Yakima Mako

Pros: Simple design, stable.
Cons: Made of plastic, very stealable

I bought the Mako saddles for two reasons. I have two 16.5 foot sea kayaks that I needed to put on my Subaru Forester. Each kayak weighs about 55 pounds, which made me shy away from the stacker models.

My experience in dealing with these...

Pros: Easy to use. Durable. Work well.
Cons: Expensive compared to Yakima Landshark Saddles, which work just as well in my experience.

I have used both the Yakima Mako Saddles and the Yakima LandShark Saddles. Both work fine, both are equally easy to install (very easy), but the Mako Saddles cost about twice as much.

Why? You need 2 sets of Mako Saddles (about $60 each) to put one kayak on your car, but only one set of LandShark Saddles (about $70) to do the same. I actually like the LandShark Saddles a little better.

The only reason I can think of that one might opt for the Mako Saddles is if you had near zero clearance between your cross bar and your car roof. The way the Mako Saddles mount (screws pointing away from the roof), you need less clearance than for the LandShark Saddles (screws point towards the roof). It's not an issue on my car (Ford Escort wagon).

All in all, I love my Yakima roof rack system. Totally convenient, easy to use, durable...not too hard to put together. I've also used the Hull Raiser Aero Saddles - they are terrific also.