How to Strap a Canoe to Your Vehicle

Learn how to properly strap your canoe to the roof of your vehicle with Grant Armour from the Outdoor Recreation School of Three Rivers. Grant has safely moved hundreds of boats thousands of miles across Minnesota and across the country from the Minneapolis area. Follow these tips and tricks to make sure your boat is securely on your roof and that it gets to the lake or river you are on your way to paddle!

[@None84888]

One of the best online videos I've seen. Just the right level of detail. Nice job.

[@richardradcliffe6047]

Very nice. Learned a few excellent tips that I didn’t know about attaching the center straps, particularly the one about swinging the straps around the front or back rather than tossing them over the top.

[@simonkampfer33]

Thanks for this very informative video. Picking up a second hand canoe tomorrow and feel confident now that i'm going to bring it home safely after watching this!

[@davidrobins4025]

Good clear description and demonstration. I have a concern about trusting the hood latch that much. I have never trusted that to hold something as valuable as my canoe on the roof. IMHO

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Home Depot sells 4-ratchet straps kit for $10. They are highly rated. I would run a safety strap through the rear passenger windows and lock it down. Driving down the expressway at speed puts a lot of aerodynamic force on the canoe and the roof rack. Make sure it's rated for carrying a canoe.

[@Postiegrum]

Thank you for that. I'm picking up a new canoe this weekend and was wondering what to do as I don't have anywhere to tie a rope at the front. I now know about hood loops so you have solved my problem. Thanks 😊

[@ebx2323]

Damn I just bought new straps too because I thought they were broken. Turns out I was just putting them in the wrong way lol thanks for this video!

[@siyaozhou2101]

Beautiful tie, very informative, thanks!

[@shermanhofacker4428]

The way the back line is tied is counter-productive. Instead of connected to the end of the canoe they should be tied to a thwart that is forward of the tie in point of the rear of the vehicle so that as the line is tightened the canoe is pulled tighter to the vehicle. Also all that is holding the front loops in place is the hood latch; not a very strong part of most vehicles. Loops CAN be used through the hood crack secured with bolts or through holes in vehicle body parts that are much stronger.

[@billys.3258]

The straps should have run inside the towers instead of outside as well. That would have directed the force inward and solved his "Angry A" situation.

[@rosemabus1300]

Super clear and helpful!

[@jester7125]

Dude, well done. Been tying things down for a long time and learned some new things. Good details and follow through, excellent.

[@jeffreycrawley1216]

Safety first: LOOK UP! Ask yourself if you're happy hefting up an aluminum boat underneath overhead power/telephone lines . . . . . Using a sedan rather than the old pickup this year so cool video. Like the idea of the "hood loops"

[@epenaloza52]

I just bought a canoe, and i also have a kayak. When transporting them, can i use a double-sided kayak carrier?! Or would that be a big fail!?

[@stevegriffiths8906]

You mentioned several times to make sure the cross straps lay flat, but when I do that we generate that abnoxious hum from the straps vibrating when travelling faster than 50 km/h. If one continues like that, damage to the car's finish results as well. What do you recommend to address that? Thanks.

[@ParkRoadGuy]

So I can't completely center my canoe in my car either. But I actually placed mine a little further on the passenger side so that I could have more vision on the driver side. Is that right or wrong?

[@billbloomington]

excellent instructions. thanks. Would cam buckle straps vs. rope work just as well for the stern/ bow lines?

[@timapple6586]

Yup. But they do diminish visibility, and if you don't add a twist to them, they will soon re-configure your sanity.

[@sojourner3671]

I thought this Vid was great...thank you.

[@Karen-ou4ib]

Will 25mm wide straps be ok?

[@timapple6586]

That's what he used in the vid. But if you're thinking straps for the bow and stern tie-downs, then great but this time you'll want to add some twist to make sure them don't hum. Or worse, roar. Also, I would prefer to see one single clove hitch around just one bar for the cross straps. Because no one likes Angry A's. Happy H's to you, friend.

[@Karen-ou4ib]

@@timapple6586 Thank you Tim! yes I loaded my canoe and tied down with the 25mm straps, it all went perfectly and had my first paddle this year. Was so excited I was able to do this for myself - great instructions :)

[@Venom-nk8nd]

D🇵🇬

[@christophersmith7714]

Nicely done. Thanks

[@stephencarr4909]

"Nice job with securing the NRS straps to the rack! I did notice, however, that the roof racks are positioned quite close together. It would be more effective to slide them as far apart as possible on the roof. This will provide better leverage for your straps, and you likely won't need a rope on the bow and stern of the canoe if the roof racks are correctly positioned."

[@peterbarlow8912]

You can get ratchet straps without hooks. Looks like the roof rails would allow a longer bar spacing. I know a kayak guy that has rope loop anchors exiting the hood trailing edge near the wipers.

[@theoutdoordad7395]

Excellent video!

[@robbierabby1848]

looks too far back....

[@carsonrenick9488]

Hey man! This really helped me out on learning to load our new canoe! Thanks a ton

[@l3ulldozer]

Helpful, thx!

[@derekdbyrne7487]

Excellent video! Just bought my first canoe yesterday. Watched your video a few times before, and followed your instructions to the letter. I thought 12’ straps would do, but got the 15’ for the reason you stated. Glad I did. Way easier than throwing the straps over. Got the new/used boat home totally safe, thanks to your great instructions. Thanks!

[@Lehmann108]

Get the straps that have the padded buckle which reduces the chance of scratching your car or boat (especially if it's fiberglass or carbon fiber.) You can also get straps with locks and that have steel cord in the strap which makes it very difficult to cut.

[@meadmnt]

No fluff ,clear ,thorough thank you for respecting my time!

[@SweetCandy92367]

Good video.....clear instructions......pleasant delivery

[@pigseye2]

this is great! thanks for sharing!

[@DeeHermanson]

Does anyone know if this is a 16 foot boat

[@lesnethaway713]

Thank you for the great video, learned a lot.