Does anyone have any experiance with the Extrasport Comfort Outfitting Systems, as it is desrcibed by Necky. They and a few other Kayak brands, such as Old Town are using these seats.
Do they hold up? Every one I’ve ever seen at paddling demos and such seem to be broken or not adjusted properly. Are they comfortable?
So far, so good.
My Manitou Sport is almost a year old and has gotten quite a bit of use, and the seat is still fine. Of course, It’s only used for sitting down in, not jumping, standing or kneeling on. If you attended R.E.I. demos last year, you probably tried the same boats I did. And yes, they were either broke or way out of adjustment as to be a floppy seat cushion. As for comfort,I think that’ll depend on the individual.For me it’s okay for a hour or so. If I have the seat bottom angled up and the seat back in the full upright and lowest position, that works for me. But other folks might find it different. My other boat has a hard seat with no cushioning and a seat back that’s below the cockpit coaming and it’s way more comfortable.
a caution…
My 11 year old daughter has a Manitou purchased last year with the Extrasport foam seat. When teaching her assisted re-entry, I noticed that the foam had a tendency to ‘grab’ skin, which made the corkscrew twist back into a seated position problematic. The other issue was that the foam rubber was so stressed by the action of a reentry that it occasionally came un-attached from the seat back, requiring on on-water refitting by the rescuiing paddler.
In other words, on a purely rec boat that’s unlikely to ever dump, they’re probably fine, but I’d avoid them on a boat that was going to be used in more aggressive situations where an occasional swim is a possibility. WS’ Phase 3 seat has some similar issues when it comes to getting in the way of an assisted re-entry, but their problem has to do with the height of the seat back, not the ‘grab’ of the material. The nylon covered seat on WS is fine in that regard.
Extrasport Seats
Thanks for the insights. Sounds like it’s ok, but not the “miracle seat” that some manufacturers claim it is…
Probably the miracle
is that Necky, OT and Extrasport are all part of the same company - Johnson Outdoors.
True,
it could have durabilty issues. When edging or rolling a Manitou Sport(it’s do-able), the seat and its mount shifts side to side about a couple inches, Shimming it with minicell against the inside of the hull can minimize shifting, but still I don’t think the seat is up to that kind of playfulness.
Back is too high…
I took the backrest off and “modified” it by reducing the height and taking the foam off. Believe it or not the backrest is more comfortable without the foam, and it doesn’t stick up so far as to rub against the PFD.