I took my ODC Classic out for the first time today. Fished a little, but as my wife says, I mostly just played with my new toy The wind was blowing very hard and it was rough rowing against the wind, but I still had a good time. And donāt worry, I had my PFD on the whole time and would not dare go out on it with out one.
I was on the water a couple of hours before I had my problem, and thank the good Lord it was in water where I could stand up. I had rowed over to a boat ramp and was talking to a fellow fisherman when the seat started leaning over backwards. It happened very quickly I was sitting there and suddenly I was leaned over backwards. It had leaned back enough it was a struggle to stand up. I immediately thought the worse but my toons were still holding air. After a few minutes, I realized that one of the straps was very loose. I tightened the straps, and checked the others just for safety, and it sat up right just like it is suppose to. I even rowed it around a little just to be sure and it worked like a champ. I suppose I could have strapped it down wrong, but I took the instructions with me and I am sure I strapped it down correctly and it did hold and do great for a couple of hours.
So my question is this, has anyone else had a strap come loose like that before? If so, how did you fix it? I was thinking of tying a knot in the strap, right above the cam lock so it canāt slip through. That will make takeing it down a pain, but I am willing to put up with that in order to have a safe trip.
Next weekend we are headed to Lake Hartwell GA to visit with the in-laws. I plan on takeing it with me, but Iād sure feel better if I had some idea as to why that happened and most importantly how to keep it from happening again. If I had been out in the middle of the lake, well I think it would have held together long enough for me to row to shore, but I really donāt wonāt to find out.
I have never had a strap come loose but I tied off the strap end like you clinch a saddle on a horse. Iām a little nuts about loose ends on straps, ropes, whatever if they are long enough they get caught, etc., So I tie them down.
Just my $.02. (Why isnāt there a cents symbol on the keyboard?)
I used to have an ODC 816. Pretty much the same toon. The only thing I can think of is that one of the cam locks got jammed in the open position. Check the hinges on the cam locks and make sure they operate OK. Other than that, Iād make sure the straps go through the cam locks in the right direction. Good luck with it, and have fun.
you can send the strap back to odc and they will send you a new one since the one what came loose is more than likely defectiveā¦ did you register your toon by sending the card in ? i havent had a problem with mine yet, only took it fishin 3 times so farā¦ anyhow you can send an email to the link im posting bellow about the strap problemā¦ they are great people to deal withā¦ i lost a pin that holds one of the foot rest in and they sent me 2 pins free of chargeā¦
A properly working cam strap should hold tight and increase itās grip on the webbing as tension increases. Sometime new cams are a little stiff and will grip better when they are used a few times. I have also seen defective or cheap webbing that was too thin to provide good contact with the cam jaws.
Some of my whitewater friends like to double back the tag ends of their straps. This eliminates loose ends that could get caught on something and makes it harder for a strap to come loose.
To ādouble backā take tag end of the strap bring it up over the cam and back thru the slot where the other end of the strap is sewn into the cam. ( I hope this makes sense, hard to describe without picās)
I have had a creek company toon for over 5 years now and it still works fine. When it was new I checked the cam locks and made sure they were closed. A couple of times they had not closed tight and I was glad I checked. Sounds like this may have been it. you have a good toon by the way. I am a big fan of creek company.
WHEN I had a pontoon with two separate toons (meaning I now have a āUā toon) I did realize you need to cinch the straps with the toons slightly deflated then inflate to the point there might be a dent where the straps are.
This helps allot when putting the boat in colder water and the compressing of the air.
I think as everyone has mentioned, you have a cam that didnāt close for some reason.
The wind was blowing very hard and it was rough rowing against the wind, but I still had a good time. And donāt worry, I had my PFD on the whole time and would not dare go out on it with out one.
well I think it would have held together long enough for me to row to shore, but I really donāt wonāt to find out.