Countdown of the Top Surfboard Racks
After reviewing hunderes of surfboard racks on this site and having awesome feedback from all the readers, as well as tips to some of the best surfboard racks on the market, we decided to do a little countdown of the top surfboard racks for the year. Believe it or not, every single rack you see on this site we have personally used in one way or another. After reviewing all the products, it’s clear that the best rack is one that keeps your board safe. After all, a rack is a small investment in keeping your surfboard it top shape for years to come. Below we list the best rack for each type of catagory: soft, hard, wall, and ceiling. After each of our top picks, we will also include the cheapest model for you budget shoppers out there and explain a little about each one. So lets get started on this exclusive list:
Top Soft Surf Racks:
A soft rack typically includes some type of foam padding with an attached strap. And since most of the brands all use the same material and basic strap system, our favorite comes down to the way in which it works. That being said our favorite soft surfboard rack at the moment is the Creatures of Leisure Wrap Rax. The Creatures of Leisure rack allows you to really tighten down the strap system, keeping the board safe and secure. It also uses covered buckles, which will keep the metal off your surfboard and is a huge plus.
Creatures of Leisure Wrap Rax
Of course, if you are in need of a good, solid, and cheap soft rack you still can’t go wrong with the Block Surf Single Rack. We have discussed this rack before, its basically your cheapest soft rack and features one large simple strap with two buckles. You first throw the pad on your vehicle and then run the strap through the inside of your car and then through the first strap. This keeps the pad tight to your car. Next you place your surfboard on the pad and then run your the remaining strap over your surfboard and then through the final buckle. This is what keeps your surfboard attached to your car. Cheap, simple, and easy to use, you still can’t go wrong with the Block Surf Single or Double. The double actually utilizes three straps, one around your roof of your vehicle, and one for each stack of surfboards.
Block Surf Single Rack
Top Hard Surf Racks:
Hard surf racks can be either be complete systems, or a simple rack system that you attach to already mounted racks. For instance, one of our favorite hard racks that mounts to your typically SUV rack is the Thule 809 Double Decker Surfboard Carrier. The Thule rack, like most hard racks, attaches to the crossbars of your SUV rack system. Once attached with the Thule, you can now lock your surfboards in place. These types of racks are great for cross country as they require no further fidgeting once in place. The ability to lock you surfboards, especially while traveling, is what makes the Thule a top pick.
Have no SUV but still want a cheap hard rack system? Block Surf makes a decent hard rack, called the Block Surf Surfer Rack that be easily attached to the roof of almost any car or even truck. This rack has a two unique strap system. The first set of strap attach to the inside gutters of your doors with the other hold the surfboards in place. We have seen that some vehicles do not allow the straps to fit all the way in the gutters meaning you will have to get the “thru the vehicle” system straps that also work with this rack. Therefore you really have two different ways to mount this rack to your car or truck. This rack is definitely great for a long haul.
Block Surf Sufer Rack
Top Wall Surf Racks:
Very hard to pick out some favorite wall racks as they all have their own unique purpose and aesthetics. If you looking for a good, solid, metal, and black rack, you serious can’t go wrong with Gatekeeper Racks. Or if you like the wood type style, the Hawaiian Gun Racks are great as well. If you don’t like either metal or wood, you can also go with a more modern approach and get a Nice Rack, which is made from high impact plastic. It really just depends on your own unique style. Some things to keep in mind before purchasing a wall rack is how you want it to be displayed and how often you will be taking it on and off the rack. This will help you choose if you want display it on rail, traditional, or even at a down angle. For instance, we like down angle and vertical racks for surfboards we use all the time. On rail racks are great for keeping boards stored up out of the way, and traditional is a good way to stack multiple boards.
Nice Rack Triple Horizontal
Top Surf Ceiling Racks:
Ceiling racks are by far the best way to keep you boards safe and out the of way. We prefer to use them for off season storage of for the old logs we don’t sue anymore. One of the coolest setups we have seen is the Gatekeeper Ceiling Rack. This rack obviously attaches to any ceiling, but also utilizes are really neat bolt on system in which you can add more racks and thus store more boards. For instance, check the picture below and you can see how you can store say two shortboards and a SUP board all hanging from the same rack. This setup can really save you some space if you have quite a collection. From what we can tell 3 boards are the max, 4 and it seems like there is just too much weight on the rack that attaches to the ceiling.
Gatekeeper Ceiling Rack
For the cheaper version of the a good ceiling rack, we like the Calfin EZ Ceiling Rack. A simple galvanized tube wrapped in foam to protect your board. Does’t get any simpler, cheap, and works just as well as any higher priced rack. You can get them for either your shortboards, longboards, or even your stand up paddle board.
Calfin EZ Ceiling Rack
Well there is our list of our top surf racks for the year. If you have any other favorite racks please let us know! Remember, if you ever construct your own rack system, let us know and we will put pictures up and share them with everyone. If you more of the Do it yourself kind of person, check out our do it yourself category and build your own. Cheers and happy new year.
