This hammock style seat takes some sewing but is probably the most comfortable I have tried for a SOF rolling kayak. It dries by itself and can’t blow away. If you’re accustomed to a high back rest, look away. For good paddling ergonomics and rolling you probably don’t want a back rest in the way.
It takes some getting used to though.
Use your leftovers! The contraption is made out of 25/50mm (1″ and 2″) velcro and nylon material cutoffs from the kayak build. Sewing is pretty easy and should take you no time, almost 🙂 However, the fitting… you need to make the “hammock” style seat as tight between your supports as you can.
I use ash wood and sand away the edges. Then you wiggle and force the supports in behind the rib. If you don’t get it right and it’s too loose, you just remove it and sew a little tighter until you’re satisfied. The material stretches when wet so you might want to wet it when you adjust the tightness.
There is also a neat trick to the Ash: if you use thin enough supports, they flex just the right amount to have you seated comfortably without raising your point of gravity, ehrmm, ass 🙂
I also give my hammock a thin coat of polyurethane. It helps keeping my rear end a little drier. For this kayak, which has about 1″ or 2-3cm freeboard behind the cockpit, it may not make a difference but you get the point.
For the foamblocks, should you need those, you can either use a bungee, glue velcro to them or just wedge them tight for your perfect fit. I had this idea about sewing side pockets for the foam blocks too but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Will update if I do. Why would I want that, you think? Well, If you paddle in windy places or forget the blocks in your cockpit when putting the kayak on your car roof, you will see… Make them stick, it’s worth it!
