Way back when, any redneck worth his salt had a gun rack on the rear window of his pickup. Those of us who bum around the backcountry often find ourselves in immediate need of a rifle to deal with unanticipated targets like coyotes. The gun rack also provided a safe method of securing a long gun in a truck so that it didn’t get all banged up and dirty.
Times change—many times for the worse, sadly—and gun racks have lost favor. Guns resting in those racks often proved to be too tempting for thieves. Finally, the advent of extended cabs and four-door trucks made the rear-window gun rack obsolete.
As a charter member of that redneck constituency, I have had an almost lifelong habit of keeping a firearm or two nearby in my vehicle. Until recently I have been laying the long guns behind the rear seat as a compromise between security, cleanliness and access. Then Dave Manzer, the state representative for the NRA here in Wyoming, showed me a simple solution that keeps the gun out of immediate sight, yet fully accessible.
The Lucid Snap Rack is a hook and retainer made of composite joined by a hearty elastic strap. After adjusting the elastic to fit, the retainer snaps onto the post of the headrest. The hook then goes around the barrel thus holding the long gun upright behind the seat. Most trucks have tinted windows reducing the advertising of having a gun inside, and if you need your gun quickly, the hook disengages quickly allowing the barrel to fall into your hand. There’s no drilling or screwing anything into the truck, and it’s simple and foolproof.
At 12 bucks, it’s a no brainer to have one or two of these in your rig.