Locking up kayak at restaurant stops?

Advice
#21

Just put an NRA sticker on hull. :grinning:

Throw some empty shell casings on the seat.

4 Likes
#22

Bumper stickers are more dangerous than getting your boat swiped. Too easy to have your ride keyed etc. We like to look as neutral as possible. Not a whisper of politics on the vehicles.

4 Likes
#23

Never had a problem :joy: all scratches are my own.

3 Likes
#24

No stickers on my bumper . They’re on rear doors :joy:

1 Like
#25

I use Kanulock Lockable Reinforced Stainless Steel Tie Down Straps for the kayak and canoe. If you have a secure steel loop like on the Swift kayaks you can use a flexible vinyl or rubber coated cable with a padlock. as far as paddles go you pretty much have to lock them inside your vehicle.

https://www.amazon.com/Kanulock-Lockable-Reinforced-Stainless-Straps/dp/B00L4HCMDG?th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=paddlingspa02-20&linkId=84ae86ac54739140e96877742d5cd5ae&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

2 Likes
#26

Those are really cool. I’ve never seen steel reinforced straps before, but I’ve always thought about how easily someone could walk up to my car and cut the straps.

#27

Bear in mind, a thief will find a way to cut these straps given the right tool (like a battery powered cut off tool) but it will thwart a theft of opportunity. They are also heavier and somewhat stiffer than conventional straps. So if you use them check your strap tension periodically while on the road to make sure they’re tight. Or use two sets of straps, one being the traditional ones. Double insurance.

Cheers!

1 Like
#28

Just to add to @aablodgett comments. Kanulock admits the straps can be cut. I contacted them because I wanted to shorten mine since tying up the tail of the stiff strap was not easy.

But most theft in overnight parking lots, like hotels or campgrounds, is opportunistic. Parking at trail heads or leaving a second kayak on a car at a put-in might be different depending upon the area. I sure as heck wouldn’t leave even a locked ‘yak on top of my car at the Broening Park boat ramp in Baltimore for instance. Nice paddle out of there over to Fort McHenry and such, but really dodgy people hang around.

1 Like
#29

I know of two instances where a kayak loaded rec kayaks were stolen. In both cases the kayaks were thought to be the target. I think the thief was after the trailer. The kayak might be just extra.

1 Like
#30

I always check Amazon warehouse for open box discounts on things like this and I noticed these for 1/2 the price.

I probably wouldn’t pay 100 dollars since I am never in high crime areas. I also wonder if my e-bike lock would work.

IMG_0754
IMG_07541290×1811 354 KB

When we moved continents I shipped my car with the CD solstice on top and didn’t lock it. Driving across the country we might want to lock them up although we never have. The calculus changes from a 800 dollar used boat to a 4k new boat.

1 Like
#31

I guess I figure that on an expedition there is so much stuff that it is too heavy to move and not worth emptying all the stuff except to take it and I can’t lock the hatches. Also I haven’t been in large population areas, so the probability of issues seems like it should go down. I wound up leaving my kayak about a mile from my campsite one night along Lake Superior and took all my valuable stuff to camp and left the paddles on the deck, everything was fine. Another couple nights it was maybe 1/2 mile from my campsite.

1 Like
#32

Good point about how heavy the ‘yaks can get on long trips!