a good way to at least leash their stuff so you can get to it?

Thanks

1. Take no gear. A relatively unpopular option.

2. Put down a microfiber towel inside to retard sliding of gear plasced on it and tether the towel to a padeye inside the hatch. A quick and dirty option for just a little gear in mild conditions.

3. Install multiple interior padeyes and use multiple tethers to gear. Okay if the number to tethers and amount of gear are relatively few in number and the guaranteed tangles do not make you want to abandon your pfd, flip the boat, and try to swim the ten miles to shore.

4. Install a gear trolley system. Probably the best, most adaptable, and most robust solution. Use search to look at the many variations that have been posted here over time.

Billy and dwest, you both need to take a closer look at what you already have!

1. All 8" hatches have a couple of small holes inside the frame for such purposes. Some Spectra or string with a loop in the end makes a quick noose to snare and keep stored objects close at hand:


2. Most if not all front hatches have larger holes under the bungee mount (you may have to use a mirror to find them) for similar purposes. This one is for the '11 Oasis:

No likee using the holes in the 8" hatches for tethers because then the tethers noisily try to dislodge / pull up on / work the hatch insert round box thingee.

No can access front hatch while on the water, whether tethers or no tethers. Prefer to put all front hatch gear inside a couple of floatation / dry bags, which do not move after being inflated and so do not need tethering.

YMMV.

Thanks for the spanking, Roadrunner!

Thanks for the ideas. I didnt really notice the holes in the hatch. I like the tether idea.

BillyB:
I did like roadrunner suggests, but attached caribiner clips to the rope, and clip dry boxes to the caribiners where we keep wallets, keys, cigarettes, etc. The first aid kit, spare tools, towels, etc all go into Hobie dry bags. I like the idea of using rubber shelf liner (looks like a coarse screen) and is non slip rubber to lay in the bottom of the hull below each hatch, which can help keep things like masks, snorkles, dive flags, and shoes from migrating all over inside the boat (we always seem to pack alot of junk)
Bob

I use the (perforated) rubber shelf liner that you can but at any discount store. It is cheap. It is rubber. It is easily rinsed and air dried to use again and again. It's like the sheets that are used to keep area rugs from sipping and sliding...only cheaper.

dri deck works well:

http://www.dri-dek.com/

Water and air can pass beneath it

Johnny

I use what you guys call "shelf liner" - works well enough but not 100%.

The other technique is to pack out the centre hatch area with so much gear that none of it can move... this almost invariably ends up being what happens to me

I use mesh gym bags. Almost nothing goes inside my boat without going into a dry bag, or a mesh bag. I bought mine at the dollar store, they dry quickly, and by grouping things together, they seem to stay in place better. Not everything stays perfectly in place, but it just depends on what you're looking for. With my AI, anything that I stick in the front hatch tends to stay in the front of the boat, same for the middle twist and stow hatch. Occasionally the stuff placed in the back of the boat can end up under the rear cargo area, but for my purposes, that's the simplest solution.

Depends on what you carry, or how secure you want things to be.

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