It seems to be an unwritten rule: the more you go camping, the more stuff you acquire. As gear nerds ourselves, we get it – camping gadgets and techy toys are half the fun! But when space starts to get tight it can be tricky to find room to pack anything other than the essentials.
Shelves help you get organised, with a secure place to store smaller, lightweight items that so often end up chaotically floating around the back of the car.
Our rear shelves utilise dead space high up in the roofline, which renders them almost entirely unnoticeable when driving, so they don't hamper visibility out the rear window at all. They are fitted to the rear grab handle mounts, and most of our range requires absolutely no drilling to install. This means they’re quick and easy to fit, and simple to remove.
Interested? We thought so. Without further ado, let’s dive into how to get the most from your KAON rear roof shelf.
If you don’t already have a shelf, the first step is understanding the best choice for your setup. What’s the biggest difference between a Standalone and a Barrier shelf? Well, the clue is in their names.
Our Standalone Shelves are all designed to do just that – be used on their own.
Best for: If you want to use a rear shelf without a Cargo Barrier, we recommend a Standalone shelf.
Our Barrier Shelves rely on a KAON Cargo Barrier to be mounted and cannot be used on their own.
Best for: If you're only ever planning on using your shelf with a Cargo Barrier, and there is a Barrier Shelf option for your vehicle, we recommend it as the preferred option.
These days, all KAON rear roof shelves are Standalone Shelves, with built-in Cargo Barrier compatibility. This ensures that customers have the flexibility to add or remove one of our Barriers as their needs change.
Make sure to check the shelf you have selected is suitable for your car's model. Certain models, like our Mitsubishi Pajero shelf, come in variations to suit vehicles with or without sunroofs, as well as 5-seater or 7-seater models. In other instances, a shelf may only be compatible with certain model specs or trim levels. For example, our Toyota LandCruiser LC200 shelf is only compatible with the GXL, VX and Sahara models, due to the omission of grab handles in the GX editions.
A Standalone Shelf
A Barrier Shelf
Cargo Barrier Compatible Standalones
Before we get into all the things your rear roof shelf can hold, let’s take a closer look at the ways you can use it.
Of course, there’s the obvious one: as a shelf. But what if we said the entire shelf was designed to simplify mounting additional 4x4 or camping accessories?
The cut-outs are compatible with MOLLE/PALS storage pouches. If you don’t know what a MOLLE/PALS pouch is, don’t worry – you’re not alone. You’ll likely have seen one before though, and a quick google will bring up hundreds of options. Born from military roots, it’s a system that facilitates the attachment of various pouches and accessories. It’s the de facto standard for tactical gear, which means there’s a heap of storage options compatible with the pattern we use on our barriers and shelves.
Then there are the holes, which feature in every grid cross-section. These are optimised for securing QuickFists (which you can find here), but they’re also able to be used for anything that uses up to an M6 bolt to be mounted, such as lights, brackets, dividers or hooks.
Next up is a cheeky fun one that we try to work into many of our products, and that’s a bottle opener. All our shelves come with two, so you’ve always got one right next to your fridge setup.
And lastly, for those who love a bit of hot food on the go, we also have mounts that suit most Travel Ovens on the market. So you can easily secure your oven, without taking up valuable floor space.
One of the best things about our Standalone and Barrier shelves is that they are a bit of a blank canvas: how you use them is totally up to you.
Whether your car is an adventure machine, workhorse or daily driver; whether you’re headed bush, beach or somewhere in between; and whether you’re solo, a couple or a family, we reckon that there’s a use for a car shelf in pretty much every setup.
But don’t just take our word for it. We’ve put together a few ideas so you can see for yourself.
From R to L: Cable Pouch with Chargers, Puffer Jacket, Road Atlas, Jumpers and Towels, Tool Roll, Hand Saw, Drizabone 
From R to L: First Aid Swag Kit, Towel, 3 Books, Puffer Jacket, Akubra, Helinox Chair, AOS Pouch with Miscellaneous Food, Utensils & Tea Towels, BBQ Tools 
From R to L: Foam Sleeping Mat, Cable Pouch with Chargers, Jumper, Bluetooth Speaker, Espresso Maker, Rash Vest, Coffee, Hat, Helinox Chair, Shower, 2 Towels, Sunscreen 
From R to L: 12V Shower Pouch, Akubra, Small Drone, A Bag of Sand Pegs & Ropes, Charging Cables Pouch, Bluetooth Speaker, Tactical Case with Sat Phone, Drizabone, Sand Flag 
From R to L: First Aid Swag Kit, Swim Floaty Toy, Rash Vest, Fishing Shirt, Sunscreen, Bluetooth Speaker, Head Torch, Hat, Stubbie Cooler, Puffer Jacket, 2 Towels
From R to L: Sand Flag (Back), Toilet Paper, Sat Phone Tactical Case, First Aid Swag Kit, Helinox Chair, Ropes and Tie Down Pouch, 12V Shower (Back), Puffer Jacket, Tool Roll (Back), Hand Saw (Back), Akubra x 2 (Nested), Espresso Maker, Coffee, Down Vest
A word to the wise though: don’t overdo It. Many are tempted to load up their rear roof shelf. We recommend no more than 10kg of weight, and to ensure that it's evenly distributed across the shelf. We can assure you that’s plenty! None of the setups above clocked in at over 10.
Now there’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple. But, if you like to do things out of the box, we’ve seen some seriously clever ways of using a KAON rear roof shelf.
Got a KAON rear roof shelf yourself? We'd love to hear how you use it, so let us know in the comments!
Keen to learn more? Check out our range of Standalone Shelves, or our Light Cargo Barriers and Barrier Shelves.
rear shelf and axe bracket
By: Simon on 24 July 2022Hi, Please show me a picture/clip on how to attached an axe brackets to a rear shelf. Cheers, Simon
Mr
By: Jason Paterson on 1 July 2022Hi guys, re a previous comment, any chance of a stand-alone shelf for the arb canopy. It could use existing bolts from the internal roof rack support. Would sell like hotcakes, storage for lightweights chairs and some where to hang a travel buddy. I’ll be the first to buy one
canopy shelves
By: matt little on 12 April 2022what about stand alone shelves to suit canopies such as arb etc?
KAON 4x4 Touring Accessories Response
Hey there! This is actually something the product development team have flagged as a project for 2022, so hopefully we'll have an option for popular canopies sometime soon.
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