Stinger Frequently Asked Questions
How deep exactly does the Stinger extend? From the bottom of the boat? From the top of the deck? Which do you mean?
Fully extended, the Stinger extends 5 feet from the bracket, mounted on the top of the stern, to the tip touching the bottom. We give a generous 12″ of “freeboard” in our promise that the Stinger will anchor in 4 feet of water. It may be a little more, but you can understand how this is somewhat of a complex and variable answer.
What if I want a Stinger for water deeper than 4 feet?
We do make custom Stingers for depths of 5 feet and 6 feet, but with precautions. Our standard 4 foot Stinger, when fully raised, extends above the deck 30″, or about head height of the operator of the boat. Even at this height, and operator of the watercraft needs to exercise caution and beware of overhead hazards.
Our 5 foot stinger extends above the deck 36″, and our 6 foot Stinger extends above the deck 42″. These may increase the chance of an unsafe hazard if the above deck portion strikes an overhead item, so the operator must make a careful choice here, and exercise appropriate caution in all circumstances while navigating the watercraft.
How reliable and how durable is the Stinger?
In addition to raising and lowering the Stinger 39,000 times (test completed successfully), one of the tests we planned to do on the Stinger Silent Anchor was to have two people carry a kayak with a Stinger mounted on the back, then drop the back of the boat on to pavement. The Stinger would have to withstand this drop and keep working.
Well, we don’t have to do that test now, a customer went way beyond that. The customer had just loaded up his Redfish 12, with a Stinger mounted, on to the top of his Chevy Trailblazer. The back of the boat slid off the top of the truck and the left rear corner of the Stinger struck the pavement first. This is a 6′ 3″ drop to solid pavement! It could not have been worse for the Stinger. Here’s what resulted:
1. Small dent on the left rear corner.
2. Bracket was bent on both sides.
3. The bracket tube remained centered and vertical behind the kayak where originally mounted.
4. 2 of the 8 mounting rivets pulled completely out and failed to hold.
5. 3 of the 8 mounting rivets pulled partially out, yet still held.
6. 3 of the 8 mounting rivets were unaffected.
7. The bracket remained solidly mounted, 100% functional.
The customer (who is thrilled) went on to his vacation and used the Stinger all day for 7 days, and said it was 100% functional.
Check out these pictures!
The rivets can be drilled out, the bracket can be wrapped in cloth and straightened on a common vice, with common tools, then the bracket and rivets can be reinstalled…or not! Though we recommend that, the truth is the customer could use the product as is, though we would probably insist they at least replace the rivets that pulled out, about a 5 minute job.
While we were going to perform the drop test from 36″, our actual customer’s test is MORE THAN DOUBLE the test specification, is a REAL test, and the Stinger survived.
Remember, the Stinger was designed and tested by a Quality and Reliability Engineer - made to take a beating and keep working, but we had no idea it would endure this kind of punishment. What an amazing product!
Will the Stinger corrode in Salt Water?
No. The Stinger bracket and sliding tube are anodized to a military specification for corrosion resistance to salt water. The other components of the stinger are polypropylene line, stainless steel tip and connecting rigging, and a top quality sailboat pulley. Like all other fine outdoor equipment though, the Stinger needs to be thoroughly rinsed off with fresh water after use.
Will the Stinger still deploy if my watercraft “sweeps upward” at the stern?
We designed the Stinger to deploy at an angle based on the fact that some watercraft manufacturers do sweep up the stern tip, but if it is too sharp an angle it will need to be elegantly shimmed somehow. It’s not probable, but we have seen this done very nicely.
Can the Stinger really STOP my boat?
No anchoring device should ever be deployed while a watercraft is moving fast. It does not make sense to do so. Though the Stinger is rugged enough to stop a moving boat in most conditions, that’s not what the Stinger is designed and advertised to do. The Stinger is designed to HOLD a boat in position, NOT stop it. It is not to be used as a brake. As the user’s manual says, STOP the watercraft, then deploy the Stinger. Remember - STOP then DROP.
Why is the Stinger priced at $290.00?
The Stinger is a top quality product. It was designed and extensively tested to be the finest performing, toughest, most innovative, best looking product in it’s class of small boat accessories. And, get this - no kayak accessory like this is going to fall off the top of a six foot tall SUV, land on pavement with the full force of a kayak behind it - and survive like the Stinger did!
Thick anodized aluminum, stainless steel, flawless Marine quality welds, and High Density Polyethelyne liners prove we spared nothing to make it the best, and it will last you a lifetime.
It’s made here in the USA by local quality fabrication shops. We’ve committed to help the US economy and keep our fellow Americans working. No one here is going to take this product overseas just to get a cheaper price.
If you look at other small boat accessories, the Stinger’s price is right in there. Heck, a kayak paddle can reach $200.00 easy. A quality rudder system is $250.00.
It’s like anything else, though, top quality stuff isn’t for everyone. Some folks don’t mind having problems with products, don’t mind “making do” with with defects, and don’t care how products look. That’s OK, but the Stinger isn’t for them. However, if your’e the type of person who wants the most innovative high quality products you can get then the Stinger will be worth every penny. You’ll love it.
Alright, what’s the difference between the Stinger and my $10.00 homemade stakeout pole?
As for it’s comparison to a stake out pole, like everything, it depends on the application and desires of the user, but here’s a few:
The Stinger can be lowered or raised with two fingers and a thumb, only requiring wrist movement while the entire body and kayak remains motionless. You can anchor silently with one hand, get your rod ready with the other, and get a cast off to moving fish in less than 10 seconds. This is critical when stalking fish and they just show up “on top of you”, (you know what I’m talking about) or when they are moving toward you just out of range. A stakeout pole would require alot more movement and time than that, you are going to bang and scrape it on the kayak from time to time, plus it’s almost impossible to keep from making waves from pushing in the pole and pulling it out. The Stinger settles into the bottom under it’s own weight, just the amount needed to hold the kayak in position. No need for forcing into the bottom or pulling hard to get it out of the bottom.
The Stinger remains outboard on the back of the kayak all the time. No muck or dirt is brought into the kayak, and it is completely out of the way, not adding any clutter to an already cluttered kayak. The stakeout pole requires cleaning each time, and is usually stored in the footwell or on the deck, or in a difficult place to reach behind the angler.
The Stinger can be used over a variety of bottom compositions. We have tested it extensively over toaster sized rocks, baseball sized rocks, gravel, shells, sand, muck, and - get this - suspended floating weed patches such as kelp, hydrilla, etc…it holds in all of these conditions and combinations of conditions. I think the stakeout pole is good for muck and maybe sand only.
The Stinger is so easy to raise and lower, anglers are far more likely to anchor, re-anchor, re-position, several times to get the optimum boat position in a wide variety of fishing conditions. I’ve known angers to raise and lower the Stinger close to 200 times in a day of river fishing to get very precise repeated positioning for casting to the best fish holding locations. This simply allows for better fishing and catching more fish.
The Stinger also has options to easily attach a battery powered stern light, and some really neat club flags or fish species flags just like the big charterboats fly when they come in to harbor. These are really great options, and there are more on the way.
The downsides of the Stinger compared to the stakeout pole are few. It’s a tough sell for a guy who doesn’t mind the activity and the disadvantages that go with a stakeout pole. He’s into it for maybe $10.00, and a Stinger is $290. He’ll never go for it, but the Stinger isn’t for everyone. Also, the stakeout pole doesn’t require any hole drilling or riveting to the kayak, it’s lighter, and it will hold in high winds (25mph+) the Stinger may not hold in these extreme conditions.
My 8 lb anchor got caught on a branch or something and I couldnt free myself. I had to cut the anchor rope. How would I free myself when using the Stinger?
One of the design goals of the Stinger was to prevent “hang ups”, being a slippery rod and rope deployed straight down and lifted straight up. It is far superior to the anchor and rope in this regard. In hundreds of hours of testing and customer use we’ve yet to hang up on rocks, brush, weeds, logs, whatever. It just seems impossible.
In the highly unlikely event the Stinger ever did hang up, pulling on the lifting rope hard enough would open up the split ring on the end of the Stinger tip (we designed it so that SOMETHING had to give), you’d be free, but lose the stinger tip. You could then probably find it later, but if not it’s available as a replacement part.
Remember, also, that the Stinger is not designed to be used in fast rippling currents and “white water”, and the Standard Stinger is designed for 4 feet of water or less. This prevents further a hang up condition where the kayak becomes unstable. Worst case scenario, then, is that you get out of your kayak in the 4 feet of water, get wet, free the Stinger, stand up, walk to shore, and get back in. Yep, a little uncomfortable in cold weather.
Again, though, we cannot stress enough, that this would be a very rare situation, sort of falling into the category of “anything can happen”.
What if my Stinger Silent Achor System needs parts?
We designed the Stinger differently than most products. We tried to design every part so it was available at the local Hardware Store or Marine Supplier. We didn’t want you to have to order high priced parts from us, pay shipping, and wait for them. The rope, pulley, clip, clam cleat, and stainless key rings, and #16 O ring silencer are all easily obtainable locally. Just make sure you get the same quality. Even if the rubber tips wear off you can go to the local Hardware Store and buy Plasti-dip or Herculiner, scrape off the old and recoat it, or put on a 5/8″ diameter chunk of heater hose to provide the silent contact with rocks, shell beds, etc.
We’re happy to supply everything you need, but the Bracket, Sliding Tube, and Stainless Stinger tip are custom, and the only real parts you need to get from us. You can contact us through the website, www.goldendrake.com, or by phone at (734) 426-2256. See? EASY!
