How Tight is Right?

[Ken R]

After the Thursday night outing in Hanson I begin to think about what was not happening correctly in my hip snapping skills. I realized that my hips are shifting more than 2 inches left to right in the seat when the boat is perpendicular to the water. I found that when sitting in the perpendicular position that my ribs were almost against the cockpit coaming. I went to Billington sea Kayak and spent some time with Dough, recommended adding foam to each side. I’ve added ½” to each side. Went back in the water today and noticed that I could significantly snap the boat over further than with out the padding. Currently when I sit perpendicular on land, I can still add more than 1” to the upper side.
Question: Do I add ½” more on each side?

The new Ken.

[kayakerjnj]

Hi Ken,

Depending on who you speak with and what type of paddling you do, the sentiment will be to be as snug as you can be without being uncomfortable. Both of my boats, there is no gaps, and most recently I actually tip in on the side to get into the new paddling I just put in my explorer.

The goal is to simply have no appreciable amount of room to move side to side with. If you have room to shuttle left to right, odds are you'll soon want more security.

The good news about foam is, it is easy to make adjustments as your preferences and outfitting needs change.

Sounds like you made a lot of fit gains!

You're welcome to try my boat the next time we're in the water.

Have a great weekend.

[Ken R]

Jordan, thanks for the input. I will add the additional ½” per side and see what that does for me. I guess I have always made up for the butt movement by over compensating with my legs. I will try to set me schedule so that i can make it to hingham next week or at least to Hanson in 2.

[Ken R]

I've been looking for adhesives, any suggestions that are durable, water proof and only semi- permanent?
If I ever need to change it I don't want to destroy the seat brace

[noseykate]

I duct-tape it in until I'm sure it's how I want it, then seal it in permanently. You can alway file it down if the shape isn't quite right. And it is possible to rip the whole thing out if you really want to do away with it. I don't know of any semi-permanent glue - honestly I wouldn't trust it to stay put when I really need it.

NK

[cgr]

Ken - is this for your tempest? Do you have the factory hip pads in there? They strap and/or velcro in and you can play with the amount of shims you put in.

This is something similar:
http://salamanderpaddlegear.com/product ... kayak-pads

[Ken R]

I might be the wronge Ken, I have an Eddyline Night Halk.
The factory pads are glued in. Do most of you buy pre-shaped pads or build them up out of Mini-Cell foam?

[kayakerjnj]

Either can work well. The pre-shaped tend to be beefier, building up allows you more adjustment to tune your fit.

The fit kits are nice to have, and easy to use.

If you make it to Hingham tomorrow I can show you a few options.

Take care