Regardless of what type of kayaking you enjoy taking part in, there’s no doubt that it will require you to have a number of extra accessories and additional pieces of equipment in order to allow you to enjoy kayaking to its full potential. Not only this, but kayak accessories allow for additional personalization of your boat meaning that you can set yourself apart from the crowd.
In terms of accessories, there are a huge number of available. Accessories are absolute essentials, such as carts, trailers, and personal flotation devices such as life vests. Other accessories such as umbrellas and sails may be less essential, but can still make a massive difference to your overall kayaking experience in terms of comfort and usability.
If you’re looking at purchasing non-essential accessories, you should consider first those which will make your kayaking easier. For example, if you have a lot of loose ropes or baggage, then you may find that something such as a tie-down device will be the most helpful accessory.
In this guide, we’re going to take a look at some of our favourite kayaking accessories and why. For each, we will review them and provide some of the key features, characteristics, and advantages to your kayaking experience that they may be able to offer.
What Are The Best Kind Of Kayak Accessories?
The short answer to this question is, there are none. No specific kayak accessory can be called the best, as each kayakers needs and wants vary considerably. A great accessory for one person may be of no use to another.
If you’d like to buy some accessories for your kayak but unsure where to start, the best place to look is in the category of kayaking that you enjoy taking part in. For example, if you regularly take long trips on your boat to go camping or similar, then you will probably find gadgets useful that will help you to store more equipment and make the best of the space on your boat. Alternatively, you may find that you struggle for storage space at home for your kayak. In such a case, you might want to take a look at the accessories available that will help to store your kayak as easily as possible.
Let’s take a look at some of the best kayak accessories for a range of disciplines that are out there today.
The Best Kayak Accessories
Suspenz Smart Airless DLX – Kayak Cart
The Suspenz Smart Airless DLX is, is in our opinion, one of the best kayak carts available on the market. It makes for a fantastic accessory for your kayak that is applicable to any kayak owner. You’ll probably find yourself in a situation of having a fair distance to walk with your kayak on land before getting to the water. In such a case, carrying your kayak for a long distance can be not only time-consuming, but extremely difficult too.
The Suspenz Smart Airless DLX boasts and aluminium construction meaning that it is strong and durable, whilst being light in weight. Your kayak can simply be strapped on top, meaning all you have to do is push the DLX in the right direction.
The large rubber wheels on the DLX easy to get the cart over different types of ground without worrying about getting stuck. Once strapped onto the cart, your kayak is well looked after by the rubber wrapping around the frame of the DLX, ensuring that it isn’t scratched or damaged during transit.
Key Features
- Can carry a kayak and loads of up to 125 lbs
- Aluminum construction making for a lightweight and durable design
- Rubber tires so that the cart can be taken over different grounds without the worry of becoming stuck
- The perfect solution to moving your kayak over longer distances on land
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Marchway Floating Waterproof Dry Bag
Often, you’ll probably find that you need to take some equipment on board your kayak that you don’t want to be damaged by water. Of course on board a boat this seems like a difficult concept, however, it need not be. Whilst a large number of kayaks have some dry storage space, it’s often very limited and therefore quickly runs out.
The Marchway floating dry bag is the perfect solution to this problem. Coming in a variety of sizes, the bank can keep your valuables safe and completely dry. Being constructed from high-quality tarpaulin, the bag is both functional and durable. If the worst happens and you happen to drop your dry bag off the side of your kayak, the bright colour and buoyancy mean that getting your gear back safely and quickly is not all that difficult at all.
Key Features
- Cost-effective solution to keeping your equipment dry
- Provides more space for dry storage over and above what is already on your kayak
- Easy to retrieve should you drop it in the water thanks to buoyancy and bright colour
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ONYX MoveVent Dynamic Paddle Sports Life Vest
The ONYX MoveVent is is an excellent kayaking life jacket. Being a personal flotation device, the MoveVent is more of an essential accessory as opposed to being an optional. The MoveVent offers a comfortable fit as well as the ultimate in safety. Being both adjustable and constructed from nylon, the MoveVent is comfortable, and will keep you afloat should you take a tumble into the water. If you’re paddling in hotter conditions, as the name suggests, the jacket as well vented and will keep you as soon as possible.
Key Features
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Well vented at both the back and the front
- Strong and durable design
- Good storage opportunities including a lash tab for quick access to essentials
- Highly reflective for safety
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Suspenz EZ Kayak Rack – Kayak Storage Accessory
If you’re struggling for space at home to store your kayak properly, this Suspenz EZ Kayak Rack could be of great use to you. As you have probably already guessed, the EZ is the perfect mount for your kayak when it isn’t in use. Being able to be fixed too to a wall either inside your house or outside, it’s very versatile. Even if you live in a flat with no outside storage, the EZ will be able to house your kayak effectively.
The Suspenz EZ rack can support a kayak of up to 100 lbs in weight. If you’re hanging it outside, you want you to worry about corrosion as the powder-coated steel frame is of very high quality.
To make sure your kayak is kept in the best condition when mounted on the EZ, the rack has now on padding on the bottom keep your kayak’s hull damage-free, as well as straps on the top to further secure your boat in position.
Key Features
- The perfect way to store your boat inside or outside
- Ideal if you’re lacking in storage space, or would simply like to keep your kayak stored out of the way
- Nylon Padding to look after your boat
- Secure mounting design
- Powder-Coated, durable steel frame
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NRS Basic Touring Safety Kit
What are the major points that often overlooked on when getting out in your kayak is safety. Of course, most people remember essentials such as personal flotation devices, however, it often ends there.
Whilst you would hope to never have to use it, having a high quality safety catch on board your kayak at all times is never a bad idea. For the tiny amount of extra space that it makes take up, it could come in more handy than anything else on your boat at one point in time should it have to be used.
This Basic Touring Kit from NRS includes some of the essential safety items that you should really have on your boat when you’re out on the water for any length of time.
The first and largest accessory in this safety kit is the paddle float. The paddle float is a great accessory for helping you to get back into your boat should you fall out unexpectedly. It’s an even more helpful thing to have if the conditions are difficult, meaning that getting back into your boat could be even harder than normal. It’s made up of two separate air chambers, both of which can be easily inflated. Only one your chamber has to be full for the float to work.
The safety kit also includes a bilge pump, designed to remove water from the cockpit of your boat as quickly as possible. Should your boat spring a leak, or water start spilling into the top, it can be a great accessory for getting a lot of water out of your boat quickly and easily.
The NRS Kit also includes a boat sponge for soaking up any excess water or moisture from the bottom of your boat, as well as a safety whistle should you need to attract attention in an emergency.
Key Features
- Easy to inflate paddle float for helping to get back into your kayak should you fall out
- Bilge pump for removing large volumes of water from inside your kayak as quickly as possible
- Boat sponge for absorbing additional moisture from the bottom of your boat
- Safety whistle for attracting attention
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CreekKooler – Floating Kayak Food and Beverage Cooler
Without a doubt, this is one of the coolest (pardon the pun) accessories on our list, but in most cases, one of the least essential too. The CreekKooler is a floating insulated cooler that can simply be pulled along the water by your kayak.
The CreekKooler is very useful if you’re struggling for space onboard your kayak, or particularly, if you are out on the water for an extended period of time and it’s warm weather. Whilst trailing along the water, the CreekKooler will keep your beverages and food cold and fresh for 2 days – it’s pretty much a floating fridge! Even though we said this is one of the essential accessories on our list, the CreekKooler could play a very important role indeed. Given that it is also waterproof, you won’t need to worry about your food becoming wet or spoiled.
In terms of weight and load capacity, the CreekKooler is 30 quarts in size, and can hold the equivalent in weight of 30 standard 120z drinking cans, in addition to 20 lbs of ice. It’s all sorted out with cup holders on top – extremely useful for when you stop and you’d like to use it both to rest your drinks and store them whilst drinking/eating/
Key Features
- Floating cooler that can be pulled along behind your kayak
- Keeps food and beverages ice cold for up to 48 hours
- 30 quarts in size
- Can support the weight of up to 30 12oz cans in addition to 30 lbs of ice
- Kitted out with cup holders
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Kayalu Kayalite – Kayak Lighting for the end of your boat
Whether you take part in paddling during the night, or you simply want to be safe in case you get caught out in some lower light conditions in the evening, the kayalite is the perfect. Not only does that kayalite make sure you’re able to be seen, it means that you can be seen by other larger boats and are as safe as you can be.
The Kayalite is extremely easy to attach to the end of your kayak by means of a bungee cord.
Being powered by AA batteries, you won’t need to worry about carrying around a power bank when you’re out on the water. A selection of spare batteries is always a good idea, though.
Key Features
- Excellent light for use at light or in low-light conditions
- Aids in your own vision, as well as keeping you safe by allowing you to be seen by others on the water
- AA battery powered
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