Closed Cell Foam

[norm]

My foot pegs have broken in my Kajak Sport, so I'm thinking of "foaming out" the bulkhead. It's not a cheap experiment, so I've got a few questions:

1. Does this restrict your ability to stretch your legs? Can you leave a gap in the middle to stretch one leg at a time?

2. Are there any different densities of foam? I bought some years ago that I've used for rebuilding my thigh hooks. The stuff I watched Jordan's new boat receive looked a little more soft and forgiving than the gray stuff I have.

3. I have only seen straight foamed walls. Does it make any sense to angle the foam, thicker at the floor and thinner up top at the deck, so your foot can sit more naturally?

4. Doing a quick search on-line, it looks like Austin Kayak has the best price on the gray closed cell foam and a pretty good selection of thicknesses. Is there a better supplier?

Thanks for any help or suggestions,
Norm

[Briggsy]

Norm, I did the same on mine, to experiment use this styrofoam insulation from home depot... http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Mater ... =202938958
They make a 1" thick sheet same size for about $8.
At least you can mess about with it to see if you like it without buying expensive minicell foam
So far mine has lasted last fall, my everglades trip and right up to now.
It does restrict your legs though but a central cut out may work
Mine is removable and I wedge it in with a minicell wedge I have left over from thigh pads.
Cheers Briggsy.

[noseykate]

Both my kayaks have foam (one also has footpegs, for when I really want to be tight in the boat). Stretching the legs is something I do outside the boat - I guess you could do a cut-out in the middle though, if you have a bulkhead behind it to brace the foam on the sides. I'd like to add a wedge that lets my feet angle forward on either side, rather than straight up and down. Don't want to compromise solid footing though. Briggsy's idea of trying it with styrofoam is a good one. And sorry, I don't know of the best place to get minicell.

Hmm, I think I haven't been of much help...

NK

[Johnysmoke]

Yoga blocks work well and are easy to find...

[pallen661]

I use the gray ethafoam for my feet but back it up with cheap pink insulating foam (1 inch thick 4 x 8 feet for maybe 10 $ at home depot). Other options is the cheap foam boogie boards you can find at wallyworld and the like.


Phil

[Briggsy]

Norm, I found these places 6 mths ago when I was looking

http://kayakoutfitting.com/
http://kayakfit.tripod.com/index.htm

Briggsy

[norm]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses and great ideas! I wish all my problems could be solved this quickly. On top of all these responses, I got some first-hand advice at Hingham tonight. Ron gave me an excellent piece of packing foam to get me started and Brad happened to be installing foam in his boat that he and Jordan cut last fall. Brad's setup had that gap in the middle for stretching your legs and it felt like it should give me a way to stretch in the Kayak Sport which had foot pegs too large to get my feet behind.

Thanks everyone.