Inflatable roof bars

[Moore288]

Anyone any advice on which inflatable roof bars work - or experience with them on a van? I see that some are not very long but after googling I can’t find if there are some more suitable for a Cali? Idea is to use to get blown up inflatable sups and canoe from campsite a few km to beach.


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[Ch1pbutty]

Anyone any advice on which inflatable roof bars work - or experience with them on a van? I see that some are not very long but after googling I can’t find if there are some more suitable for a Cali? Idea is to use to get blown up inflatable sups and canoe from campsite a few km to beach.


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Would avoid them on a Cali as the roof is quite fragile / flexible, and you may end up with beach sand between the inflatable pad and the roof from the board - sandpaper effect!. Traditional roof bars will lift the boards away from the roof & spread the weight evenly onto the t-rails that are already set into the roof.

 

[Moore288]

Would avoid them on a Cali as the roof is quite fragile / flexible, and you may end up with beach sand between the inflatable pad and the roof from the board - sandpaper effect!. Traditional roof bars will lift the boards away from the roof & spread the weight evenly onto the t-rails that are already set into the roof.

Thanks - I have the normal bars already but was seeking a way not to take them to stay under 2m- and not to have inflate board every trip!!!!


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[Ch1pbutty]

Thanks - I have the normal bars already but was seeking a way not to take them to stay under 2m- and not to have inflate board every trip!!!!


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Haha, Lockdown has meant we have used our ISUP alot in recent months so we invested in the below; We just keep it inflated & on the roof at the moment.

SupDawg

A stand up paddleboard mount which can hold up to two SUP Boards up to 36" wide. The SUP Dawg is fully assembled out-of-the-box, features integrated rollers for easy loading and includes SKS locks.

www.yakima.com

 

[California4x4]

Thanks - I have the normal bars already but was seeking a way not to take them to stay under 2m- and not to have inflate board every trip!!!!


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I haven’t tried what you are thinking of but I often carry things on my roof (surfboards, timber, roof box, snowboards etc). I’m assuming there are no 2m height restriction between the camp site and the water if you’re planning to carrying the SUPs on the roof. Inflatable roof bars are normally secured by putting the tie-down straps through the front and rear doors. Without two swing out rear doors, you would need to tie into the awning rails or roof rails I think and then securing the SUP to the roof would require you to tie into either of these rails again. I find it takes about 5 mins to put on or take off the Thule roof bars and there are neat solutions for securing the board to the bars. I’m not sure it would be quicker to attach inflatable bars to the roof securely. If I were you and concerned about the height I’d carry the roof bars and SUP inside until you need to deploy them. It sounds like you’ll be staying on one site for a few days at a time so mounting and removing your existing roof bars at the start and end of each stay should be quicker than daily blowing up and collapsing the SUP, although you’ll keep yourself fit with the latter.

 

[Moore288]

Thanks all- yes the height issue was just driving down through France. Once at campsites no issue on height. Seems like everyone thinks the best is to pack my Thule bars in the van and put them on when we arrive. If anyone does have experience on inflatable bars let me know: as written I think the the van width and type of rear windows is an issue.


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[NickE]

A friend bought some of these to transport a kayak on his car. They are truly horrible. They don't securely attach to the vehicle in the first place. Then you can't securely attach your boat/sup to the bars because they are floppy. Then, even if you tie down the boat/sup directly to the vehicle, because the bars are floppy the boat/sup bounces around trying to escape!
I'm sure inflatable roof bars have a purpose, I just can't imagine what it is.