: Just a comment on roof racks. I always wondered about the strength of them.
: Just recently on a trip a large bird came flying around a truck I was
: passing. The bird hit the front rack on the left hand side of my Dodge
: Durango. It broke the rack and the black mounting strip. I admit this was
: a large bird...probably a buzzard, couldn't tell for sure...just feathers
: and gobbets left, but still...it was just a bird. I certainly wouldn't
: trust the rack to carry my boats.

Bird strikes do a lot more damage than most people think. Many an airplane has crashed from bird strikes. Although a car is driving a lot slower, the damage can still be extensive.

I hope these links work.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/fastmountainbiker/vwp?.dir=/Kayak&.dnm=Bird_Strike1.jpg&.src=ph&.view=t&.hires=t

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/fastmountainbiker/vwp?.dir=/Kayak&.dnm=Bird_Strike2.jpg&.src=ph&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/fastmountainbiker/vwp%3f.dir=/Kayak%26.dnm=Bird_Strike1.jpg%26.src=ph

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/fastmountainbiker/vwp?.dir=/Kayak&.dnm=Bird_Strike3.jpg&.src=ph&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/fastmountainbiker/vwp%3f.dir=/Kayak%26.dnm=Bird_Strike2.jpg%26.src=ph

If the above links don't work go here http://photos.yahoo.com/fastmountainbiker and click on the kayak folder.