In certain parts of the world boat theft is a serious problem and given that most whitewater kayaks are close to £1000 it’s a pretty serious and probably very lucrative business.

My boat storage at home is pretty secure but I do feel that my kayak is at its most vulnerable when it is sat on the car. My current car has a roof rack that securely bolts to the car which means that it is fairly easy to lock my kayak to the rack and know that it is relatively secure.

I have used one of these really simple Playboater Rackguards for a few years. It’s great for quickly securing the kayak to either the cars roof rack or even the cars tow loop/wheel if the boat is on the ground.

The key is to wrap the cable around/through parts of the kayak that are hard to loosen off or remove. I like a loop around the seat pillar and through one of the rescue loops/handles as they tend to be fastened on using security bolts anyway.

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