Greenland Paddle Version 2

So I wasn’t happy with Greenland version 1. It wasn’t crafted fine enough, too fat in places, kind of heavy. In hindsight, I was fighting mediocre wood AND learning how to use hand tools and make mistakes using them (power planer, hand planer, spoke shave, chisel).

I also wanted to tweak the dimensions – especially the location of the shoulders, based on how V1 felt and where my hands naturally go with the Akiak.

I purchased two western red cedar boards from Premium Plywood Specialities in Hyannis. Sure they were more than a big box store ($40 each for a 10 foot length), but they really were straight and knot free! Working with this board was a pleasure, and my hand tools did what I wanted them to do. I was less timid with the wood because I knew where I wanted it to go.

The finished product was coated with 6-7 coats of 50% tung oil / 50% organic orange solvent, 1-2 hours apart over 2 days. It sat for 7-8 weeks while I was back in Atlanta in April and May.

And — I love it! It fits me perfectly, is quite light compared to the pine, and fits like a glove. I’ve done several trips with it now, and I am quite pleased (plus there is something satisfying about the fact that you made it for yourself). The Akiak is a great 2 piece stowed as a backup. I also managed to more aggressively trim the pine paddle V1. I still don’t expect to use it much, but it is always there if I need another backup.

I’m still learning a bit about the paddle. I’m getting more comfortable with most paddle strokes and dealing with currents, still working my way up to larger waves. But after fighting the current in Nauset Marsh today and looking at my average boat speed with with a euro-blade, I think I’m dialing it in pretty well.

Only negative that after 7 miles today, both thumbs have a blister in the making where they rub against the shoulder. I need to sand those edges smoother!

greenland paddles. Akiak, home made version 1, home made version 2
Top: Akiak 2 piece carbon fiber, Middle: Version 1, pine, Bottom: Version 2, western red cedar
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Greenland Paddles – Comparison and Next Steps

I purchased a 2 piece greenland paddle for Christmas – the Akiak by Gear Labs. I also spent time this winter building one from a 2×4 and plans from Cape Falcon Kayak.

General thoughts paddling with the Akiak. It took about an hour to dial in, but once I figured out the paddle angle, I really liked it — so quiet! The lack of sound of my stroke is a sign that the paddle angle is just right. This angle (canted forward) is so different from a euro-blade, as well as the lack of paddle rotation (habit from whitewater kayaking). The Akiak also flutters a bit if the paddle angle is not right.

I also like how the blade can be slid to be held off-center left or right (it is a greenland thing to do) and keep on paddling, and the change in depths allow a steady kayak turn with no pausing the forward stroke or needing sweeps. I do not like that the transition from the loom to the blade on the Akiak is gradual, since when I do go off-center I cannot feel when I am back to center. The paddle does have dots every centimeter or so and I know where my hands should be — I’m thinking of putting tape on the blade so I can feel the center position.

In April I finished my 2×4 to greenland paddle using Cape Falcon’s plans. I made many mistakes, resorted to wood filler, misused several tools (band saw, power plane, hand plane, spoke shave) but learned in the long run the right way to use them.



Comparison of the two paddles. I compared the two paddles with two laps around the lake at Herring Pond in Eastham (and again later that day at two ponds in Brewster). Total on the 2 trips was nearly 6 miles, with my time spent 50/50 between my wooden and Akiak paddles.

The Akiak still wins. They both felt fine for the forward stroke. The wooden one does not flutter like the Akiak when the paddle angle is off (but I can hear it splash). The Akiak was much more comfortable sculling than the wooden one. The loom on the wooden paddle is a little thicker than I’d like. And I would definitely spend more time sanding the loom in the future. The one thing I DID like about my wooden paddle was the shoulder between the loom and the blade – a natural feel of the center point.

I am going to make version 2 of my wooden paddle, with the following changes from version 1:

  • Western Red Cedar instead of Pine
  • I will more aggressively shape the blades with both the power and hand plane, both thinner and more “wing like” cross section. I was too cautious planing the blades on this paddle, worried about over-cutting, and my later final shaping with the hand plane still wasn’t enough.
  • Make the loom a bit thinner and rounder
  • Shorten the blade a little to the length of the Akiak
  • Possible widen the blade maybe 1/4″, similar to the Akiak
  • Initially cut the paddle with 3″ extra at each end to avoid snipings when trimming down the board with the power planer. Only cut after the blade is at the intial thickness.

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Paddling Log: Nauset Marsh – Hemenway to Inlet via NW Passage

Beautiful day, 80F, winds were 15mph or so, but no chop in the marsh.

My goal today was to determine when the tide currents change in the marsh. Past experience has suggested that some paddling guides don’t quite have it right.

I launched from Hemenway around 1030, thinking I’d reach the inlet not long before the tide turned. I was half right.

Paddling was the typical Nauset trip, tide was low (but as I learned later, 2+ hours from low). I arrived at the Nauset rip, and there was still a healthy ebb current out the inset. The Atlantic surf was moderate and I really wanted to try some close in waves, but I didn’t know how the ebb current may add to rip currents and decided not to until the current turned. According to the tide charts, low tide at Nauset Beach was 1130.

I got out at a spit in the inlet to wait the current out. I could see the tide slowly coming in on the Atlantic side of the spit, but the ebb flow out was still significant! Out of stubborness, I waited about an hour (and enjoyed the views!) but the ebb flow still had no stopped.

View from a spit island in the Nauset inlet, Orleans side

Seeing how it had decreased, I decided to start paddling back. Before I did, because the surf was mild and rising tide had the waves starting to reach the inlet, I paddled through the cut and caught one long surf back in. I am not very experienced at ocean (vs whitewater river) surfing and the speed took me by surprise! It was a fun long run, and I clearly have a bit to learn about how ruddering and edges work on a surf in a sea kayak vs a whitewater kayak.

About 15 minutes in I made it to the narrowest part of the channel, but here the current was stronger again. I ferried over to the Eastham (vs Orleans) side of the channel and again waited a bit longer.

Waiting out the current a bit longer further in, on the Eastham side of the inlet

Finally, I started paddling back. Still fighting an ebb current, and also a significant head wind now (I passed several tour groups happily paddling with the current against me!) I made it back to Hemenway around 2pm or later, at what appeared to be dead low.

Putting the boat on the car roof while being savagely attacked by greenheads was not fun!

After a few trips out, my general rule for Nauset is this. The Nauset Beach tide forecast is for the water levels at the ocean. It is accurate, and I could see the levels starting to rise past low tide at 1130 or so. However, the Pleasant Bay tide forecast (where low tide was forecast for 2pm) appears to be a better guide for levels far inside the marsh and also for estimating the direction of tidal currents. It is a bit south but suffices for within 15 minutes or so. Useful for the future!

Being the academic I am I searched a bit — the issue of tides and shallow estuaries has been studied — in this very marsh. Many times over the last several decades. Every decade or so the inlet (or inlets) changes with new hurricanes and shifting sands, and there is an impact on the currents and march circulation that local boaters have to adapt to.

In hindsight looking at my speed on the GPS data, the currents were significant. I can paddle comfortably at a 3.0-3.3 mph page (not trying to speed). Outbound, my speed was 4.5 to 5 mph, going with the current. The return trip was 1.5-2.0 mph.

Pleasant Bay tidal station-> https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome.html?id=8447291

Nauset Beach tide and surf forecast -> https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Nauset-Beach/tides/latest

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Paddle Log 2021-05-20: Rock Harbor to Namskaket Marsh (and back)

My first time paddling (whitewater or sea) since October! I decided to revisit Namskaket Marsh, about a 1.5 mile bay paddle from Rock Harbor. On my last visit last October, I did not follow the marsh all the in, only choosing to explore the branch that head to the NE behind the bay facing beaches.

The wind was forecast from the south, which had me anticipating a flat bay, but as is often the case the bay wind and waves seems to ignore the prevailing altitude winds in the weather forecast. The wind was from the west(ish) and the waves were from the WSW. This was also my first time paddling without a phone, but with the Garmin GPSMAP86sci, a marine-grade handheld GPS with built-in InReach for location tracking (and SOS). As always, I also paddle with a waterproof VHF marine radio in my PFD pocket.

I left about 2 hours past low tide, too low to put in at my usual spot so I walked 15 minutes to the Eastham Rock Harbor boat ramp with my kayak cart (which I stow in the rear hatch).

I paddled slow and into the wind with cross-waves to get to Namskaket. Waves were 1-1.5 feet. Partially dropping the skeg always help with the wind and maintaining bearing.

I have paddled all the Cape Cod Bay marshes in Eastham and Orleans. They are all unique, but Namskaket is now possibly my favorite. I arrived at probably the perfect time (mid-tide) where it was just deep enough to be navigable, with a sizeable mid-tide current pushing me in. Navigating marshes in a 16 foot kayak is always challenging (the 12 foot boat is much easier), and while this marsh is very twisty, it remains wide enough that I had little trouble heading all the way to nearly the point of no return — like other Marshes, this boundary is the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which along with Route 6 forms a natural barrier for the Bay marshes on one side and the Atlantic Ocean marshes on the other.

I almost stopped when I came across 3 Mallard ducks staring at me.

None shall pass!

I have a history with paddling and mallards. While kayaking the Toccoa River, I was low-flying dive-bombed by a few. While raft-guiding the Chattooga River, I was chased by 2 angry ducks for over a mile (bringing new meaning to “paddle faster”). Generally they are being protective of young nearby. We stared at each other for a few minutes, and I slowly did a sculling draw stroke to move slowly sideways and edge past them to see how they reacted. They appeared not defensive or uptight, so I slowly paddled by. They just stared with no apparent hostility. On the return trip they had the high ground on the marsh and again just glared at me as I passed by.

The return trip out of the marsh required fighting a significant tide-current. Once out in the bay, I had really good speed with a trailing wind and diagonal trailing seas from my rear port side. This kind of trailing sea makes me a bit uncomfortable paddling – the speed benefit of a trailing sea, but the instability that comes from not always seeing it and coming from one side. But I made great time back to Rock Harbor, with a max speed of 5 mph! (my typical paddling cadence is about 3mph)

I took out at the boat ramp and walked back to the house, hosing off everything.

It takes time getting into a rhythm after not paddling for a while. I cannot find my paddling knife. And I somehow torqued my PVC kayak cart that I made over a decade ago, breaking one of the support legs! I am really dependent on this cart, and Cape Cod Kayak tells me there is no commercial cart that fits in the rear hatch. Mine coincidentally “just fits” into the rear hatch with proper packing when I take one wheel off. I’ll likely rebuild the broken part this week.

My shoulders hurt the next morning. I tried focusing on torso rotations on the bay paddle, but navigating the marsh I likely use them less. I’ll chalk it up to being out of paddling shape for the season.

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An 80s Style Tribute to 2020

Using the display board described on this blog, I made a video tribute to the year 2020. I hope you enjoy it!

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32×64 Programmable LED Display Board

Background

I started working on this project *3* years ago. I had the idea, worked on it a few evenings per year, and put it aside.

This year has not sparked much joy. I had Christmas week off. I spent my Christmas week off getting it done! It took a week.

Yes you can buy a bigger and multicolor display at Adafruit. For less than I paid to buy parts and build this!

Yes you can download drivers and example code (like the Adafruit_GFX libraries) and get going in no time on that display you bought.

But the fun is in the journey and I wanted to build it all myself, from designing and assembling the display down to the bare metal device drivers. It made me happy, and the debugging was fun.

I did borrow the fonts from the MD_MAX72xx LED Matrix Arduino Library, because making fonts is not fun (but bitmaps are!). The MD_MAX72XX library just linked to is the most complete and fully featured MAX7219 library out there. Just use it and the examples, do not try to start with my code!

Quick Overview of the Finished Product

I had played with the MAX7219 based display boards for years. The MAX7219 can drive a single 8×8 LED display matrix or 8 7-segment LED displays. The integrated chip and display on a printed circuit board can be purchased as a single unit. A PCB with 4 daisy chained units can be commonly purchased as well, creating an 8×32 display. Tutorials abound online on how to program these displays. See examples such as here and here. And there are seeming dozens of libraries as well.

Physical Display. This display is comprised of 8 8×32 boards, each having 4 8×8 displays daisy-chained together. It is driven by the SPI bus, and data loaded into the first device in the chain shifts data from that device to the next device down the chain, and so on. Each row is 2 8×32 boards, and I desoldered the edge connectors and used a combination of soldering and wiring (to fix mistakes) to create a single 8×64 row. I created 4 such rows. Those rows were then aligned, lots of measuring occurred, and I drilled mounting holes in piece of 1/4″ polycarbonate. The displays were mounted with screws and standoffs. Additional pieces of polycarbonate were cut and glued to make the device freestanding. The base has a reassembled set of breadboards for circuit prototyping and the microcontroller, and the backside of the display has additional “buses” from breadboards for power distribution and easy interconnects.

Electrical Connections. The online tutorials make this look easy. 5 wires between your display and an Arduino, connect to your computer, and you are done! That works with an 8×32 display. And your computer’s USB port can (usually) source enough current to power it. But this larger display will pull 4A of current when fully lit! I needed wires with more gauge than the typical 28 gauge Dupont connector wires these kits comes with. I purchased a kit to crimp my own Dupont cables to make my own connectors, this also allowed neater wiring and a better physical setup, and I could crimp them to solid core 22 gauge hookup wire, which could handle the currents. The power to the device has a 5A fuse and is 18 gauge wire to the “DC bus.” Rather than daisy chaining the devices for power, there are 8 5VCD and GND connections, one to the connector for each of the 8 8×32 displays. To reduce noise and crosstalk problems, the CLK and CS lines were not daisy-chained but driven in parallel to each row. The DIN lines wrapping each row to the next had to be separated from all the other wires and had GND lines placed between each, also to reduce noise problems and enable the SPI bus to run at 10 MHz (without these mods, it was running at 300 kHz …). There is a standard 2.1mm DC power connector and it is driven by a 6A 5V power supply or a benchtop power supply. The breadboard has an ESP32 microcontroller, a 3.3V regulator for powering the ESP32, and a 3.3V to 5V level shifter.

Software. I wrote device-level libraries that facilitate register level programming of the 7219 devices over the SPI bus. They make it easy to send commands to all the devices or just target a single device in the display matrix. The demo code testing out all of these features, which I also used for determining display orientation and alignment (which dot is driven by which register, left/right and up/down). A video of my code running and testing these drivers is below. I then write display-level drivers that build on these libraries and enable common features to treat it like one integrated display, such as drawing bitmaps, writing text, drawing lines and boxes, etc. A video testing these routines is also below. I learned how to fight the Arduino IDE into using many C/C++ and header files and have them included and compiled the way they should be.

Bitmap Design. Besides writing lots of code at various levels (from display routines to hardware level writing), bitmaps play a major role. Besides drawing the bitmaps, each had to be translated into a long list of 1s and 0s. For small bitmaps, I created an Excel spreadsheet to play with different designs and generate the data I could copy into an array in my code. For medium sized bitmaps, I designed by hand (like the Pacman ghost and the covid particle) from online pictures. For really large bitmaps like the world map and Atlanta skyline, I imported an image or map into Inkscaped, created another layer with a grid, then placed semitransparent boxes snapped to the grid over the image. There is a bit of an art to this — sometimes the best looking result is not a simple mapping of the image to a dot or no dot, the low resolution means that sometimes key features need to be captured to look real. This was reminiscent of my Lego Globe that I built over 20 years ago, where I dealt with similar tradeoffs. Some pictures are below.

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Paddle Log 2020-10-24: Target Ship and Billingsgate Shoals

I launched around 1115 from the the Town of Eastham Boat Ramp. The weather at launch was beautiful and textbook perfect for an open water paddle — sunny, a flat bay, winds negligible, temp around 60F. This was my first open water paddle – destination Target Ship and Billingsgate Shoals. The Target Ship is the remains of the SS James Longstreet, a World War II Liberty Ship. In 1944 she became a target ship for experimental US Navy munitions, and was towed to Boston and scuttled on a shoal off of Eastham in 1945. Bombing stopped some time in the early 1970s. Over time the shoal has moved and the ship has sunk, and is still nearly completely underwater even at low tide.

Fishing boats can only enter or exit Rock Harbor within 2 hours or so at high tide. This part of Cape Cod Bay has 10+ foot tidal changes. At low tide you can walk out over a half-mile on mud, and the shallow water continues for another half mile. I had never paddled out of Rock Harbor at near low tide before and assumed a kayak would not have a problem. It was. There was under a foot of water in parts! It was not until nearly 1 mile out that the water was more than a few feet deep, and the shallow water boundary was very clearly defined — a line of breaking waves from the bay where the water depth dropped off suddenly.

It was about a one hour+ paddle to reach the site of the ship. There was little to see above water except for one metal structure. I could see signs of the ship beneath me, but it was hard to get a good view from the perspective of sitting on the water in a kayak. Weather was still sunny, wind <10mph, and seas still quite flat.

I set a new course for Billingsgate Shoals, which I reached in another hour or so. Billingsgate Shoals is a former island that is only visible at low tide. It once housed a community and a lighthouse. As I saw what looked like sand bars exposed at low tide in the distance, one mini island looked rocky instead of sandy. It also appeared closer. So I slightly changed course to head in that direction.

As I got closer, I realized that it was not rocks. It was a large group of seals, covering the entire exposed sand bar! Some of them must weigh many hundreds of pounds (they were huge). I gave them wide berth – I had no idea how they might react to my presence.

I shift course slightly to the left and head towards the next nearest sand bar. But too late. Almost as if on queue, nearly all the seals slide in the water. And start swimming after me. Reaching the sand bar, I got out of the boat, saw that they were still swimming towards me, and decided to get back in and paddle to a larger sand bar. I paddled faster than they swam, and they gave up.

The exposed island was much bigger than I expected! It was all sand, except for some high ground and what looked like rocks at the north end (I was at the south end), but it looked like it was nearly a mile away.It was now cloudy and the winds had picked up. I decided I would get there quicker if I paddled, and I was worried I would be too far from my kayak not knowing how fast the tide would rise here. So I launched towards the bay side away from Wellfleet, broke through the waves, and paddled to the rocks I saw. The rocks were the remnant of what was still clearly an old stone jetty or breakwater. I landed next to it. The only other sign of former human habitation was grid of rock slabs that was likely the base for a structure.

The views of Wellfleet Harbor were great, and I could see the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown faintly across the open water.

The weather was now cloudy, I could see what looked like rain or dark clouds toward Brewster or Yarmouth. I decided to paddle straight back Rock Harbor instead of a longer excursion to paddle around Lieutenant Island. Prior to launching I learned that beach sand can jam a kayak skeg 🙁

It was a 6 or so mile paddle and took about 2 hours. At this point the wind had picked up coming from the W-SW. I was heading on a near south course (S-SE). Over the first house, the ocean swells became larger and gradually were about 2 feet in height. They were broadside to my course and becoming increasingly annoying. I tracked a slightly westward course from south so my course had some windward angle to the swells, and as they got bigger, I turned to windward a little more. The plan was to turn windward a bit more and paddle on that course until a left turn to leeward would take me on a course to the harbor entrance. I changed course to leeward and the last 20 minutes was a trailing sea off my starboard side. which probably added 0.5 mph to my pace as well!

All in all, it was a confidence building paddling day. I paddled open water, and my total trip length was about 13 miles. My moving average was 3.4mph, but I could sustain 4mph for 10+ minutes at a time when needed. The GPS navigation for setting a course for waypoints was invaluable combined with the compass on the kayak. I did realize post-trip that I really need to carry a paper nautical chart as backup. On this trip I could still always see landmarks all over the horizon, but this is also my home turf where I recognize all major landmarks from Orleans to Wellfleet along Cape Cod Bay.

When I got home, I found the GPS acting wonky (water in connector?) and I cannot download the track! Stay tuned. UPDATE: Communication is no longer possible. I hand-copied out waypoints I measured and estimated my route — see below for chart. I need to purchase a true waterproof GPS with navigation capabilities.

Trip parameters recalled from GPS: Distance 13.0 miles, average moving speed 3.4 mph, max speed 4.8mph. I left around 11:15 and returned around 1615. Estimated travel time 3:50.

UPDATE: 7 months later, I guess it dried out and I got the data downloaded.

Here is another blog post I found chronicling a similar kayak trip. Based on the above water exposed height of the Target Ship it was likely several years ago. I want to try visiting again during a lunar tide!

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Paddle Log 2020-10-17: Rock Harbor to Thumpertown Beach


I am working on building up my paddling endurance as well as just calibrating my pace. My goal for the next year is to be able to paddle at least 12 miles. I seem to be able to maintain a 3mph+ pace for several hours without any major exertion.

The goal today was at least 6 miles (2+ hours). I chose my paddle direction based on the wind. Wind was from the NE and 10-15 mph, but the bay was FLAT because the wind was coming from over the Cape. I chose north so I would have the wind at my back on the return trip. The goal was to paddle at least past First Encounter Beach and back down.

Because I launched at high tide, and it was a new moon, the marsh level was high enough that I launched from the marsh just west of our house! I had been waiting for the tide to be high enough to launch there!

Uneventful paddle, though the wind shifted to the E and sometimes SE on the return trip, so ironically I had a head wind on the return trip.

I noticed a weird effect (illusion?) on the return trip. I was using “The Rock” and the tower at the Community of Jesus as my reference point. Heading into my port side I had the wind as well as the ebb tide current. I could tell looking at reference that this was shifting my course to starboard. Yet I consistently had the physical sensation that the boat was sliding to the port side. It was weird. Maybe there is a name for this. Maybe it was just in my head. Having the skeg half down helped with maintaining my course.

The on-the-water perspective and the slow pace enables me to notice things I may not otherwise see. This cottage community on the water was somewhere north of First Encounter Beach.

I took out at the “usual spot” off Dyer Prince Road. Someday I’ll post a photo of it!

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Paddle Log 2020-10-11: Rock Harbor to Boat Meadow

Winds were 15-20mph, air temp was about 50F, waves were 1-2 feet.

The paddle out in the bay to Boat Meadow is close to straight upwind (NNE), with swells from the NW. I usually choose to paddle upwind first on these solo trips since it is the most strenuous. The wind determines my destination – it was going to be either Boat Meadow marsh or Skaket Beach. While out in the bay halfway to Boat Meadow, I hear on the marine radio “did you see those two great whites? 16-18 feet long, longest I’ve seen all season!” Based on horizon distance and height of a typical fishing boat, those two fishing boats were likely within 5 miles of me. I like to think “most of the sharks are on the Atlantic side of the Cape” but that is not always true! All I could do is just paddle and assume nowhere near me, given how shallow the bay is where I am. It was only 2 hours past low tide, so the water was likely 2-4 feet deep, even a half mile out.

In the shelter of Boat Meadow, I explored the marsh inland. The 10+ foot tide changes here result in mud walls in the marsh that were still 3+ feet tall at this time of tide. I see some movement about 20 feet away, above me in the marsh grass. On the grass, looking down at me, is a coyote. It seemed large compared to others I’ve seen around here at a distance, looking 3 feet tall from feet to top of head (and I likely overestimated as I’m looking up at it!) It just stared at me for a while (as I stopped and paddled backwards), then just turned around and walked away.

The return trip was uneventful with challenging trailing seas at about a 45 degree angle to my course. Trailing seas are both fun (reminds me a little of whitewater surfing) and a little unnevering at the same time (they can grab your stern and turn you if not careful). I dropped my skeg for stabilty, got back to the harbor, decided to take out at the new Eastham Rock Harbor boat ramp and walk 10 minutes back to the house. As usual, every car stares at the guy walking down the road in full kayak gear (PFD, drysuit, skirt) towing a kayak on a home-made cart.

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Jeep LJ No Drill Safari-Style Bikini Header. Making it work!

I bought a Besttop “No Drill” safari-style bikini header for my 2006 Jeep Wrangler LJ. The online forums have mixed opinions about ease of installation or re-installation. If I had read that thread first, I might have purchased the drill header and hacked it to work on my Jeep.

Even those who have the top often complain about the install difficulty, and I bought this to be able to put on and off at ease, so I want to be able to put it on and off easily. Online advice includes leaving it in the sun and bending the corners of the header strip for better flex. I even tried heating the strip and corners with a heat gun.

After fighting with it for 30+ minutes, I decided the design was flawed, and attempted to figure out why it was so difficult to get the front strip to stay in the header. There are a range of interconnected reasons:

  • The header strip in the top is too long
  • The header strip is hard to fit into the rounded edges of the header
  • The header strip cannot flex sufficiently to enable it to stay in the header while tightening and tweaking
  • The fabric wants (needs!) to flex at the corners more than the header strip will allow

I found a way to modify the header strip that makes it easy to do the initial strip and tightening, independent of tightening the corners. This was via trial and error. You can do exactly as I say here, or try to customize the hacks for your own needs!

Modify the header strip sewn into the top. I used a pair of tin snips, scissors may not be strong enough. I cut out approximately the 1st and 4th inch on each side according to the images below. The “interior” cut is 3/8″ on either side of the 1/4″ indentation already there to indicate where it should flex. Cut the strip down to, but not into the sewing along the strip, you want to preserve the integrity of the sewing!

Installation. I can do this in 8 minutes on average (7-9 minutes). By myself. I have timed it 4 times.

Step 1. Preposition the top over the Jeep LJ. To assist with drops, loosely secure the rear straps (left photo). Drape the front of the top about 1-2 inches beyond the working header, and tie a slip knot securing the center strap to the center windshield footman loop (right photo). This helps catch the header if you drop it so it does not fall into the cab! Not necessary, but a safety time saver.

Step 2. Insert the center portion of the header into the channel. You can ignore the ends and just fold them up and out of the way. This is the game changer in installing — it will go in and stay the first time! And mechanically separates the challenge of getting the corners in. Get back in the cab and tighten the center strap that was slip tied to the footman’s loop. See photo below.

Step 3. Secure the corners. Per the instructions, insert the velcro through the corners at the front of each door frame. Insert the “end header piece” into the channel and secure the velcro, bending the corners per the instructions. When done, you will have a secure corner, and a slight dimple in the top where the fabric buckles a bit (this is more evidence of what the intact header was preventing!).

Step 4. Secure the side channels into the factory door surround (see instructions if you do not have this) and secure the middle and rear straps, but not completely tight yet.

Step 5. Re-tighten the center strap to the footman’s loop a final time. I find this allows a final level of tightness.

Step 6. Fully secure the mid and rear straps on each side. Congrats!

I hope someone finds this helpful. If I were to start over, I would likely have modified the drill-top to work with my Jeep. But this does work, and I find the time taken is not too long given the frequency that I might be taking it on and off.

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