For those of you who sit, do you prefer bucket or woven (cane or strap) seats? I currently have bucket, and can’t remember the last time I sat on a woven seat. One advantage, it seems, to a woven seat is being able to add a cushion with a back (such as LL Bean’s “Sit Backer”). Thoughts? Comments? Thanks.
I prefer webbed seats…
I live at fairly high elevation and the sun makes short life of cane seats. I switch from kneeling and sitting quite a bit and I’ve never found a bucket to be as accommodating as a good contour web seat. Admittedly, I don’t have a lot of experience or time in a bucket thus I’ve never become used to one. A nice Conk seat is superb for my reality. The factory contour seat in my Northstar Magic is pretty good, too.
When I’m fishing or out chasing wildlife with a camera I use a Chinook canoe seat. Its not as large or as rigid as a sit-backer, more like sitting in a baseball glove. Works good for me and packs easily. The 1/2" seat pad doesn’t elevate me to an unstable height like some of the seats with thicker padding tend to do. The Chinook seat weighs in at 23 oz thus half that of the sit-backer.
Either depending
I find tractor seats fine in dedicated sitting types of canoes. I agree that they are not very good for kneeling.
In boats set up for kneeling I have used cane seats, webbed seats and kneeling thwarts. I have never used seat pads or seat backs in a canoe. I don’t find an enormous difference in comfort between cane and webbing although I would probably give cane a slight edge in terms of comfort and cosmetics. Webbing seats are considerably more durable, however.
Flat versus Curved
I kneel almost exclusively, which of course eliminates any need for back support, so I really can’t address your question in the way you want. But I can say that among bench seats, the kind that has a slight contour is noticeably more comfy than those that are flat.
My preference is an closed cell drop in
never added a sitbacker
as I find that if I need back support I just kneel or use a footbrace so cannot comment.
I use Eds Contour Bucket seat. Actually it has no resemblance to a tractor bucket seat. Its lower in front that the back which I believe is a very big plus in avoiding pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Its a cane seat. I find webbing not to my liking If it gets damp it stays damp here.
seats
I don’t like buckets in a tandem for the simple reason that if I want to flip it around to paddle solo, they are really unconformable sitting in them backwards.
Either’s fine by me
I have a tandem & solo with woven seats (Nova Craft Prospector & an Independence), the same with tractor seats (Cruiser & Rendezvous), and the same with foam pedestals (Howler & Rival). I often kneel except in the Cruiser as the seats are too low to get my feet under the seat. I do kneel the Rendezvous with no problems other than pulling my feet out when I’m winter paddling and wearing Sorrels.
full curve?
I’ve looked at this a bit more. My decision has come down to either the Ed’s Canoe 32" countour webbed seat or the Hemlock Conk seat, also webbed.
The difference is this: The ed’s seat is contoured both front and back. The Conk is contoured in the front, and flat in the back.
Any thoughts?
Conk makes a double contour
Which is curved in the front and back. If you are going to sit most of the time the double contour is nice… if you are going to kneel primarily the regular Conk is great. Most comfortable seat I have ever used.
window
Tractor for me
– Last Updated: Sep-23-15 12:02 PM EST –
I have the large ones in my Jensen 17, with several layers of ridge rest padding with cut outs for my cheeks.
I can paddle all day long with out ever getting "Canoe can"
In our comp cruiser we have the smaller tractor seats, with ridge rest padding, and although they are nice and comfy, my butt complains a bit after thirty miles.
Jack L
I’ve looked at that…
bucket seat of Ed’s but I’ve never tried one since its not available webbed. I’ve have liked the contour seats in a few boats though. Ed’s makes good stuff and its attractively priced.
In your opinion how well would that cane bucket of Ed’s work for a paddler who splits his time between kneeling and sitting?
works ok
Though the question was asked of someone else, I’ll offer my opinion. I put an Ed’s contour bucket seat in my Mohawk Odyssey, mounted at a slight additional tilt. Although I probably kneel more than sit, I switch between sitting and kneeling in that boat. The seat works fine, but for me I wouldn’t say it is the ultimate in comfort. I’ve concluded that for kneeling having a gentle curvature in rounding off the top leading edge of the seat is the biggest factor in comfort. In spite of the contour, the Ed’s seat has a little sharper edge than the original Mohawk seat (though better than some nearly square edge seats). If you like the Ed’s contour seats you’d probably be happy with the contour bucket seat for both sitting and kneeling.
Clarification
didn’t mean to imply you cannot kneel with the double contour…have those in our Eagle and it is perfectly comfortable to kneel. May be the best all around if you BOTH sit and kneel.