Locking kayak to car

I like to be able to load up the yak the night before fishing and came up with a little system to make it a little safer. I'm sure this could be defeated with a decent pair of bolt cutters but I feel better that some dumb asses driving by with a pick up can't decide to steal it spur of the moment. Same thing with leaving the car in a parking lot for a short time. It's just a wire I got from home depot plus the loop thing. Just make sure the loop is small enough to fit through the scupper holes






 

That is way more secure than what I use.  I use a bike cable with a crappy padlock on it that goes through a scupper hole and the rack.  The way I figure it is all I need to do is keep the opportunistic thief from stealing it.  If someone really wants it, it doesn't matter how it is secured.

I use   I feed it through the scupper holes and around the crossbars.

That looks like a pretty nice lock but I don't think it would take much to get my racks off the car. They're old

I too use a plastic coated bike cable lock.  It's threaded through the drive hole on the Revo and wrapped around the truck's ladder/lumber rack.  It's just a deterrent. 

Same as Demonic.

It's all about making it difficult since the type of crook stealing a kayak is looking for the low-hanging fruit.  I use a bike style cable lock I picked up at Wal-Mart through a scupper hole and around my roof rack, which is bolted to my roof.  You'd have to be either 7' tall or highly motivated to remove my yak from my truck- even without a lock (an added benefit of mounting on a tall SUV roof rack).

Yarjammer.. not all of us drive a Tank... oh i mean a hummmer.. lol..   


I went to wally world and picked up a combo bicycle lock and it goes thru the scupper hole and the rack..
I got a combo cause after looseing 1 car key i ddint want to have to deal with possibility of loosing a kayak key to

SG

Back when I worked in the Portland building I parked all day under the Hawthorne bridge, I used a BIG ladder cable through the scupper or drive hole, and then through the car doors with the big lock on the inside of the car. It looked massive and intimidating. I'm sure somebody who really wanted it could have made short work of it though.

I actually bought it with the thought of shuttling down from an upriver launch using the cable to lock the boat to a tree or a post, then taking the bus back up to my car.  I never got around to actually trying it, but that could work pretty easily for Sellwood (or Milwaukie?) to Hawthorne though.


BTW: Anybody know who belongs to that gray kayak chained to the Hawthorne boat ramp?

I actually bought it with the thought of shuttling down from an upriver launch using the cable to lock the boat to a tree or a post, then taking the bus back up to my car.  I never got around to actually trying it, but that could work pretty easily for Sellwood (or Milwaukie?) to Hawthorne though.

BTW: Anybody know who belongs to that gray kayak chained to the Hawthorne boat ramp?

That's a great idea!

I actually bought it with the thought of shuttling down from an upriver launch using the cable to lock the boat to a tree or a post, then taking the bus back up to my car.  I never got around to actually trying it, but that could work pretty easily for Sellwood (or Milwaukie?) to Hawthorne though.

BTW: Anybody know who belongs to that gray kayak chained to the Hawthorne boat ramp?

That's a great idea!

Even better than walking ... chain a bike to your take out point. Swap the bike for the Yak on the chain .... go get your car.

I like to be able to load up the yak the night before fishing and came up with a little system to make it a little safer. I'm sure this could be defeated with a decent pair of bolt cutters but I feel better that some dumb asses driving by with a pick up can't decide to steal it spur of the moment. Same thing with leaving the car in a parking lot for a short time. It's just a wire I got from home depot plus the loop thing. Just make sure the loop is small enough to fit through the scupper holes

When I went on a cross country drive last year with my yaks attached to a trailer, I was also concerned about them being stolen as I slept in hotels.  I bought 2  of these for each yak at $7.97 each.  One for each bar and set of scuppers.


I was concerned about a thief with a bolt cutter, so I told the Home Depot worker about my concerns.  We grabbed a bolt cutter and went to the bulk cable spool.  We tried unsuccessfully to cut the cable (both 3/8 and 5/8 size) with a brand new pair of bolt cutters.  It cuts through most of the cable, but not all.  The jaws have a little play in them and did not close completely. It left about 1/16-1/8 inch of cable uncut.  I figured (or hoped maybe) bolt cutter blades are meant to cut hard things that, after so much pressure and cutting into said object, the hardened steel object breaks the rest of the way.  At least that has been my experience.  Maybe a better quality bolt cutter would work.  If it were me, and my option was cutting the cable or the lock, I would cut the lock if there was enough of it exposed to get the bolt cutter onto it.  That is why I chose the cable with the built in lock.

Thanks for the topic and ideas. This has been on my mind lately as a new kayak owner and using my pickup as transport.