BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Can someone give me advise how to travel with kite bag on the roof of the rental car? Just tie down with webbing straps or to use some soft racks under the bag?
I'll have 5'8" bag with TT, Paipo board and kites.
Thanks!

i've never put a whole bag on the roof. i have traveled with soft racks; put my boards on the roof and stuffed the rest in the trunk. works well. my soft racks tend to stretch and wobble a bit at freeway speeds, i don't think i'd trust a large bag up there on them....

i prefer a rental car with at least one back seat that folds down, then it all stays inside. not hard to score one of those most places.

Well, folding seat is nice, but we will travel 7 people in 7 seater, do not think I can fit the board inside. Was thinking to tie down whole bag, which is thinner then most of soft cargo bags.

Options:
1) Rent a 12 passenger van, problem solved with room issues.
2) Rent a SUV with trailer hitch, then rent a UHaul trailer. Might be hard to find a suv with a hitch.
3) Rent a SUV with a roof rack and then rent a bullet rack. Might be hard to find a rental with rack.
4) Rent two cars. Get a mid size economy sedan, and then rent a UHaul pickup truck. Problem solved with room issues.
5) Rent a rack at rack and load http://www.racknroad.com/rental-rates.html
I think they have a shop in San Jose
Of course, check your rental agreement make sure it does not violate modification clause

Or grab one of those surfboard straps that you can buy at any surfshop.
They sells the kind that you don't need to have a rack on the roof of the car.
I'm not even using mine right now, you could borrow them. Takes no room to travel with and you'll be able to put your board on the roof and your kites in the trunk.
Problem solved. PM me if you want the straps.

Do you mean just straps like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0035Q4R9 ... ot_redir=1

Or soft racks like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000J47RD ... mp_s_a_1_1
?
And thanks for offering me yours, I will need it for Hawaii trip, so might just buy mine to keep it for local trips as well.

Yeah, I meant soft racks. They really don't take much room once folded and they hold well.
Only issue I have with them is the straps can be a little annoying inside the car.
Oh, and don't forget to twist them so they don't "vibrate" at highway speed. (which just makes an annoying sound).

Last time I went to La Ventana we strapped three full size kite "golf bags" to the roof of a tiny little Hyundai Atos we rented for the drive up from Cabo.

We brought two 15' webbing straps. We put towels on the roof to prevent scratches, stacked the bags in a pyramid, opened the doors (this is key), then ran the webbing through the inside of the car and up and over the bags. (dont go through the windows or its a pain to get in and out of the car). No roof racks required.

We probably could have got 4 bags on the roof without a problem. For that small a car though, it did become noticeably top heavy. Also, dont pull the straps too tight or you might dent the roof.

Thanks, just got 12' dakine Baja straps, will use it the way you did!