REVIEW: Lockrack Holds Kayaks Without Straps

If you are a kayak angler or a stand up paddleboard enthusiast, cartopping your board or kayak is hard enough without adding in the frustration of straps and locks. Lockrack has come up with a way to secure your board or kayak on top of your vehicle, lock it down, and not have to mess with straps at all.

Here’s the ins and outs. The grip coated arms can extend to the width of your kayak or SUP. From there you basically cradle the watercraft in, push the arms snug on the outside of the boat or SUP, and then lock it into place with your key. The grip on the arms keeps that board from slipping out and the locks make sure no one but you can open it up.

I tried out the Lockrack Universal Watercraft Carrier. It retails for $285.00 US.

The Good

If you have a Yakima or Thule setup for crossbars on your vehicle, you are going to be good to go with the kit. It comes with the locks, keys, mounting hardware, and good instructions that make setup pretty quick. If you take out the time to read the instructions, install is less than five minutes and it’s secure.

The Lockrack worked great for the SUP and for my smaller kayaks. The biggest factor for a kayak to work with this is the height of the sidewalls. Many sit inside kayaks and low profile sit on tops will work with the Lockrack.

With the Lockrack I also got a quieter ride than with the traditional strap and rack method. You won’t even know it’s there until you get out of the car. That was a great improvement. I also appreciated the inclusion of locks. Many times with crossbars, locking systems are extra. And that just secures your bars, not the cargo. The Lockrack system has them included standard. Sweet! That also means no more running cables through scupper holes, bumbling with big padlocks, or other potentially damaging solutions.

One final thing, if your kayak can fit in the Lockrack system, you won’t be putting stress on the hull and scupper with ratchet straps or cam buckles. I can dig that!

Points of Improvement

I would LOVE to see an even larger version of this that can handle a kayak with a sidewall height over 13 inches. Bigger arms, a wider and longer base plate, and you’d have a pretty universal system.

One of the downsides to this system is if you have square tubes, there is an additional adapter kit that has to be purchased. It’s not a world ender but definitely more money to shell out.

Final Thoughts

The Lockrack is a really cool solution to the age old strap security problem. It’s priced right along or even under other options with these features, and I feel it rates above them. If you’re done messing with straps and fretting over security, check out the Lockrack.