I have a new model NDK Romany that I want to replace the current fiberglass seat with a Bumfortable seat. Seems very cut and dry to install the seat, however getting conflicting advice on how to remove the old seat. Some say it is just glued into foam supports, which would be easy enough to get out. Others have said it sits on some kind of metal struts. If thats the case dont want to get involved with any cutting. From what I can see appears to be sitting on foam but dont know if any metal is in foam. Can not tell at all about sides of the seat(where the back strap attaches to seat). Thanks for any input.<br /> BTW, I did search the archives and really didnt get an answer.
Seat removal
I’ve never seen any boat with metal in the seat or under the seat. I cut the glass seats out with a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel installed.
Cuts like butter.
I’ve remove two
one on an NDK, the other on an Ellesmere, and for the same reason. The fiberglass seat trapped sand between the hull and seat bottom and ate a hole through the hull over time.
I used a thin piece of cable like a saw to cut through the adhesive and remaining foam. On the NDK I just rocked it a bit since time had all but broken it lose.
So a putty knife
and a mallet will be sufficient I take it? Did come across that in archives. Then my plan was to sand off and lingering pieces, clean, and glue in new seat. Don`t want to mess around with power tools on the boat.
my explorer has the seat cut out
the seat in my Romany is suspended from the coaming on the sides and supported by foam pieces glued to the floor of the cockpit.
My Explorer had the same fiberglass seat, but it was removed prior to when I bought it used. If you look carefully at the underside of the coaming you can see where it was cut out on each side and the fiberglass sanded smooth. Its got a foam NDK seat glued to the cockpit floor now.
I flirted with the idea of installing a liquid logic seat in the Romany since its so comfortable and fits me so well in my whitewater boat. I ended up just getting rid of the backband and gluing a foam back support to the rear bulkhead and some foam hip pads on the sides of the seat.
New Romany seat removal
If you have a new (late 2009/2010) Romany, it should have the new “performance seat” which does not hang from the coming like the older seats. The “performance seat” is held in by 2 ss screws on each side, which can be accessed by removing the foam hip pad insert. Remove them and the seat comes out.
If you have the older “hung” seat, then you simply can cut it out with a Dremel tool. Not too hard either way.
Putty Knife and mallet?
Don’t know about that- if you feel weird about power tools, just use a hacksaw and take your time- you could even take the blade off the saw frame, wrap it with a lot of duct tape, and use that. For one NDK seat extraction I used a sawzall, but that was a bit nerve wracking and I’ve gone back to the hacksaw blade.----
He’s referring to…
…detaching the seat from the hull AFTER it’s been cut free at the cheek plates. A putty knife and a mallet (applied appropriately) do a good job of separating the foam blocks under the seat from the hull.
NDK Performance Seat
Does anyone have a picture of the new seat? What are the advantages of the “Performance” seat over the older style NDk seat?
Bumfortable is uncomfortable.
I bought a used Valley Nordkapp with a Bumfortable seat. If you’re mostly a rec kayaker, planning straight forward paddling in steady and calm waters, it’s okay. Not great, just okay. If you like dynamic water, plenty of body motion, rolls a (esp layback rolls), the Bumfortable is atrocious. Poor back support, really not great to have the back attac hed to the seat bottom itself, and the dymanic movement actually pulls the seat off the bottom of the kayak. Get ready to buy Dap Wedlwood by the gallon to reglue it (if you paddle dynamically, again). Nothing beats a foam seat bottom with either a backband or a foam wedge. (BNystrom has photos of seats, too). Just my two cents, in case you haven’t bought the expensive Bumfortable yet.
The Bumfortable is good
With the caveats mentioned. I don’t have back support on my sea kayaks and the seat actually has enough support to keep you in it quite well. It is deep. It also has a slot for a strap to firm the back if needed but I have not installed that as I see no need for it.
The trick is that you need to stuff foam b/w the sides of the Bumfortable seat and the kayak hull to fill any excessive 'slack". If you don’t and you got room on the sides (most 20"+ kayaks will), the soft sided seat will let you shift sideways a bit and that costs you in terms of good contact with the boat and shifts your balance off-center. Installing foam shims on the out side transforms it quite nicely and keeps you centered without beting too snug (just shave off the foam shims gradually till you can move freely but do not have too much slack if you edge the boat).
Being a foam seat it needds to be attached to the bottom of the kayak somehow and that means glue. Marine Goop works a lot better than even top-grade yellowish-colored “contact cement”. So good in fact that I’m hesitant to use it on my Bumfortable - I’d rather have the seat come off once in a while instead the bottom part of it ripping-off and staying glued to the hull.
4 0.5"x4" strips of Velcro (the tough/thick waterproof type) are good for quite a few sessions (including rolling and rescues) before the seat would come off. If you place some foam block behind it, then it will stay put better and it will stay where you need it during upridht paddling even if it is not glued.
Not a bad seat as foam seats go and well made but needs a bit of customizing to fit right. If I had a choice of a good fitting one, I’d stick with a fiberglass or plastic seat over any foam seat.
I agree with kochko.
– Last Updated: Jul-10-10 12:52 AM EST –
He likes the Bum better than I do, but I agree, I have not taken the time to foam the area around it, as koch mentions. All in all, a seat best left for the advertisements...kocho prefers alternative seats, and I agree with his choices, although a nice foam seat cemented to the kayak bottom is hard to beat.
OK
Points taken. Any opinions on the NDK foam seat?
NDK foam seat.
I like the NDK foam seat. My friend complains bitterly about his. I swapped the backband to a different brand.
Alternative foam seats
– Last Updated: Jul-11-10 9:59 AM EST –
Nothing beats just straight up minicell, contoured to the fit you desire. I get mine from a place called Foam4You from Troy, MI on eBay---
Search eBay for minicell foam , and check it out--they have a 24x24x 4.5 inch thick piece for sale with shipping now for under $40. Might not seem cheap, but it's great foam (and still hugely less costly than the Bumfortable). Since a seat is only about 2 inches think and about 12-14 inches wide, you can cut carefully and have plenty left over from that chunk to make a stationary back support--a pillar of foam that goes from back cockpit wall to your spine.
BNystrom's photo gallery has plenty of foam carving pictures. That's my suggestion, original poster.
Foam for You rocks
prices on minicell and other closed cell foams can’t be beat… family business in Troy, MI. Pick up my eBay wins at the store to save shipping.
Among their listings, they have on occasion auctioned a block of minicell about 1 foot thick and 30 inches long…bid started under $15… you could carve any kind of seat you wanted and have foam to spare…
bumfortable
ya, I don’t agree. Like most of the other people I see commenting on Bumfortable, I paddle fast, and roll for fun. I actually damaged my iliac nerve on a molded fiberglass seat and was desperately trying to find something that would let me continue paddling. Bumfortable cured the condition. I attached the seat to the boat by gluing in two strips of 2" velcro to the bilge, and on the seat, making 4 velcro buttons out of big automotive panel pins. These are securely anchored up into the foam of the seat with aquaseal, and the arrangement is convenient since I use the space behind the seat for a day bag. It has been maintenance-free, and it’s rock-solid for paddling and rolling. The squishy back, I guess that’s a matter of taste. I used to abrade my lower back with a back band, and I don’t in the Bumfortable, so I’m grateful for that as well. And the foam itself has held up well with heavy regular year-round paddling for two years now. If it wears out I’ll replace like I would a pair of shoes.