Does anyone out there have experience with a new Diesel 65 (2007 model), who can tell me what it should have come with for outfitting? My dealer told me mine was missing some of the outfitting when I bought, and they are ordering for me from WaveSport. I just want to be sure that when the dealer sends it to me I get everything I should.
From what I’ve read online it should have come with two different size plastic foot braces for the adjustable bulkhead(I only got one so far). Is that accurate?
Anyone have an recommendations on how to best outfit the boat? Specifically how to adjust, and pad out the adjustable bulkhead? How should my feet be planted against? It feels like most of he pressure against it will come from the balls of my feet (upper 1/3 of my foot), as opposed to my whole foot. For reference I’m 5’10", 165lbs, athletic frame, 32" inseam,32" waist, size 9.5 feet.
Any suggestions anyone would have to help out a newbie would be great.
just like a long boat its all comfort
my ww is comfy…what are you looking to do in the ww boat???river running? creeking??surfing???
i would find out if there is a ww club in your area (must be) and ask if someone there can help you out…sometimes it helps to have a second set of eyes on the boat when outfitting it…
or shop that carries ww boats should be willing to talk you through it…
r
Good suggestions…
I’m looking to find a WW club in my area, if not I’m going to contact the dealer I bought it from to see if someone there could assist me with setting up my outfitting.
This is my first WW boat, and I’ve never paddled WW before, so I’m a total newbie. I’d rather seek some guidance from the experienced then mess it up on my own 
I thought that with a WW boat the outfitting was about both performance and comfort, so don’t want to do anything that will negatively impact boat control. I’m looking to do river running/creeking class I up to III to start. I don’t ever see myself attacking aggressive hard core water.
I just want to be sure that they don’t miss ordering all the right parts from Wavesport so I get everything I should have.
outfitting suggestions…
Hi there,
Before adjusting your thigh braces or the adjustable bulkhead, get someone to spot you in the boat to make sure the seat is where you want it so that the boat is trim front to back. You probably will want the seat about in the middle, but you should have somone make sure the boat looks balanced before you start dialing everything else in.
Once you determine the seat is in the right spot, you'll want to get the bulkhead in position so that it will hold your legs bent up and fairly locked into the thigh hooks. Some people just use the plastic bulkhead as is, which as you indicated, means you will mostly be using the balls of your feet. Personally I prefer to add foam in a wedge shape so that my entire foot is supported. Think of it like 2 triangles. When I sit in my kayak my toes are pointed out towards the sides, so the angled foam is deeper in the middle (to support my heels) and then angles out. This way my whole foot is supported which is less tiring on my legs. How deep the angle needs to be to support your foot will vary with your shoe size...
If you want to add this type of foam wedge to the bulkhead you'll need to buy minicell foam either from your local dealer or from someplace like www.kayakoutfitting.com, as this is not included in the standard outfitting.
Once you have your bulkhead positioned where you want it, you'll also want to play with the positioning of the thigh hooks for what fits you best. Typically you want the thigh hooks to hit your legs on you inner thighs not too far above the knees (this is where you will have the most power from your legs to edge the boat and to transfer power when rolling). The Diesel thigh hooks can be adjusted forward and back and also slightly out/in towards the center of the cockpit.
A purely comfort addition I like to make to my boats is I either buy what are called "heel padz" or just glue thin minicell foam to the floor of the boat where the heels of my feet rest. This doesn't really add to the fit or handling of the boat, but I find it much more comfy to have my feet resting on that little bit of foam.
Another big addition you can make to the outfitting is to add knee blocks. These you have to buy separately or make yourself out of minicell. Lots of people I paddle with do not add knee blocks, but I can't imagine paddling without them. Knee blocks are a wedge of foam that you shape to support the outside of your knee just past the thigh hook to hold your legs up into the thigh hooks. Since so much of whitewater paddling depends on edging your boat and controling the edging with your legs, you don't want to have to make your legs travel any distance before they are in contact with the thigh hooks to move the boat. The knee blocks help hold your legs right up into the thigh hooks so you have immediate contact with your boat.
However, for just starting out, you can do fine with just the stock outfitting and get to know the boat and the feel for it first. You can always add foam wedges to the bulkhead and knee blocks later. Eventually you'll want to fit in your ww boat tighter than you will probably be comfortable with right away, so I don't think there's anything wrong with just using the stock outfitting for awhile and slowing adding the other bits later.
By the way, the www.kayakoutfitting.com site has several pages of outfitting tips on their website as well for other ideas and pictures of some of what I'm talking about.
Have fun - I have a Diesel and I think it's a great boat especially for first getting into whitewater!
Cheers
Edited to add: Oh - I forgot about the hip pads. The boat should have come with hip pads that velcro on the sides of the seat. I have an older model Diesel, so I'm not sure if Wavesport offers adjustable sizes on the hip pads or not. Basically you want to pad out the sides of the seat so that your butt is held in place and won't slip around particularly from side to side. Many hip pads have a pouch that you can add or subtract sheets of foam to/from until they are the right thickness for you.
Good luck!
i saw you postedon bt too
that burn video should help a bit!
good info
I’d only add that if you are just starting out WW, and if you don’t have a solid roll yet, then don’t cram yourself in too tight yet so swimming is easier. and with the hip pads, you want them snug, but a lot of people make them too tight which can cause your legs to fall asleep. the hip pads should keep you from sliding side-side, but the thigh braces/hooks are where you get your real control from.