# River sombrero question



## asleep.at.the.oars (May 6, 2006)

It doesn't matter which way it folds down, as long as you have the clearance for it. What matters is where the pipes are in relation to your oars. I run 2 boats, and fold the bimini to the back on both. My round boat has the pipes forward of the oarlocks, the cat has the pipes behind. The round boat I can swing the oars forward (handles back) to ship the oars, the cat the oars have to swing back or just ship them inboard. I prefer to ship my blades forward, but let shade location drive the placement.

Just looked, all the good pictures of my tops have a friend's kid in 'em, and I don't post other people's children to the interwebz...


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## erdvm1 (Oct 17, 2003)

Ok, I'm still learning here. "Ship the oars" means to essentially bring them on the boat but still in the oar locks?
This is great info and very helpful.


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## asleep.at.the.oars (May 6, 2006)

Right. Either by swinging the oar forward or back, or by pulling it straight across the boat. Hopefully not to dodge rocks while the top is up... But also for errant kayaks / rafts.


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## asleep.at.the.oars (May 6, 2006)

Found a couple pics, oars shipped inboard on the cat and forward on the raft. The upper part of Deso is obviously hard work...


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## slamkal (Apr 8, 2009)

My experience you want to ship the oar tips toward the front of the boat. Its much easier to spread your arms out crucifixion style to get your blades close to the boat. If the blade does hit a rock, the force will shoot the handle towards the stern of the boat where it is unlikely to harm someone. 

If you try and ship the blades back (handles forward) you have to jump out of your seat and lean forward. If you happen to hit a rock while attempting this, you may lose the oar and it can crack a passenger on the front of your boat

I run my bimini about a good foot in front of my oar tower. It actually mounts to the yoke i use as a footbar on my cat

When i stow the top, i need to ship my oars and then drop it behind my seat area. You need a flat spot close to the frame for it to sit, otherwise the poles can interfere with rowing

I used to have the boat arranged for the bimini to drop forward, but it was a hassle to move the pacos out of the way in order to drop it down on the tubes. The new setup is a lot quicker to move out of the way in technical waters when i need to stand and scout or potential issues with low branches 

Also, in a low branch emergency situation, the passenger can release the clips and the bimini will fall over me instead of getting trashed


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## El Flaco (Nov 5, 2003)

If you have walk rails, consider installing 2'-3' slider channels. That way you can position the shade fore or aft based on where the sun is, and you can drop the top of the frame off the front of the bow or stern while unloading. That's a big deal because you can unload gear from either end of the boat without risking stepping on or dragging heavy gear across the Bimini supports - once you have one side cleared, just flip the collapsed frame to the other end of the boat and slide it out of the way. 

Oh, and there are more options to position the frame to keep it out of the way of the oars.

The Bimini is almost the best piece of gear I own.


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## David Miller (May 23, 2010)

*Bimini Tops are a pain......*

but well worth the trouble. Any inconvenience caused by the oar vs bimini frame is outweighed by the comfort offered. Don't think there is a better option. Grin and Bare I guess.


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## erdvm1 (Oct 17, 2003)

El Flaco said:


> If you have walk rails, consider installing 2'-3' slider channels. That way you can position the shade fore or aft based on where the sun is, and you can drop the top of the frame off the front of the bow or stern while unloading. That's a big deal because you can unload gear from either end of the boat without risking stepping on or dragging heavy gear across the Bimini supports - once you have one side cleared, just flip the collapsed frame to the other end of the boat and slide it out of the way.
> 
> Oh, and there are more options to position the frame to keep it out of the way of the oars.
> 
> The Bimini is almost the best piece of gear I own.


El flaco
Do you have pictures of this setup?


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## jeffvdgo (Dec 5, 2008)

Great responses on this thread. I'll just reinforce that yes, you can fold a Sombrero down either direction, and many of our customers do reverse the Sombrero and mount it forward of the oar locks to provide more shade to passenges in the front. As El Flaco pointed out, an alternative if you have decking is to intall slide tracks on the decking so you can shade the front when up, but slide back to the rear when it's down.


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## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

do the river sombrero frames collapse easily? I think someone needs to make a 4 bow bimini top where the hinges offset so the top collapses into a very nice tight arrangement without hardware pressing against hardware.... The inner bows would have to be slightly narrower and the hinge points would need to be offset.


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## jeffvdgo (Dec 5, 2008)

Avatard said:


> do the river sombrero frames collapse easily? I think someone needs to make a 4 bow bimini top where the hinges offset so the top collapses into a very nice tight arrangement without hardware pressing against hardware.... The inner bows would have to be slightly narrower and the hinge points would need to be offset.


They do collapse easily. In practice, the way the 4 bow tops fold up hasn't been a problem (at least we don't get any complaints about it). It's a good idea, but would add manufacturing complexity and expense.


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## blutzski (Mar 31, 2004)

Hey Matt,

Here's a couple of photos from my set-up. Like El Flaco suggested, I have 2 foot sliding tracks mounted on my walk rails. I slide the Bimini all the way forward to shade passengers, then slide it all the way back to clear my gear pile when folded down. You can kind of see the track in the close up photo. I also have it mounted backwards (with the longest bow which attaches to the frame angled toward the front) to create a larger space for the oars. You can fold it down either to the front or back.

The stings you see behind me in the close up photo are cross bracing for windy days. Makes a big difference for stability in stronger winds. 

Let's get on the river together this summer,
Bruno


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## Awoody (Nov 15, 2006)

I got an 8' bimini off of ebay new for about $120, made by a power boat company but decent quality and was pretty easy to jerry rig my own mounts. I did a little "custom shaping" of the tubing (bending over knee), and it now curves to fit nicely along the inside of my oar towers. I beefed it up a little by replacing the sheet metal screws at the junction connections with pop rivets. 

River sombreros look sweet and I'd imagine are higher quality, but I felt a little more comfortable going the semi-disposable route as I'm confident either one would eventually get destroyed in a windstorm, rapid or a party.

It worked pretty slick for me, just throwing out another viable option.


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## nicho (Mar 18, 2009)

*Tracks*

Anyone know where you get the slider channels described in this thread? Thanks


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## heavyswimmer (Dec 20, 2014)

nicho said:


> Anyone know where you get the slider channels described in this thread? Thanks


Let me google that for you


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## nicho (Mar 18, 2009)

Weird not sure what happened when I searched nothing was coming up not the right lexicon or something. I didn't need to bump this 2 year old thread after all. Thank you. How do you do that let me Google that for you. Jk


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## [email protected] (Jun 1, 2010)

Here you are


Bimini Top Hardware- Slide Track : Cabela's


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## Wyldman (Jun 11, 2013)

nicho said:


> How do you do that let me Google that for you. Jk


It is fairly easy.

Let me google that for you


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

Does anyone have pictures of those slides with the bimini on? I'm wondering how it attaches and if it can still fold either direction. 

Well actually maybe it can freely slide when up? I assumed there was like a cam lock to hold the base in where you wanted it, but reading the reviews from cabela's it sounds like there are just stops that you mount in the track and when it's up it's just held in place by the tied down straps - i.e. you could slide the base a little when it's up??)???

I made a pair out of a similar rail used in woodworking templates and it works OK, but not as handy as I hoped and I can't fold it forward and have the base lock at the same time...


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

never mind, I found a whole bunch of images off of Wyldmans google that link...

Thanks!


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## nicho (Mar 18, 2009)

Also are the slides a hazard to someone walking on the side rails barefoot or if you put your hand and body weight on one while climbing from the water back in the boat? They don't really look sharp Just thoughts.


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

I can speak to DIY versions and doubt the real deal is effectively different...

They are "safe" there are no sharp edges and you can walk on them, but it's not comfy. As for putting a knee on one when crawling in the boat, it's painful, but not more so than frame rails and other hard objects you have to contend with. I thought about insetting mine into side deck, but seeing the side mount versions I could easily go that route! Too many options I guess. 

Anyways long story short they are not particularly hazardous.


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