Surfing Waves

So I have some tie-down straps, and I don't know how to use them in order to secure surfboards onto my car's roof racks.



(I was never good at knots and such.)


How do I loop the strap around the loading bar and around the surfboard?

Here's a picture of what I'm looking at:

I found it was easier to get it more secure and get access to it if you put the board on one side of the car, but used to have it in the middle for ages.

What I do is:

Hold the buckle bit on top of the board about 6 inches from the edge of it, over one of the roofbars.

With the strap dangling down towards you, loop it round the roof bar twice (inside the roof bar, not on the very edge of it past the bit where it slots into the roof!)

Then throw the strap UNDER the board, across to the other side. Wrap it round the roof bar on that side twice.

Now throw it OVER the board, then under again from the other side and back over (you may have to vary the number of times you do this depending on how long the straps are)

Get the strap on the roof bar AS CLOSE to the board on each side as possible, and make sure it's pulled as tight as you can get it before chucking it over and under each time.

When you see you're running out of strap, put the opposite side from the buckle through the buckle and pull very hard. A good tip is once it's through, go round the other side and pull it so that it's through the strap but you're pulling backwards on it (you can get it much tighter than if you just pull it through and keep pulling forwards from that angle).

Twist any bit of strap left through the straps already tied down so it doesn't flap about as it'll make a really annoying noise!

Now repeat this process for the other strap on the other bar! It probably sounds quite complicated, but once you've done it 2/3 times it's a doddle (unless it's gale force winds and the board keeps flying off the car before you can strap it down!!!)

Hope this makes sense. Good luck!

Yes, it was a bit hard to visualize, but I think I'm doing it right. If my surfboard doesn't fly off the car, I think I'll be fine

Thanks thaya!

Just give it a gentle push and tug when it's all tied up and it shouldn't move at all. If you're really worried you could always try an emergency stop (when there's no one behind!) to check it doesn't fly off, before you hit the motorway! I did that the very first time I put a board on the roof!!! It made me feel confident that it wasn't going anywhere!

not relevant to the post but I love your pictures chickentendah

How I do it.

buckle one side of the car, one side of the roof bar.
Strap goes over the surfboard then under the bar at the other side, then back over the surboard to the buckle end.

Strap goes under the bar then through the bucke, feed through rest of strap & tighten usingthe strap & bopard to leverage it tight. Tie off loose strap end. Repeat on other bar. Done.


So the end is two runs of the strap oevr the surfboard, it passes under the roofbar either side and is held by the buckle.

I saw a board bolted to the roof of a beetle in Newquay once....

So, Thaya and RJD, do I have the right idea here?





(SurfPatrol, I try. )

That's exactly right mate.

Love the artwork!

classic stuff

Yup, that's the way I do mine! I put the buckle on the side though, because then I can kinda ratchet it down. (not too hard though!)

I had a 35 lb longboard on my car over 1,000 miles this weekend, and it didn't budge, even up to 85 mph (didn't have the nads to go faster with all the cops out this weekend). I even went off roadin with it on there, and it was completely fine.

Yeah and the art is awesome! Gets the image across much easier

sweet, thanks a lot people!

I figured somebody else would have the same question, so a MSPaint picture would be perfect