G'day all, am looking to do some medium to long term caravan trips.Right at the top of my priority list is the secure storage of my SUP. I will probably take my 9'6" X 30" board and I am looking for storage options especially when I am away from the van. I guess the obvious is to either put the thing inside the van (awkward and cumbersome) or stick it under the van and hope for the best (not very secure). I know that theft is common in coastal van parks and I am keen to avoid this. Does anyone have any better options?

We caravan a fair bit - what we do is use the Kanulock straps either onto the caravan bumper (easy) or through the supports for the floor system (bit more effort but depends on how long we're planning to be away and where the sun is). If you do them up properly I find just as secure as when they are on the racks.

Have a look at Dock locks or Gumby lock.

Just lock it up to something and throw it under the van

I use a cable bike lock( ABUS combiflex) and loop it through the leg rope plug and lock it under the van.
its out of site, in the shade. of course if someone has the right cutting tools.....

we caravan a lot with the sup surfboard bikes bbq and other junk. Currently on a long trip and we use stainless wire swaged at a chandlery. We made 4 different lengths with about a 2 inch loop at each end. Get the wire with most strands (19 I think) as it is most flexible and easy to use. Make sure you get it thin enough to thread through and I have found 4 lengths fron 1m to 4m covers everything we take.

Thanks Cruiser, bazell and SP for your great suggestions. HGFish, I like your idea of strapping the board to the structure under the van with Kanulock straps for longer absences. Up out of sight is good.

Hi Ken, I use Docks Locks to secure my board. They work great as a deterrent. Of course if some dog really wants it then they can get it.

Couple bits of Ali angle ,slide into the US box & paddle lock to what ever (r/rack,tree,car)

+ 1 for the gumby lock when we travel

When we travel as we both paddle I think we have taken 7 boards on one trip, so we made a long cable at Whitworths, properly swaged, I think the cable is 5 m long, locks in a line, works a treat

Thanks supgman & fester. It seems that there a lot of good options for securing SUPs during travel and around the camp site. The situation that was concerning me most was when I was away from the camp site for an extended period or I was in an area where I would not be using the SUP. HGFish's solution of securing the board up under the van structure with Kanulock straps seems to cover that case off pretty well In that the board is secured up out of sight of any deviate looking for a soft target.

Have seen a cage box made of aluminium on the back of vans. Boards are upright and locked in using examples above. There is no lid or top on the box.

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ShireSUP said..

+ 1 for the gumby lock when we travel

When we travel as we both paddle I think we have taken 7 boards on one trip, so we made a long cable at Whitworths, properly swaged, I think the cable is 5 m long, locks in a line, works a treat

Thanks Shire, I can see that this is ideal for multiple items.

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petedorries said..
Have seen a cage box made of aluminium on the back of vans. Boards are upright and locked in using examples above. There is no lid or top on the box.

Thanks Pete, this sounds good if I can free up enough space on the rear of the van.Would be good because they stowed out of the way and can be left there when not in use, as long as they can be kept out of the sun.

This is my setup for the back of my motorhome,use Kanu Locks for a bit of peace of mind when it is left,if you travel with your sup on the car maybe a rack on the back of your van just to lock it while you are away. This board is a 9' 5" Naish Mana but used to travel with my 10'5" no problems.I take the vent plug out as it can get pretty hot in the sun no issues so far.made it out of angle and box section which bolts onto the chassis.

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darbs said..



This is my setup for the back of my motorhome,use Kanu Locks for a bit of peace of mind when it is left,if you travel with your sup on the car maybe a rack on the back of your van just to lock it while you are away. This board is a 9' 5" Naish Mana but used to travel with my 10'5" no problems.I take the vent plug out as it can get pretty hot in the sun no issues so far.made it out of angle and box section which bolts onto the chassis.

Yeah darbs the rack on the back looks good.