This more or less is similar to my Last Chance assembly routine. I have used a zipper (see here) and it was very easy to load the kayak (see here) although I remember having to repair that very zipper five minutes before our departure to the very part of the trip when we would not want to have anything fail (Surge Narrows). Of course, the seam holding the zipper failed right when I closed it for departure. Call that fate.