Yea we have had quite a few Hobies over the years that we mostly use in salt water, the Hobie handles are pretty but don’t last long, (couple years). With ours the metal overmolded insert rusts, then the rubber splits. At that point we typically cut them off and toss them. On a few boats I replaced with another brand handle, ( available at most kayak shops). On others I just take a short length of 3/8 dia pvc water pipe, run a paracord loop thru it and call it good enough. I would guess that 90% of the Hobie kayaks sold only ever see fresh water so I doubt there is an issue with the handles that Hobie would see as an issue. Just a fact of life for people who live near ocean, (everything corrodes). FE Edit: If you live near salt water, when the boat is new, if you fill the stand off holes on the bottom with silicone, and smear some silicone around the rope where it enters the handle, ( basically preventing the salt from having access to the steel), you might get a couple extra years use. However if you use the heck out of your boats like we do, all the stuff like that are consumable components, (ie... mirage fins, ropes, rigging, sails, etc), all need to be replaced periodically, stuff wears out.
|