How To Lock A Kayak & Keep It Safe – The Safe and Secure Way

Unlock the secrets to safeguarding your kayak with this comprehensive guide on how to lock a kayak effectively.

Learn the important techniques to keep your kayak safe from theft and damage. Whether you’re a learner or an skilled kayaker, mastering kayak security is crucial for every paddler.

Watch now to learn expert tips and insider tricks for locking your kayak like a pro!

It doesn’t take very long for you to start thinking about how your kayak is just the best thing since sliced bread!! Yet, you would then hope that the other person would also find it remarkable enough to not only think it cool but also to take it as their own – theft.

That’s right; potential thieves. You and I are very well aware of how expensive lowlanders can get – and I am also certain that the “bad rivals” know it as well.

Whether kayaking is your passion or you simply bring it with you on the roads, you don’t want to make it an easy target for thieves. As a means to keep your kayak from long-term damage, you.

Don’t gamble; instead, grab the property rights! The right way is to lock a kayak; do not put it at risk!

 

How To Secure Your Kayak At Home & On The Go

If you’re like many people who own a kayak, you’re possibly guessing that your craft is protected to its vanishing in any way. Take my word for it – you wouldn’t be the first to have your kayak taken from you!

Let me warn you about some of those weird stories I’ve heard regarding kayaks miraculously vanishing from docks, getting stolen from people’s yards, and being picked up right off car roofs in the middle of the garage.

Hence, you will have to ensure that you have your kayak secured and no unscrupulous will be able to make your kayak go missing.

Now, you will find several situations rolling out in front of you now and then where securing your kayak can be essential. And, this section aims to deliver you with some advisable information on the same.

How To Lock A Kayak When On The Street

Lest your kayak falls off and gets drowned to the bottom of a marsh, make sure that you use a cable lock and tie-downs when transporting it either at the rear of your car using a kayak trailer, or on the car’s roof rack to start with.

No, scratch that.

A kayak lock will always be a “must-have” tool to successfully protect your kayak on the road.

People who know how to travel correctly have enough experience and knowledge to tell the alteration between not strapping the kayak to the car and transporting it.

This cutting-edge material is also likely very luxurious. As a importance, losing it from the roof rack while driving could end up spoiling it, and also put others in life-threatening conditions.

Probably not the sole reason to tie your kayak after the run, but it is also value doing.

In case you aim to visit a place that is far away, there are high chances that it will have to break during the trip for you to refuel.

Taking old kayaks parking in the rear of the pickup truck or a place unfamiliar or going inside other people’s houses and leaving them unsafe and unattended for a few minutes or even longer lets any offenders take part in petty theft with ease.

The frequent cause for the police grievances is parked kayaks, rather than anyplace else.

Only, for instance, a hacker for bikes Master Lockare a simple device that can help you lock your kayak on a roof or trailer. This will enable as well as guarantee the safety of your kayak while on the road, traveling and parking become more comforting or easy.

And of course, don’t overlook to attach or protected everything that’s kayak-related also always make sure to lock the items away in the trunk of your car.

Also, consider their weight and how well you can achieve it on the vehicle and not just the roof rack, protected them with lockable straps with theft-proof quality like the ones made by LightSpeed.

If your Kayak is a sit-on-top one, please run the bungee/cable, through the boat’s scupper plug holes, before locking it in. You have learned a new trick by the break of the semester- the scuppers have more than one use!

A two-part review system needs to be put in place for kayaks with sit-inside which do not have a drain hole or scupper hole.

Otherwise, some of these kinds of kayaks might have cable bars installed for this drive. Nevertheless, you can always fit a Lasso lock cable or you can also drill and install a lock hole – if you make this yourself.

Of course, you have to be very careful with water-tight hull holes. You can tighten this and use it then in locking your kayak to the roof rack.

How To Lock A Kayak When Kept At Home

Storing your kayak “kayak” inside an enclosed garage, a shed with a lock, or – if possible – inside your house, is the top-notch security step for keeping your kayak safe and sound and out of the reach of a thief.

There are many kinds of indoor kayak storage: a freestanding rack, a wall-mounted rack, or maybe a suspension system; instead, you have several ways how you can save your kayak.

Room shortage is always an obstacle that few kayakers go through and the reason some settle on inflatable kayaks while others still go for hard-shell.

Thus, if you have no space secret your residence for a kayak and not just to keep the kayak secure, where else would you put it in your apartment complex?

To start with, you should make it as close as the house and within a few meters. Rather than installing a wall mount into the outside wall of your home, you can either build a wooden rack if you’re handy sufficient or opt for a simpler home option as well.

Alternatively, if attaching a kayak rack to the house won’t do, or you aren’t fortunate enough to have a garage, then an recognized tree or some other permanent structure may serve as a good anchor point.

Just loop a cable lock, or lock its cable, around. Through the scupper plug holes and kayak handles, to protected and safeguard your safety while being away.

Pack your kayak in a protecting storage bag under a tarp. This will deliver you with a means to protect the kayak from any would-be thieves

Ideally, you should bring the lock and the cable with you, leave them protected under a convenient bench or a robust fixed post, and then loop through them a lockable cable. Finally, the cable can be locked.

There are even such simple steps as to make something that is problematic to rob to prevent theft. You don’t have to convert your kayak into a padlock and a shipping lock to fit in with high-end locking systems though it surely would be hard sufficient.

For example, the kayak lock cable by Supsenz.

Looking for a method to save up space for kayak storage? This post has it covered for you on both the ease and the practicality of storage thoughts.

That’s all my friends, If you don’t want to buy a wall-mount kayak rack but you have more than one kayak, you can just create your own DIY self-supporting kayak rack, kindly check out my video for more details above.

How To Lock A Kayak When Away From Household

No hesitation, campers who can kayak at the campgrounds even have a fancier time. However, the first thing you could realize in the morning is the absence of your kayak and turn it into a not-so-long dreamed trip.

It is recommended that if you parked the end campsite, you only need a cable lock to fasten the kayak to the trailer or car stage.

Though, if it is not … and you have lent a guide to the inner areas on foot, no target can reach there.

Therefore, how do you get to your kayak and return from the creek in the event you camp in the forests and cannot get to it?

If you are lucky to have inflatable or folding kayaks (which of course, are also travelling-friendly), then you could simply hang down your kayak on your tent’s side or inside the tent.

Clamping the strained edges of a hard shell is not an upfront task, however.

You’ll have to find permanent structures, such as a tree, nearby where you can fasten the kayak with a cable lock:

The abode for this venture could be a tree, log, or even a dock if it is close to the tent; just as long as it is a very durable and constant structure at the campsite, you’re fine.

As opposed to home keeping kayaking belongings in safe condition is a bit tricky outside of home. Leaving your hiking and camping accessories in your tent is only 1 of the things you do- locking your electronic sit-on-top kayaking accessories in the hull if keeping them in your vehicle is the only option you have.

One can lock the paddles using a paddle lock, some examples of which are those made by DockLocks.

Top 4 Tips For Keeping Your Kayak Safe (Other Than Locking It)

The only thing that lock will halt is the lazy person from wanting your kayak. But, inspiration is the ability to succeed a lot in life to be more clever, to found yourself, and I certainly want these things.

Do you have any thoughts that might make my kayak more safe?

Indeed – and you can find extra three tips for kayak safety on the three additional tips on the further tips below!

Check Your Homeowner’s Policy & Buy Specialist Kayak Insurance

The thing that is fortunately constant is the reason for policies that stand against the unexpected and the unexpected.

Well, my friend, the happier side is that if you have a current homeowner’s protection, it has most likely included your kayak and the gear that goes with it as part of the insurance cover. But be mindful

Certainly, you should check your current policy’s details and your protection options to confirm that you take out a single yacht owner’s insurance before you make a choice to do so.

On the contrary, this is micro insurance, and it is valid for vessels within a particular price variety only, and there is very limited attention for the kayak outside of the home.

If one says the kayak is more costly than the policy’s specified limit, it means getting a kayak insurance policy or a watercraft assurance policy might be the best option.

Whether you would choose Paddle for Peace on a liability policy, or kayak on an All-peril policy, either way, I indorse that you obtain kayak insurance in more than one way, and as an extra comfort if something goes wrong.

To add on, some of the policies even cover your kayak accessories, including, for instance, portable electronics – a fish finder, fishing rods, and other equipment.

Keep Your Kayak Out Of View: “Out Of Eyesight, Out Of Mind”

Resourceful thieves love nothing more than an easy target – and with kayak theft, the story usually goes like this:

There comes a person here who signs that kayak abandoned next to it and thinks to himself “Why not cash it?”So, they steal it.

While the point of kayaking is to experience adventure, it is also up to you to ensure that you never make a mistake that would lead to you dropping your kayak into the water.

In order to master the skill of locking a kayak, professionally is not enough. Keeping your kayak in the dark, so to speak – that is, keeping it away from the sight of thieves – and, therefore, out of mind – can add a bit more defense, adding to the list especially if you are a long-term winter storage holder.

They’ll be ignorant about the password.

A regular spot in the garage, cellar, or shed where the bicycles are being properly stored would be perfect. If that seems to be the only option but the place you want to put your kayak remains visually bare, you can wrap it with a tarpaulin just to make it firmer to identify from a coldness.

Record & Register Your Hull Identification Number (HIN)

Not many kayaks need to follow fuel release regulations and non-motorized kayaks do not have to have any labeling and processes and other federal supplies.

Some of the kayaks need to be registered, yet others do not; the rules differ from one state to another. No rule anywhere is identical to a rule in an extra place.

However, the best news is that all the seawater kayaks on the line since 1972 have a Hull Identification Number or HIN, which means a serial number short.

Why then, is this considered good?

Your HIN is a stamped or engraved 12-digit unique code that recognizes your kayak near the stern. If, by chance, your kayak is taken even with all these efforts that you have put into it, an HIN becomes quite appreciated when it comes to identifying the true owner and eventually recurring the kayak to them.

Splicing DNA technique enacts your kayak’s own fingerprint!

Therefore, you should mark somewhere a site for saving something like the hull identification number of your kayak in the distant case.

Being overcome with belongings like “subtle strategy beats overpowering force” always remember to never underestimate the “enemy.”

Who cannot imagine how sharp and masterful robs can be when it comes to avoiding traceability matters from the stolen kayak that they stole?

In many cases, when this happens, the people who did it first remove the HIN to ensure that the collision was not taken on camera.

You can outsmart them in their game, though:

Look for a place in the undercarriage or hatch storage – any place you will keep it from being spotted. Then, put the HIN there. In case your kayak is stolen, this will provide a good opportunity to locate the stolen stuff.

Always Lock It Up

Don’t let go of your yak but always stick to the rule: you need to lock the hitch when you leave it behind. Even if it’s only the small swirling overhead stream into what seems like a secluded rest stop that calls for a picnic mealtime.

When the lock is chained to a tree or a dock or a post at least you’re safe in the knowledge it will not be missing you once you’ve eaten.

Keeping tabs by safeguarding always that your yak is locked up while in your vehicle, sitting at the back of it or on your trailer will be a good impression. Even if it’s just for gas, sometimes is good for a change.

If you remember to lock it securely before you set off on your journey, it will save time while you’re on the street.

What To Look Out For When Purchasing A Lock For Your Kayak

Key Or Combination Lock

Of the most significant things to check when selecting a lock for your kayak is the combination lock it’s using. Occasionally this will be self-explanatory but often it will come down to personal desire.

Main, a key means that it will need to be taken with you all the time to open the lock.

By means of a combination lock, suitability might never enter the equation, since you have no other option as to lose the key.

It is a good idea to write it down somewhere where you can access it rapidly, for instance in your mobile phone’s notes section, just in case you don’t remember it in the upcoming.

Length

The locking system’s length can be one of the more specific characteristics to check because the locking system has to be big enough to go around or through your kayak.

Approximately all locking cables and belts have their lengths, rather than the capacities of their width and length of vessels they will fit.

Note if the straps will be the base of your kayak, measure the hull as well the width so you size up rather than dual the width of your yak. This may be more of a problematic to control if you have a very wide fishing kayak.

Mind that if the cable will be run into scuppers of your craft, check out the cable size associated to that of your scuppers as well as the cable length.

Longer touring kayakers may fit locks that are tailored for their craft and then the smaller ones may not be well-matched with shore recreational kayaks.

However, some cables may be accomplished of being wound multiple times around a rack or post but this might not be practical in all circumstances.

Corrosion Resistance

The element of corrosion resistance can be a factor if your plan an overnight kayak trip that involves locking your gear up outdoor. This extension can also help to take metal cable rusting out of the equation and defend the locking device.

Lots of them usually are anti-rust coated to defend the cable as well. By coating, your boat or vehicle might remain from rubbing against another boat or gear in the water, as a result, it will prevent being injured.

Others might be applied to the locks themselves, which may be vital at high latitudes where weighty cold and ice cream can affect the lock`s motion.

9 Best Kayak Locks

1: Seattle Sports Cradle Cable Lock For Kayaks (Best Overall)

 

A boat-specific cable lock intended for kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards sizes 18 feet long and less are Seattle Sports Cradle locks. It may benefit you to moor your watercraft to any jutted-out piece such as roof racks of vehicles, kayak storage ramps, and docks.

The wire rope is made of hidden galvanized steel cable, which is ¼ inch in diameter and 20 feet long. It is designed with a locking instrument that clicks onto the cable once it is through the bag, which is protected with a key.

Features

• Versatile – can be used to protect a wide range of vessels from different stationary substances
• Adaptable lock system – lets you control the length of the cable before ascribing the lock body to the cable
• Tough vinyl coating – protects against corrosion and helps to prevent scrapes to your boat or car

This gunwale cable lock can be greatest for long-distance touring kayaks as well as wider recreational or fishing kayaks due to its back-and-forth adjustability in which the lock can be set in the position selected by the user.

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2: Lasso The Original Kayak Cable Lock (Greatest For Touring Kayaks)

 

This Original Lasso Kayak Lock is a lock that is wholly made to have a locking component mounted beside the coaming rim on sea kayaks and sit-inside touring kayaks. It consists of only two cables: one with an uneven end that is looped for the bow and the other that is ended evenly for the severe.

The stimulated steel vinyl-coated cables can be looped around your roof rack or storage rack before being joined together and locked using the four-digit combination lock. The overall length of the cable is 16 feet.

Features

• Spurred steel construction – protection against being cut through
• Vinyl coating – helps to defend your vessel from scratches
• Combination lock – can easily be set without demanding a key

This rack is geared towards long and skinny kayaks and can’t be fitted in shorter wide boats that are meant just for recreation.

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3: Kanulock Lockable Stainless Steel Tie Down Straps (Best For Roof Racks)

The usage of this washable and durable Kaunlock stainless steel lock can signify the perfect fit to your boundless freedom for your kayak secured to the roof rack. It also has two tire straps which are reinforced with stainless steel for added safety, and have cut resistance from knife edges.

This means using the locking straps in the same way you would lock your car with the key, but you can do it as it would be with regular tie-down bands. Two keys are included.

Features

• Dual-purpose design – these are protected tie-down straps that lock
• Various sizes are available – to lock different dimensions of kayaks
• Flexible straps for tightening – ideal for safeguarding to roof rack

Since the Kanu lock straps are a stable way to tie down your car, it could be excessive if you are looking for a safe way to transportation the boat while travelling. The rings are changeable to be suitable for varying the dimensions of kayaks.

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4: Lasso Tandem/Sit-On-Top Kayak Security Cable (Best For Sit-On-Tops)

This specially-designed Lasso Kayak Security Cable switching with the original Lasso cable which features the wider loops can be used for sit-on-top recreational kayaks, whose hulls are normally broader than those for similar kayaks.

The stainless steel loops at the two ends are 55 inches long each and there are 16 feet of the same ¼ spurred steel cable with protective vinyl coating.

This lock can be used to lock up your boat when it’s tied to your roof rack or any other immobile thing. It is connected with a four-digit combination lock.

Features

• Manufactured for sit-on-tops – wider loops allow for an improved fit on recreational yaks
• Ascribes to both sides of your boat – this can be more appropriate for securing to a roof rack
• Combination lock – easy to set and reset deprived of a key

This lock-up is an appropriate system for sit-on-top boaters, dual people, and stand-up paddle boarders. It is ready to fit around the vessel’s bow end and is specially shaped for the vessel’s scupper holes.

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5: Master Lock Two 6FT Keyed Alike Adaptable Cable Locks

 

Such Master Lock Adjustable Cable Locks may be used to join some suitable objects because they are supposed to be keyed the same. This is equivalent to breaking the defense of your own home with just one key for simplicity.

The cables are plaited up from steel and this coating is with a vinyl overall coating. Both oars measure 6 foot and ⅜ inches in perimeter or diameter, which is large enough to fit and leakproof to scupper holes.

Features

• Two lockable cables – ideal for safeguarding both ends of your kayak to stationary objects
• Small diameter – can fit through scupper holes effortlessly
• Keyed alike – one key can solve both cables

These types of cable locks for instance are appropriate enough for linking storage racks, docks or roof racks to the recreational and fishing kayaks.

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6: Thule Lockable Straps

These Thule Lockable Straps and the KanuLock straps are prepared with the same function for locking items to the roof racks.

The two 13-foot straps are finished of steel cables that are contained within a synthesized nylon sleeve. Each strap comes with two rubber lock cylinders to both hold your boat away from your car and prevent accidental harm. This ASA lock system can be used from different kayaks since the straps are fixed and hardly adjusted to different measurements.

Features

• Tie-down straps – perfect for tying down your vessel and locking it to a roof rack
• Corrosion-resistant buckle – ideal for outside
• Easily adjustable – can be safe around kayaks of different widths

The Thule strap is a tie-down strap prepared with locking features. Those features prevent your cargo from being taken by your car or van thieves. They function domineeringly in tie-downs or roof racks placed on the roof of your car, a truck bed or a trailer.

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7: Suspenz Universal Canoe Locking System (Best For Versatility)

The shock absorber is the most excellent feature of the suspense System. It stands out amongst the overwhelming majority of Suspense Locking Systems that are made solely for locking kayaks and canoes.

The locking device consists of 2 cables of looped ends that can slide concurrently onto the front and the back of your boat and can pass through each other when locked for ingesting by a stationary object.

It is a facility for boats whose length does not exceed seventeen feet, temporarily each leading loop is sixteen inches wide.

Features

• Two locking cables – this lets you to loop one around each end of your yak
• Constructed for kayaks – this can allow for a better fit around your boat
• Padlock not included – you will need to purchase a padlock distinctly

This system provides you with not only a secure but also a multipurpose situation as well. It will not only secure your yak to an RV but also its storage rack or dock abilities and offer roof mounting solutions on your car. Nevertheless, it is a bustle-type lock. It is not a replacement for tie-down straps.

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8: Lasso Kong Cable Kayak Lock

Like the Lasso tandem cable lock, Lasso Kong Cable Lock has the benefit of being compact, but it has the extra plus side of using ½-inch-thick galvanized steel cable.

Two cables with 55″ loops on the ends are included here which make this to be a good choice for touring kayaks. The locking mechanism in place has a mixture lock with a key too. It has been intended with compatibility of either sit-on-top or sit-inside crafts including tandem yak and sit-on-top SUP board.

Features

• Combination lock and key lock – you can use the key if you forget the combination or use the combination if you misplace your key
• Durable steel – ½ inch thick covered steel cable for added security
• Ideal for roof racks – safeguards both sides of your boat to one stationary point

Such a lock can serve greatest to bolt the two terminations of your vessel to the roof rack. Therefore, the gear will have an extra level of safety as in this case it is protected by two points of connection. Loop ends are too large to start on extra-wide fishing kayaks or Hobie vessels. It’s a kayak roof rack intended to pick up the loop of the ends.

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9: DocksLocks Anti-Theft Weatherproof Coiled Security Cable (Best Budget)

The DocksLocks natural braided steel coiled security cable is waterproof making it extremely appropriate to lock your watercraft into outdoor racks with a vinyl cover.

Being made up from a combination lock gives it ease of use and, gratefully, the male end of the cable is as same as the rest of the cable; so, you can navigate the fins over smaller gaps, all the way to scupper holes.

Features

• 10-foot coiled cable – coil design benefits prevent excess cable dragging
• Easily threaded – can be eased through scupper holes
• Ideal for storage racks – secures one point of your kayak to one stationary object such as a barrier post or dock

Such a coiled cable is well for outside kayak populations via the scupper holes. Although weather situations with time affect how long the shelter remains, it can be used to secure bikes and other items.

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How To Lock A Kayak: Conclusion  

Whether you are going camping or if you stop at a familiar spot, a secluded campsite, or leaving your car in the hotel’s parking lot, your car’s doors, windows, and roof should be locked before you walk away from it.

When your kayak is unattended at a given moment or at night, lock it to be almost sure that no one will steal it.

The whole purpose of landscape painting is, that getting into the kayak and locking it should be a slow and risky procedure for opportunist burgles.

Whereas purposes that are easy to break cause theft, you should ensure that your objective of protecting your kayak from stealing is strong enough to push long-suspecting potential stealers to give up.

Though there may be not high amounts for goods in a kayak lock market, you have got a range of paddlers to select from, for instance, Master Lock Python or BV locks.

The main thing here is just for you to replacement someone the lock of your kayak accessories kitbag. You will not be discouraging all kayak-related thefts that may happen by installing a kayak lock. However, there might be no extra hooked kayaks for the offenders to steal.

Lastly, maintain a record of your hull identification number – this will be crucial for you to recover your kayak. should it be missing?

I’d like to hope this article was useful to you and at the same time you take away as much wisdom on how to keep your kayak safe.