Camera Storage in Twist-N-Stow Hatch

I'm trying to figure out a way to mount the bottom half of a pelican case or similar under the twist-n-stow hatch so that I can stow a digital SLR with long lens. The camera and lens will fit through the 8-inch hatch, just don't know what to mount under the deck (or how to mount it) to hold it secure (in foam) and watertight. I want it in the center hatch so I can access it while underway. Any help is appreciated.

That's a good idea and with a little imagination should be fairly easy to accomplish. My first thought would be to try and source a water-tight bag or pouch that could be fastened to the lid underside. Finding such a bag is the easy part, mounting it is a little more difficult.

You have some ribs under the lid so it might be possible to pop a couple holes here and there and attach the bag with some cable/wire tigers to the ribs. A dollop of Goop over each hold would restore it's water-tight seal.

Just a quick idea. I'm sure something better will pop up with a little thought.

Stick the camera and lens in a plastic bag. Ziplock makes 2 gallon bags and there are stronger and larger plastic bags available in the storage area of stores. If you want to spend more, there are all sorts of waterproof bags specifically made for kayaking. I remember seeing pictures where someone had removed the round hatch and cut a bigger square opening and installed a custom hatch. That might be an idea too. Good luck.

Dunno if you will get one to both fit through the hole and accept your camera, but my preference is to use air tight plastic food storage boxes; because they are for the kitchen and not the "marine" market they tend to be a whole lot cheaper than the marine equivalents.

Whatever bag you decide to store your camera in, you can secure it via one of the fastening holes that Hobie placed in the hatch housing for such purpose to keep gear from drifting about.


I use scrap Spectra line to secure gear there -- small but very strong.

Don't think this is big enough, depending on the lens. This is about the biggest boxx that will fit attached to he hatch.

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I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

Guys,

Thanks for all the great ideas. I think to achieve what I was hoping to do, I'd have to remove the entire hatch and insert the box (don't what a soft bag) and then reattach the hatch. I was hoping to attach the box directly under the hatch lid so the camera doesn't get jostled about and so it's water tight. Ideally, the box would fill the hatch opening. The camera and len is too long to be inserted into the hatch with the lens facing hull. Lens has to face the bow.
I wasn't aware of the holes in the hatch for securing items. good stuff.

box would need to be 7" deep and 12" long.

Good you worked it out. Give us a picture when finished.

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I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

I would actually go a different way than trying to mount the pelican box inside the twist and stow. Instead, I recommend removing the screws holding the hatch in place, and rotate it 90 degrees so that it opens to the side instead of towards the pedals.

Then mount your pelican box where the open hatch would have been before (between the hatch and the pedals. The Pelican is already water tight. Taking it apart and trying to mount it inside of the Hobie, which is not as water tight is silly. If you place the Pelican inside the hatch, you will be fighting every time to get it in and out, and then fix or secure a lid on. The space is big enough for an SLR, but not an SLR and lens.Save yourself the aggravation, and mount the pelican on the deck.

With the hatch open, you will be able to access the inside of the kayak deck and the outside for fastening on the box. How you fasten on the box depends on if you are trying to attach it permanently, or if you want to be able to remove the Pelican easily each time you are done kayaking.

Mount it on the deck! I like it! Now that's thinking outside the box.

Wait KayakPhotography. There's no room to mount anything bow-side of the seat hatch on an Outback. Do you have an outback.

I don't have an outback. I hadn't realized there wasn't the space there (because of the mesh stowage pocket it looks like). You could try mounting a box to the topside of the twist and stow. It would limit how wide the twist and stow would open, but it should still open most of the way. If the camera was packed in cut out foam inside of a pelican box, the opening of the hatch and subsequent upending of the camera and box shouldn't cause any harm. Any holes drilled through the hatch to attach the pelican could be sealed with caulking or rubber gaskets.

Sorry for getting your hopes up by suggesting between the hatch and the pedals