Thule hull-a-port Review?

Does anyone have a thule hull-a-port rack that can give me a review?  Also does anyone know if the x-factor will fit in it okay?  I am looking at a second kayak and a pair of these racks looks like my best bet.                
Thanks,
Travis

I will compare the Hull-A-Port to the simple foam blocks. I load it on my Explorer.

Installing Rack on vehicle.
relatively easy for both with the Foam much faster of course.

Secure connection
Hull-A-Port is much more secure in my opinion. The yaks aren't going anywhere. For short trips, I don't think you even need to use the bow and stern tie downs, but I always do.

Loading The Yak
It is easier to load on the Hull-A-Port. My back sometimes feels pain having to extend further to use the foam pads.

Cost
Yeah....no brainer. The pads are cheap.

# of Yaks
I can put my two T120's up using the Hull-A-Port. Pads...just one.

The one issue that I don't care for witht he Hull-A-Port is the kayaks are big sails when put on their sides. High winds can put extra pressure on the kayaks and the roof rack (my roof rack came loose).

So, in short, if I am carrying one kayak...I use the pads. Two...hull-a-port.

Hope that helps.
Marc

I have the yakama equlivent and my dads x factor doesent fit well in it.  my extreme fits in it well but I dont like useing it my girlfriends ride is ok in it so when we go together we put hers in there.  when i go with my dad we take his suburban.  and my extreme and his xfactor fit side by side on his tule rack.

when i go with my dad we take his suburban. and my extreme and his xfactor fit side by side on his tule rack.

 Does he have the thule rack with the saddles on each side?  I think the price for a setup like this might be comparable and I am thinking about this route too.

I use the Thule Set-To-Go saddles and carry 2 X-Factors side by side on a 58" bar.  They are NOT the best fit, but they work all right.  The X-Factor has a deep center line, and if you place the Set-To-Go's too far apart, they will sit on the center ridge.  But if you place them too close in, you can't use the full adjustability of the rack and you might as well go with the smaller, flatter racks with less adjustment, something like the hydroglides.

I do have the Thule's mounted on a Yakima Rack and they tend to rotate on the round bars.  The Yakima saddles I took a look at seemed like they'd work even worse than the Thules.

-Allen

Thanks for the info guys.  Does anyone have any experience with these thule top deck saddles?  http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/product.asp?dept_id=10&sku=881

I don't have enperience with those, but those are the general ones I'd probably get.  They look similar to the hydroglides, but don't have the glide part and are way cheaper.

-Allen

I have a Yakima rack with the Land Shark saddles and they work GREAT.
I have never tied down the bow nor stern when traveling and I drive about 500 miles round trip to fish the coast. I used ratchet tie downs and the yaks are very secure. I have had a many as 5!! stacked on top of my truck with only the 2 sets of saddles and didn't have a problem.
I also have the EZ loader bars inside the Yakima bars. They extent out from the regular bars so I can set a yak on them, get under the yak, then lift it onto the saddles. I use one of the EZ loaders when I am loading by myself. I will use both of them when I am loading more than 2 kayaks. I set a yak across both bars, get under it, then heave it onto the others. This is something I can do by myself and have had to many times when taking kids or a short date paddling.
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