Notice many boats having a sort of center ‘groin bump’ in the seat… I can understand how it helps to lock one in a bit more and have tried several different versions. Still prefer a simple, smooth all the way across shape. Do you folks find this ‘bump’ comfortable for longer paddles ? Helpful for finesse ‘skills’ maneuvering and body containment ? Maybe less comfortable for torso rotation paddling ?
Any thoughts on rescue / reentry ?
Thanks for any input.
just preference
When I made my own seat, I incorporated a very subtle groin arch, rather than a “bump.” I find it helps for what I can only call “hip indexing.” In other words, it helps me tell where my I am in my seat. I’ve tried more pronounced bumps in the past, but I find them uncomfortable. Not only that, but for sea kayaking I think that good thigh braces are much more important. Any ancillary “locking in” a big groin bump provides isn’t worth the trade off to me.
If this is for feedback on your TIDELINE seat pans, I’d say you are much safer making them low profile. It is much easier to add profile than it is to take it away. If someone “needs” the bump, they can always add it.
I Like The “Bump…”
– Last Updated: May-10-05 4:43 AM EST –
more in my surf and white water boats where I really want to be "locked" in. I don't need it for touring. I actually want to be able to shift around a bit while touring to stretch something. In ww and surf boats, I can stretch every so often on the shore, not so for a touring boat.
Ditto Viator's suggestion of a subtle "bump" as something to short of help keep you in place but certainly not to "lock" one in.
sing
I’ve heard it called a "pleasure pod"
I’ll leave it to others to speculate as to why. 
I use a fairly subtle one in my custom foam seats. It seems to provide a bit a thigh support and a general feeling of knowing where you are in the seat. However, it’s entirely possible that simply making the front edge flat all the way across would accomplish the same thing. I’ll have to try that sometime.
I haven’t found any value in having a deeply sculpted “butt pan”, since if the hip pads and back band are properly fitted, you don’t get any extra support from the back and sides of the pan. On the other hand, I do know a few people who use a deeply sculpted seat in lieu of a back band.
Hey Pat.
The person that invents a comfortable long distance paddling or cycling seat will be an instant millioner!
I found that a covering (or two) of the rippled foam stuff that J & J canoes in upstate New York sells glued over the tractor seat seems to work half way decent.
I have also noted that some of the marathon racers cut out a oval from where each “cheeck” goes.
With me it is time in the saddle allows tolarance to the pain!
Cheers,
JackL
Check out qcc seat pan
say what you want about their designs, but the stock qcc seatpan is the most comfortable stock seat I’ve ever sat in. Of course they install it too close to the rear coming, and the rapidpulse seatpad/backband combo aint worth a damn but that’s another matter!
More on QCC seat
I sit on the bare pan in my 700 - up to 4 hours at a stretch with zero seat issues. One I dumped the saggy RP seat and put is a decent backband it’s been great (mine is now also 3" forward - so I have plenty of room for layback - - something only really doable with gen 2 700s).
It is your basic tractor seat - but not deep at all - and the “hump” up front is VERY minimal.
This picture doesn’t show the depth well but it’s best I have up now:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/263402070/263405005xEfhUn
The whole pan can’t be much more than an 1" - 1.25" deep. Just enough shape you can feel where you’re at - but smooth and low enough to rotate and move around OK if you want. Everything is very soft generous curves nothing deep/sharp. It makes a lot of other seats feel uncomfortable and restrictive.
IMO - simple is best and will accommodate widest range most easily.
Thanks guys… I know I am going the
right way because the new one is shockingly similar to the QCC … albeit a little longer.
Hey JackL, just got my first ever Brooks Swift Saddle and love it… maybe a titanium framed, stretched leather seat pan… but the copper rivets would turn my shorts green.
I use the same as you for my boats. Ribs perpedicular.
An inch or two longer…
… would not be a bad thing - so long as forward edge can’t put pressure on back of thigh. There is a sweet spot on the QCC pan that could be a little longer maybe. All depends on individual anatomy.
Right
Walk down the street and look at all the different shapes and sizes of arses.
Trying to make a “one size fits all” is going to be quite a task.
Yeah, I have a "pleasure pod"
in my Perception ww boat. It holds me in place VERY well…too well, in fact. It’s somewhat “intruding” when I first get in the boat. Nothing pleasurable about it.
For touring, the hump is just not necessary, and could be a hindrance to comfortable movement.
dont know if this is helpful but
i have a pygmy derivative and i use a thermarest inflatable pad. what i find very useful is i can slide the pad back or forward. when water gets dicey i can slide it forward just enough to get my pelvic bone in contact with the hull, very low and in contact with the boat. a solid connection between my bones and the hull, as low as possible, with enough comfort. if i were designing a seat i’d go for that.
I Vote Smooth
with plenty of thigh support. Adjustable thigh support is good.
(Jack, my Selle Italia Flite saddle has a RECESS to prevent erectile dysfunction. So far, so good.)
Big bump keeps a righty a righty
My foam seat has a large bump but can be tweeked by sanding…
Hump too big on MR slipper seat.
The tractor seat in my Mad River Slipper is much too pronounced for comfort, but it certainly keeps you firmly in place. I’ve preferred the larger seats with smaller humps that were in my Wenonah, Moore and Sawyer canoes. (Yes, I realize that you guys are talking kayak seats, but it applies to canoes also).
tractor style
I recently put a home made seat in my Canoe. I was able to get a simpler trim etc. there was no groin arch and I found that I could not sit in the boat for the hours that I was going to. So out comes the custom seat and in goes the wenonah seat. It is funny because I liked the way the custom fit, but on long paddles it started to get uncomfortable.