I managed a surf shop over a decade of my adult life, and as I mentioned in the VewDo board post, I’ve see all the accessories and trinkets that sales reps have to pitch, board racks included. Some are for aesthetics, some for function. Few companies offered a product range that covered both needs very well. Store Your Board offers racks for a range of activities from surfing to snowboarding to cycling. They have a wide range of racks that span from minimal displays to utilitarian tools for space management. Prices are fair, and many of their racks are made in the USA.
I have the Naked Surf Rack, and it is about as minimalist of a surf rack as you will find. It shows off the board, without the usual bulky foam or metal rack getting in the way. It retails for $25, and is on sale now for $20 at StoreYourBoard.com. It’s made of aluminum, which is ideal for a surfboard, incase you don’t get all the water off your board after use. It won’t rust, it’s strong, and it has a soft felt strip that prevents your rails from getting dinged. It is not a thick pad, but as you can see in the photo, it doesn’t compress all the way when I lay my board on top of it, still providing a buffer between your board and the metal.
Installation was as simple as screwing 4 screws into the wall. The wall I hung my board on is plaster, so I did not use the included dry wall anchors. Either way, whatever your wall situation, these racks are very likely to work just fine. Measure the height, and distance apart, like you would anything before you drill into the wall, and the rest is righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. I gave them a little hand test to make sure they were sturdy, and they were.
These racks do the job, holding one surfboard, short or long, to show off to the world. If you’re looking for a board storage solution, I would look at Store Your Board’s other options, since this one is meant more for display purposes. Also, on that note, what makes these great is also what limits them, in terms of storage or board stability. If you place your board in a high traffic area, not high enough, or live in an earthquake-prone area, you might want to think of an extra way to secure the board from falling forward. Don’t get me wrong, gravity does all the work here, and the angle of the tilt is enough to keep your board in place in normal situations. I have my personal board up there right now, I trust it. But I would give a second thought to earthquake putty etc., to aid in the stability for those unforeseen incidences.
I’m happy with the Naked Surf Rack, and will be picking up a few more to display a few more boards I have for the wall. For the rest of my boards that I use regularly and that I store in the garage, I’ll be looking at SYB’s wall or ceiling racks they offer. Also very affordable and made in the USA.
