Agree
"Making a new seat probably will address the problem with a few other modifications like putting in heel stops to take pressure off calf muscles."
I did not have the same problem, but just finished ripping the seat out of my Sparrow Hawk and replacing with a Redfish minicell foam seat. If you have a stock Wildy manufactured Arctic Hawk that may be the culprit. I could not stand to be in the boat for over an hour with the stock seat (problem with my butt, not legs). Paddled for several hours Sunday and it’s comfy now. I don’t recall being in a more uncomfortable seat, but most of the boats I’ve paddled have been for less than an hour.
~wetzool
You are too tight in boat
Push your foot pegs away from the seat a notch or two. Circulation will return.
It seems most paddlers like to be shoe-horned into their kayaks with their thighs pressed firmly against their thigh braces or under the deck. I understand this contributes to a sense of stabilty and oneness with the boat, but it also can lead to reduced circulation in the legs.
The paddlers in the tippiest kayaks actually prefer a very loose fit. Look at K1s and surfskis. Surfskiers contact their boats with their butts and feet only. And the contact forces are dynamically changing throughout the stroke. This good paddling posture also eliminates any need for a backrest.
If you begin using more of your body’s muscles including torso and legs to generate power (not your arms) you will also begin to prefer a more loose fitting kayak. Then all kinds of physical issues go away like numb legs, shoulder strain, paddlers elbow, fatigued arms, etc… Never mind how much further and faster you will be able to paddle.
For now just try pushing yuour foot pegs forward so your thighs are not touching the braces or deck when relaxed. You should still be able to tighten up the fit on the fly by extending your feet or pushing your thighs outward when necessary.
Yes to changing the seat too
I changed the seat 3 times on my Necky Eskia before I got it right. I was ready to return the boat because the first seat had me in agony.
However, I do “know” what causes my particular leg numbness, (I was out of work 3 months due to the problem some years ago), whereas the orig. poster may not. Just don’t rule out it could be something more serious, (sciatica, herniated disk), if you try all these suggestions, and the numbness persists or gets worse.
Also strengthening the torso helps, (and don’t forget to use the larger torso muscles to paddle).
re: QCC700
1) I found that the hard oval (smallish for a size 12 foot) plastic brace peddals caused my feet to go numb on a QCC700. I contact cemented on a layer of 5/8" high density blue EVA foam and then covered that with inner tube rubber (to keep it from squeaking), solved problem.
2) When I replaced the QCC700 sling seat with a NSI backband I found that if I made the backband too tight it pushed me forward and the edge of the seat would cut into my thighs and cause numbness in my legs. Properly adjusted, so my butt was where it should be in the seat pan, the seat did not cause numbness.
re: ONNO seat/foot brace
ONNO makes a seat/back band combo that I know somone used in a QCC700 to solve numbness problems.
ONNO also makes a foot brace/peddle combo that has peddals for adjusting your rudder and a foot brace that goes all the way across the hull to allow you to move your feet around.
ONNO foot brace/peddle
gives a big landing pad for your foot. See my post above.