Kayakers everywhere…with the production of outstanding quality kayaks, kayaking has become one the favourite and most relished water sports. We are always awestruck by the quirky designs and playful colours manufacturers use to attract mass population.
Once the product is sold, it is our duty to maintain the very shine and efficiency of the kayak. Hence, it is a must to have the mastery and adroitness while dealing with a kayak.
Is your kayak still lying down on the floor, utilizing the functional areas of your house? Systematic storage of a kayak must be your concern first and foremost because systematic storage has its own benefits like:
- Room Space is managed
- Stability of the kayak is maintained
- Zero scratches
- Easy to load and unload the kayak
- Doesn’t require your constant attention
- Less money spent on repairs and damages
Keeping these points in mind, let’s find out some cool and effective kayak storage ideas. The article is divided in 4 categories of storage ideas- kayak storage rack ideas, kayak garage storage ideas, outdoor kayak storage ideas, and kayak tackle storage ideas.
Page Contents
How To Store A Kayak (Hacks)
- Always find a perfect spot in the house or in the garage to avoid direct sunlight or freezing temperatures. Find a warm place in the house.
- Always clean dry the kayak before putting it on a rack or storage. Try to cleanse it with water and sponge and remove excess water from the hatch. This will eventually help in maintaining good health of the kayak.
- You can cover your kayak with storage covers. Getting storage covers will be useful even if you keep the kayaks outdoors. You can also use the tarp. Just ensure they don’t touch each other. Leave some space between the tarp and the kayak to avoid moisture saturation between them.
- You can position the kayaks vertically as well as horizontally. But while sleeping the kayak horizontally (or totally flat), make sure to tilt it a bit so that the craft’s shell doesn’t bend down.
Kayak Storage Rack ideas
Rack ideas have been favoured by mostly all kayakers and canoers. The features like high stability, powerful holding, good fitting, perfect size, and space optimization give them an upper edge over other techniques. You would get a variety of racks in the market that will fit your room spaces.
In house racks– the in house racks are positioned inside the house. If you have no garage or doesn’t want your kayak to lose its shine in the sun, then this could be a good deal to sign on. Before putting in the rack, find a perfect spot in the room which is away from direct sunlight and doesn’t freeze too much in the winter. The temperatures can affect the kayaks.
Floor racks– These racks are kept on the floor; can be easily set up and are portable. If you wish you can put them outdoors as well. In market you would find racks that can hold up to 6 kayaks. Unlike wall mounted racks these racks can have more capacity and can be chosen depending upon the size of the kayaks. You can even put the paddles over it.
In the free-standing kayaks the Rad Sportz heavy duty kayak rack is a popular one.
Wall-mounted racks– wall mounted racks are also preferred when you don’t have space on the floor. You can keep the kayaks by attaching rack bolts to the wall. Plan the height properly. Keep it accessible and not very high or low. This will help you in easy loading and unloading the kayak from the rack.
Do not mount the rack to the plywood or dry wall, as the rack can easily break away from the wall. Get quality bolts and studs to mount the rack. Make sure they are durable because they would hold the kayak for longer time.
- Hang it on the ceiling- You can even leave your kayak suspended from the ceiling with the help of suspension mounting for the ceiling. It is useful when the ceiling is high. You can even add a pulley system to it. Pulley system will make it easier to bring the kayak down and keep it up again. The kayak is kept horizontally (flat) so you can buy a sling to support its middle back and avoid the sagging of the kayak.
You can even invest in heavy duty mounting systems that are different from pulley systems but can give your kayak better stability.
In this section, we saw how you can put the kayak indoors with kayak storage rack ideas. Take precautions and mount properly. A few techniques can also be used for garage storage. Let’s check more.
Kayak Garage storage ideas
Kayak garage storage ideas also include rack ideas and you can position your racks and store the kayaks.
A bunker– you can buy a bunker rack for the kayaks to keep in the garage. This bunker can be used even to keep gear and the paddles. It is very useful if you have more than one kayak. It gives more stability to the kayak and ensures it doesn’t bend from any side.
Ceiling mounted racks– you can find tray like racks that can be attached to the ceiling and the kayaks can be placed parallel in the rack just like we keep our dishes back to back.
Store it sideways- bring in elongated wooden blocks or aluminium strips with ropes, hammer, screw and bolts. Attach the base of the blocks to two sides of the wall depending upon the height and width of the kayak. Two blocks to hold the lower body of the kayak to the wall and let the elongated part hold your kayaks with the kayak’s back facing the wall. You can position as any kayaks depending upon the height of the wall. Secure the kayaks with the ropes. You can either position the kayaks sideways or horizontally just like shown in the figure.
Suspended mounts– you can use the suspended kayak mounts in your garage too. Use a pulley system to drag them down and pull them up. It is very space effective. Check the durability and quality of the mounts, bolts, and studs, and the strength of the ceiling.
You can use various DIYs as well to store your kayak. In this article we presented the most used DIYs for kayak storage in the garage. You can always comment below and let us know any cool ideas for storing kayaks. Along with this let us check out outdoor kayak storage ideas.
Outdoor Kayak storage ideas
Out house racks– in the market you find certain racks that are useful for storing kayak outdoors. No doubt that you can use your indoor kayak racks outside too.
But when it comes to outdoors, special care has to be taken. You can have antirust and waterproof racks or wooden racks would do too
You can get them covered from the top with the help of a plastic shield or a wooden shed. It is suggested that you cover your kayak with the storage cover to prevent it from scorching heat or sharp winters.
Kayak Shed- you can build a kayak shed in your yard. You can construct a wooden shed with a bunker system to keep more kayaks and its gear. You can even construct a tent outside with plastic or waterproof fabric cover.
It’s absolutely necessary to store your kayak in safe and secure manner. Along with the kayak, it is mandatory to take care of the gear, paddles and other paraphernalia including fishing bait, rods, etc. Let’s discuss how you can store kayak gear in the tackle box.
Kayak Tackle storage ideas
If you are a fishing freak, tackle boxes are very necessary for you. Your fishing bait, hooks to nets can be kept in the boxes. Tackle boxes can even be used to keep your simple gears like sunscreen, glasses, keys, bottles, sprays, etc. You can carry it in the kayak and store it in the house.
The main categories of tackle boxes are hard shell and soft shell tackle boxes with different textures, materials and sizes. You can buy as per your size demands. Hard shell tackle boxes are hard and made up of plastic, or metal or even wood. Trendy tackle boxes are of durable plastic material. These boxes have a lot of compartments and space to keep your hooks and baits and poles. They have good capacity and well organized trays/ compartments.
Soft shell tackle boxes are very different. They resemble a backpack or shoulder bags mostly made up of nylon and fabric. You can have lot of small pockets to put in your phone, camera, and torches. They are very easy to carry and light weight. But these are not very resistant to water and can be rugged out easily. They might not have good organization like your hard shell tackle bags.
You can select a tackle box depending upon your purpose. If you are travelling for leisure then you can select a soft shell tackle but if you are going for full day fishing then you should choose hard shell tackle. Always check the durability and quality of boxes.
Or use Inflatable kayaks
There is an alternative to your kayak. These are inflatable Kayaks. These Kayaks can be inflated and deflated as per the use. Put them in a corner of your car or store them in your house cellar.
You can store inflatable kayaks in any of your closet, house rooms and garages. They don’t take much space and are inexpensive too. These are foldable and can be easily carried. You just need to check with the material and any punctures to the Kayak.
Conclusion
So I hope that you have got good kayak storage ideas for indoors, outdoors and the garage. These ideas are not hard and fast, you can always create your own and use them.
Also Read: Get A PA Kayak Launch Permit
Again, do let me in the comment box if you have any cool ideas to store the kayak. Make sure you secure them safely wherever you keep them. Use tackle boxes to store your gear. Never compromise on quality of any stuff you buy. Thank you for your time and reading the post.
