Hi all, I have an old madriver kevlar canoe that I bought used which came with a saddle for white-water that velcros to the bottom with no other seat. I’ve tried rigging up a cheap camping seat (crazycreek type thing) which didn’t work all that well. I’m looking for a light yet cushy seat and something that can go on the crossmember for my back, or maybe a seat with a backrest attached that rests against the cross member? What do people suggest? I’ll be portaging this canoe so lighter the better.
Check edscanoe.com on both the
"seats" and “canoe accessories” pages. You may see something you like.
Another site…
http://essexindustries.org/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1 reasonable prices. I use a Sitbacker on a bench seat. it only adds a few pounds and is comfortable paddling if you’re not built too narrow.
still lost
Thanks for the reply guys. My canoe has a lot of rocker to it, almost like an open kayak. I think you’re supposed to sit practically on the bottom of it. Here’s a newer version of what I have: http://www.madrivercanoe.com/caption So if you were to buy this canoe on the website, what seat would you buy? Does MAd River sell that canoe with a seat?
I found this one…
Here’s what looks like the exact thing I need: http://www.wenonah.com/products/template/product_detail.php?IID=194&SID=2b851df74bf858463258868ea4d69dfe I emailed Wenonah to see if there would be any way I could purchase just the seat. I doubt it, but we’ll see…
I have a Mad River Synergy, a high
rocker, designed-for-tandem, whitewater boat. I paddle it on flattish stuff all the time, and when paddled kneeling, it is plenty stable. However, if you are going to sit, you may find your WW banana boat more squirrely than you like.
I recommend using that kneeling pedestal. Add layers for knee comfort if necessary. Meet the boat on its own terms, and soon it will make sense to you.
I’ll be backpacking with this boat
– Last Updated: Jul-22-08 11:36 AM EST –
so there's no way I can bring the saddle. Here's what I've decided to do. I'm going to buy these from Bell Canoe Works:
http://www.bellcanoe.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=93
http://www.bellcanoe.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=177
I bought some extra minicell foam to raise the seat up an inch or so. Should do the trick.
Checkout what this guy did. I'm going to do the same thing, just not as high. He made his high enough so he can get his knees down if he wants to.
http://www.adkforum.com/showthread.php?t=4338
I’d like to see what he did, but I can’t
log in and make up another password to forget.
I designed and made a foam seat on which I could kneel most of the time, sit legs out occasionally, and that had a portage yoke on the front end. That was in 1974. I have not found a report of a similar foam seat made that far back.
If you are going to backpack your boat into places, you might consider carrying it on an external frame backpack with an extension bar on the top. I have gotten good enough at “throwing” my Synergy up for carries that I can throw it up so that the pedestal seat rests on the extension bar. The backpack (an old Kelty Mountaineer) can hold some gear without overloading my 65 year old body. Your boat is lighter. You would need to set up some sort of catch pockets in your boat where the extension bar could rest.