Kayaking is a great, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Unfortunately, it does take up quite a bit of space in the trunk of your car and if you’re not careful about how you store it, the kayak will slip around while driving which can lead to damage or even injury. This blog post will show you step-by-step instructions on how to tie down your kayak in your truck bed so that it stays put no matter what kind of road conditions you encounter!
The first step is to prepare your truck bed. If the tonneau cover‘s installed you have to remove it. Place the kayak straps in the area of your truck that 
you will be loading and unloading your kayaks from, usually at the tailgate or on top of a camper shell. If there’s no place for them on these surfaces, then you’ll have to make sure that you have enough strap to go around the kayak and attach it to your truck bed. You should also know how much of a tailgate drop your truck has so that you can properly adjust the straps before loading up your kayaks.
The next step is placing the kayak straps in the area of your truck bed where they will be secured. You should lay out the straps so that they are roughly parallel to one another and leave enough length of strap at each end for attaching them securely in place once you’re ready to load up your kayak.
Finally, it’s time to attach the straps around the kayaks themselves! To do this, make sure that both ends of the strap are facing in the same direction and wrap them around one of your kayaks, making sure that all straps are tucked securely against the boat. Once you have wrapped a few loops around your kayak (about three to five), take both ends of the strap together and attach it tightly so that it will stay put.
This is what it will look like when both straps have been securely attached. It should take up the entire length of strap and end without any slack or loose ends hanging around. This prevents slippage which can cause your kayak to get damaged while in transit.
Ensure the kayak is balanced and you can leave enough distance for your vehicle’s tailgate. You can also use a cargo net as an alternative, but it’s important not to attach anything too tight or you risk damaging the boat and stressing out its rigging (the hardware on board). Cargo nets are best for attaching two corners next to each other while leaving the other two corners free to move.
It’s important to be mindful of a few things when tying down; make sure you have an even distribution of tension on all four straps, use protection (such as a pad or tarp) if it will be in contact with the kayak, and tie down straps should be long enough so that they will not loosen while driving.
With the steps above, tying the kayak to the truck body should be very simple. We hope that these instructions will be helpful to you, and wish you good luck on all kayaking adventures!
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