Inflatable roof rack to put a sit on kayak on?

Mrs BigLee is looking for an inflatable roof rack to fit on her civic to put the sit on kayak on the car. I’m a bit dubious of said racks and keeping the boat attached to the roof. Anybody got one or had experience of these roof racks?

They can work, but can be a real pain to use safely, and are very likely to abrade the paint where they sit.

I would be scouring Gumtree for suitable s/h rigid roofrack.

I used to use one all the time. Handiracks.

I think they’re pretty good for occasional use. I regularly used to get 3 kayaks on mine no problem. Secure too.

I think it’s best to protect your paint with something though as they can move around. Also, as the straps went through the doors when it rained they leaked a bit.

Bought a handirack many years ago after a protracted struggle getting a Pyranha H2zone in a Nissan Micra resulted in a broken gearbox. But never used it.

Do you wanna buy it?

(Manc)

If you want to know lots about them then look on ukrgb. There’s shit loads of info there. What with it being a kayak website and all

Personally I would hunt down a second hand proper roof rail set.

The cost would be the same – but use is much more secure.

used to use a FCS softrack for my surf boards. Similar sort of thing. they leak like a sieve when it rains and completely destroy modern paintwork. I’d get a set of proper roof bars.

Great ideas folks 👍 the car is a bit of a banger so paint damage isn’t much of a concern but a bit of protection underneath would be used.

She was looking at the handirack as well so good to hear that they do work, it’ll just be occasional use so rain leakage won’t be a problem 😁

I had one fail early on. Don’t over-inflate them as it puts great strain on the seams.

My parents have a old softrack that I HAVE borrowed for surf boards many years a go. Worked fine.

I have also bodged one up using old cushions, towels and some straps and it has been fine too.

I had one, it kinda worked, but:

It takes significantly longer to inflate than it does to install even the fiddliest cheap roof rack.

It took the clear coat off on the first trip to Cornwall. I wouldn’t be surprised to see bare metal (and subsequent rust) if you got more than one use out of it.

It burst/punctured on that f<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>irst trip. Probably because its black and I left it inflated in the sunshine. As if that’s not something you’d do with something designed for a holiday.</span>

After all that I went on eBay and spent £25 on a cheap roof rack that actually works.

In summary, its hopelessly shit.