The Moose Rack Review: The Ultimate Kayak Rack?

Earlier this year The Moose Rack (Headland Industries) sent me a rack to try out and review. While I usually like to use a product for 30 days before I review it, I found that with this rack, I got the basic of it in a few minutes, so this is my The Moose Rack review.

The Moose Rack makes the following claims about the Hull-PRO Kayak Storage rack:  Fits Many Unique Hull Shapes, Stores Your Boat On Edge Where It Is Strongest, 304 Stainless Steel J-Hook Cradles, Anodized Billet T6 Aluminum Brackets, Durable Nitrile Foam Protection Pads, 300 lb Capacity, 180 Degree Swivel Design, Locks Into Place When In Use, Fast Installation With Only Hand Tools, Made right in Michigan, where we work and play.

I found that the J-Hooks and the aluminum brackets were high quality and well made. The machining on the brackets seemed perfect and the blue anodized finish should help prevent corrosion, especially when used near the sea. The J-Hooks fit all the kayaks I tired in it including the wide and deep whitewater boat shown in the pictures. I store most of my kayaks flat on racks that I inherited when a friend closed his kayak shop. For those racks, I make sure that the bulkheads rest on the foam padding on the racks. On this system the kayak sits on its seam, which is arguably a better way to store a kayak. I’ve stored boats this way before and found that it works fine. You may want to align the J-Hooks with the bulkheads to avoid dents, especially on plastic boats, but that’s true on any racking system.

Installation only required a screw gun and was quick and easy. The Moose Rack includes a mounting template to help you place the brackets correctly. Basically, you align the aluminum brackets with the mounting template and then drive the included deck screws into the wall making sure that you hit a stud or reinforcement if the boat’s bulkheads don’t fall on the studs. Once the brackets are mounted, you slide the J-Hook into place. A snap hook holds a J-Hooks in place and locks it into the top bracket. When not in use, you can turn the J-Hooks sideways and flush with the wall.

Headland Industries also makes racks for SUPs, surf boards, and cargo boxes. One thing that’s included on the surf board rack is an extra foam pad to use near the brackets. I’d like to see that added to the kayak rack, so the part of the kayak that rests near the brackets wouldn’t need to rest directly against the stainless steel of the J-Hooks.

All-in-all I really like this rack system. If you have just a couple of kayaks that you need to store, this is a simple, inexpensive system that’s well worth buying.