Best Oarlocks of 2026

This is the least expensive pair in the group, and a cheap clamp-on is usually where corners show: thin steel that flexes, a bolt that will not hold a setting. Attwood's set does not read that way. The steel is heavy gauge under a bright zinc finish, the clamp closes with a single bolt, and there is nothing to drill.

We fit these to a dinghy without a second thought. One bolt per side and about a minute of work is the whole installation, and the half-inch shank is the size most aluminum rowboats and inflatables already carry, so there is no adapter to hunt down. For a trailer-launched boat and a short row out to a fishing spot, that is all the oarlock the job needs.

What it is not is a heavy-duty oarlock, and it does not pretend to be. If you row long distances or pull hard into wind, the Sea-Dog heavy-duty pair is the set to look at; for a small boat and short hops, these do the work and leave money for other gear.

The set is listed at 1.9 pounds, and the weight is the first thing you notice: thick castings, a chunky clamp, a pin that is not going to bend. Nothing else in this group is built this heavily, and on an oarlock that matters more than it sounds.

That mass is why we put this pair on a boat that gets rowed hard, off a beach, into wind, with oars long enough to load the oarlock on every stroke. A clamp that flexes is a clamp that lets go, and this one holds its setting instead of backing off stroke by stroke. The half-inch by two-inch pin is the commonest socket size, so it drops into the same holes as the rest of these.

Two practical notes. The top bolt can run short on a thick oar, which takes a longer one from the hardware store and a check before you are on the water. And this is more oarlock than a pond boat needs, since a small dinghy rowed across a lake is served fine by the cheaper Attwood pair.

A round oarlock holds the oar differently from everything else here: nothing clamps to it. The shaft passes through a 2-inch ring on a half-inch shank, free to slide and feather, and only the ring touches the oar. For a varnished wooden shaft, the kind you would rather not put a bolt mark on, that is the design we reach for, and this pair does it in polished 316 stainless.

The stainless is the other half of the appeal. 316 is the grade that comes back from a saltwater mooring still looking like metal, and the mirror polish leaves less to snag and less to wipe down. The 2-inch inside diameter is the standard-oar size, so check your own shaft against it rather than assuming.

Check the socket too. The shank runs 2-1/8 inches, a little longer than the 2-inch pins on the clamp-on sets, so it needs a bore deep enough to swallow it. Measure the depth, not just the diameter, because on a boat with shallow sockets the oarlock sits proud and rocks on the gunwale instead of seating.

The body is molded nylon over a stainless steel core, which sounds like a compromise until you handle one. Nylon is slick against a socket, so the oarlock turns without the grainy grind of metal on metal, and it does not hand you a cold lump on a frosty morning.

Fit is conventional: a half-inch straight shank and a 2-1/8-inch inside dimension, so it takes the same sockets as the rest of this group and the same standard oars. The pack holds a pair.

We like these for a boat that lives outside or gets dunked in salt. The nylon shell takes the wear instead of the oar, there is no plating to flake, and the socket stays quiet on a still morning. The trade is real, though: nylon is the softest thing in the assembly, so a hard-used set will show it at the shank long before a stainless pair would, and if you row every day you want the metal. It is also the least traditional-looking oarlock here, which on a varnished lapstrake dinghy is worth a thought.

The reason to look at this set is the bushing in the package. It converts the half-inch shank to five-eighths, so one oarlock covers the two socket bores you are likely to meet, and if your boat has the larger holes it is the only pair here that drops in without hunting for an adapter.

The other end opens wider than most, taking oar shafts up to 1-7/8 inches, and it is zinc-plated steel under a black chromate finish with a single screw clamping it to the oar. The two halves are a matched set: you buy it because the bushing solves your socket, not because it is the thriftiest way to get clamps.

Where these earn their place is the middle of the range. A 1-1/2-inch oar in a five-eighths socket is the combination that leaves most sets out, and this one handles it with nothing extra to buy. On the diameters it grips, the clamp bites and stays put. The hardware around it is ordinary, though, and the screws are the weak point, so set them snug once and leave them alone rather than re-tightening every trip.

The plainest oarlock in this guide, and the one most likely to already be in the boat you just bought: zinc-plated alloy steel, a half-inch by two-inch pin, one clamp bolt, sold as a pair.

The hardware is straightforward. Installation is a minute a side, and the half-inch pin is the size the sockets on most aluminum rowboats take, so it drops in without an adapter or a bushing.

What surprised us is the finish. Plated steel at this end of the range usually looks it, and a pair out of the pack reads bright and even, the sort of plating that makes the oarlocks look like they belong on the boat rather than like a stopgap.

Where this pair fits best is the boat used a few weekends a season, and the second set in the shed. The hardware is ordinary and the price reflects it; what you are not getting is the thickness of the heavy-duty Sea-Dog set or the salt-proof body of the Smart Marine.

A fixed 1-3/8-inch inside diameter is the whole story here. This is a sized oarlock rather than an adjustable one, and the opening is what we check first on any fixed-size design, because it either matches your shaft exactly or it does not fit at all.

The rest is proven and unexciting: zinc-plated steel, a single clamp bolt, a half-inch by two-inch pin, a pair in the pack. Installation is a minute a side and needs nothing but a wrench.

The plating is honest for the tier, a bright silver finish that wipes down clean. It is not stainless, so a set left aboard a saltwater boat will spot, and rinsing them with the rest of your gear gives the finish a fair chance.

Buy this pair when you have measured 1-3/8 inches and want the simplest thing that works. If the number does not match, do not force it: the Smart Marine pair covers that diameter and a good deal more on either side.