Thule DockGrip Kayak Carrier, 895

I purchased this because the pivoting saddles are very clever, and combined with the excellent padding, these really secure any boat or board. BUT, the same features make loading/unloading remarkably difficult. I easily heft our two 14′ SUP’s onto my SUP Taxi or onto the padded crossbars on our other car (and into the ceiling racks in the garage), but getting anything on/off this is quite clumsy. So if you already struggle with roof racks, do not purchase this. (The Thule SUP Taxi is dramatically easier).

Awesome! Perfect for my surf ski, 9ft longboard, 11 ft surf rescue board. It didn’t happen but I didn’t realize how easily someone could come and take them.

The bolts provided for mounting to the Thule Aerobar were 1/8″ to 1/4″ too wide for the T-track, and required modification in order to fit inside the T-track. All of the other Thule products I have purchased fit great, but these tested my patience. Solid equipment, just got sloppy with the mounting bolt details.

Esp. for price, I expected a tad more in the… I’ll call it ‘convenience’ category. Using in combo with the Thule ‘aeroblade bar’, & maybe some of the fault can go there as well… these just stick up too far to leave on top when not in use (just looks silly). Thule actually states in the manual as well ‘remove when not in use’ (lol – seriously?). Regardless, this also points to the conundrum of the associated rubber strip that fills the ‘track’ in the aeroblade bars (though these also ship with the hardware to mount ON the bars, not using the ‘track’ which gives the cleanest look when they are in use, not so much when mounted ON the bars,)… which is, you really need TWO sets of rubber strips (one for when they’re not installed, and one for when they are – in order to prevent pretty loud whistling of the bar), of which the aeroblade only comes with one – extra’s are $10!Anyhoo, when positioned & strapped properly, it DOES hold a yak like it’s life depended on it. I don’t even bother with a stern line tie down. Absolutely that confident in the provided straps and just a backup bow line. I think if I did it again though, I’d have to go with the “Hull-a-Port aero”. Looks like it would be fine when installed, not carrying, & locked down. Plus, think you can fit a 2nd set up there if need be.SO…. unless you don’t mind these large unsightly things sitting on top of your car without a yak, you’ll have to install/uninstall these every – single – time – you wanna go yakkin’ (to include the rubber strip). (or you could alternatively just leave ’em on the aeroblade / etc. cross bars, and install/uninstall THAT whole thing every single time – or attach them ON the bars using the included hardware…..)

Owned numerous Thule products and kayak carriers from different manufacturers. This design destroys any reason to use J-hooks unless you’re carrying multiple yaks. Easy to install, easy to load especially if you’re short like me onto a crossover vehicle. Excellent versatility for yaks, paddle boards and long boards (surf). Never had any issue with the kayak moving even slightly despite couple occasions drivers stopping short on me and having to break hard. All these racks cost about the same amount of money so if you have 1 kayak to transport, spend the money on this rack over the others. Thule has another design like this but that one sucks.