Hi,
We now have a jeep TJ with softop that we use when we go kayaking. The kayaks are easy to lock on the roof, but I’m concerned about our 2 piece paddles. I can’t find a way to lock them up so that they don’t get stolen.
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas?
Darryl
Jay Babina
It seems like if you park somewhere remote, the paddles go with you when you launch. But I would just park the vehicle in well attended areas and keep any bait inside the vehicle out of sight and that’s all you can do. You don’t want anyone to slash the top and find out they can’t gat the paddle anyhow. I always figure having a bike lock and cable visible on my kayak when I travel is a visual deterrent more than an actual barrier.
Another approach
Or, how about a sticker for the window?:
Darryl’s Tarantula Farm
Yes We Deliver!
PUT PADDLES IN COMPARTMENTS OR THE BOAT
Works for both SINKs & SOTs (with hatches) respectively. Out of sight, out of mind deters the amateurs, but bear in mind that nothing -well, little -defeats a determined professional thief. A tonneau to cover the rear cargo area of an SUV or wagon works on the same principle (and acts akin to a trunk lid re: privacy.)
Good ways to maximize the probability that, after you get back to the car, you still have a paddle to
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
empty box of shells
leave it on the dash board
10"x52" PVC Tube w/Caps
Install SS U-Bolt on bottom cap. Glue on bottom cap. Cable tether top cap to cylinder. Install padlock hasp on other side of cap and cylinder. Run locking chain or cable from bottom cap U-Bolt around seat bracket. Place paddles inside, lock tube and leave it on the back seat. Don’t joke with the officer that it’s your faux pipe bomb.
PVC isn’t going to be indestructible but it raises the PITA factor for someone to remove your paddles and also camouflages the paddles with what looks like a piece of plumbing.
My $0.02. YMMV.
See you on the water
(Chesapeake this weekend - Woo Hoo 63 degrees!)
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY (where it’s cold)
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
PS - yes winter’s gotten to me.
I like Jay’s idea
Take it with you. Even if it won’t fit in a hatch, you can attach it to your front deck and viola, spare paddle. I know at least North Water makes a product (paddle britches) that will help keep the paddle from coming off your deck in surf/etc.
If they weren’t two piece paddles,
would that be a problem? A large padlock can go around the shaft of a one piece paddle.
Would, say, a 215 cm one piece fit in your vehicle, or would it be too long?
I’m mainly a ww kayaker, so my paddles are all one piece, except for a 240 Werner Camano that I never use anyway.
One of those bumber stickers
that says “Insured by Smith and Wesson.”
So then, they rip open your car
looking for your Smith & Wesson.
Buy Comprehensive Insurance Coverage
this is why we have insurance companies.
my suggestion…
…buy the cheapest 2 pc paddle that’ll do the job and paint it the ugliest colors you can. No one wants ugly!!!. 2nd option …drill holes in the blades and loop a small diameter locking cable (bike lock ??) thru holes and around a suitable anchor. The small holes in the blades will not / should not affect performance.
Thought of that hole-drilling idea too
No one wants to drill holes in their paddle blades, but seriously, I can't believe anyone would notice any difference in the paddle's performance either.
Clarification: The best way to do the hole-drilling method would be to NOT put a cable through the hole as originally suggested. That would require a big hole. Make the hole just big enough to put the hasp of a small padlock through, and use the same lock (or a different one if the hasp on the first lock is too small) to attach a chain or cable.
Maybe not completely secure but,
I use old school Thule ski racks to hold paddles up on the rack. They hold them secure and they do lock which may deter thieves on appearance alone. You could probably slide the paddle out if you worked at it but maybe deter them based on trouble and time alone.
These sell for really cheap and helps to have a couple of rack bars close enough together to hold the paddles when apart.
They hinge up and you can put the paddles in opposite each other. Two paddles fit in each slot where two skis were meant to go. If you have foam padding or bent shafts it would be more difficult to slide them out. May not work with certain shafts. I have not tried to put a bent shaft in.
I have not traveled long distances and on Interstates and such with paddles in these ski racks. Just local to the creeks and rivers and back home.
Like the ones at the top of this thread;
http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?p=741541
Custom-built device?
I just thought of a device that would be much smaller than the ones I suggested in the earlier discussion you started on this topic. This is something that the average person couldn't build, but any decent metal-worker would have no problem. I'd be happy to build one for you during one of these upcoming rainy afternoons that we will have in April, for just the cost of material (probably $30, maybe $40 if the material comes from a big-box hardware store) and UPS shipping. It would be a hinged steel cage that closes like a clam shell around the four stacked blades of two kayak paddles, with the four paddle shafts sticking out one end of the cage. It would lock shut with a standard padlock, and a chain or cable would connect it to some secure anchorage inside the Jeep (like a seat support or roll-cage tube). An added touch could be a small bead of hard-surfacing on all outer edges to make it totally impervious to cutting with a hacksaw, but that might be overkill. The whole thing would be a little bigger than the stacked blades of two kayak paddles, and it might weigh about 6 pounds (easy to make it weigh less, but it wouldn't look as strong to a determined thief).
Honestly, I could afford to do this for material cost alone as long as it was a one-time task, because it would only take me two or three hours (a professional shop could do it in a small fraction of that time, but the labor wouldn't be free). I'd only need to know the dimensions of your paddle blades in case they are bigger than normal.
An oddball idea to be sure, but it'd be kind of fun on this end, and the best product you can get your hands on (and cheap) at your end.
lock
Drill a hole opposite the pin on the one half of the paddle handle. Insert a gun lock through this hole and the pin hole on the opposite half of the paddle. then you can lock it in your car. I couldn’t figure out how to upload pictures here.
i wuz thinking …
…something more like these for a cable lock >>>>
http://www.masterlock.com/product_details/CableLocks/4603D
http://www.rei.com/search.html?q=ski+cable+lock&origin=MSN_Ski&storeId=8000
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ski+cable+lock
lock
A lot of the times you can get them free at local police dept.
http://www.wellstown.org/vertical/Sites/%7BA584B478-C2A1-4E71-8B73-02AD3293F2EC%7D/uploads/%7B75FA04BB-42AE-4BCD-B088-F66BCBE6E371%7D.JPG
Here’s a Different Idea
Look to see if you have the room for your paddle under the engine hood. I’m assuming your hood locks from inside your cab.