Valley Avocet LV Seat

[deeski]

Thanks folks, for all the feedback. I ended up getting a block of Minicel foam and formed it to my bottom. I will try it out tomorrow to see if things need tweaking. Also put a little back piece in to support my lower spine. It is curved to allow me to lean back comfortably for rolling. I hope that I will not find it prohibitive in hip rotation due to the product stickiness...so the jury is still out. (should have just kept my Romany!!!) : )

You can buy grey minicell foam and build a seat to fit your bottom. Brian Nystrom has some good examples on his website and step by step procedures. It does take time though.

The other option is to see if you can buy one of the NDK foam seats. Not sure who might be stocking them nowadays - try Tom Bergh or Greg Paquin. They are nice covered foam seats and they work well and you just need to glue them down.

As for your knees contacting the boat - that is a sure fire problem - sure to give you knee pain (for me it was on the inside of the knee that got so bad that at one point, I could barely stand in the morning). So definitely pad the deck down on the inside and then put thigh hooks in - that way you won't be putting pressure on the knee.

You can check around for foam, New England Small Craft used to stock it, you can start looking there. Get a full bun or a half bun and then you will have plenty for other small projects. I have bought online here: http://www.sweetcomposites.com/Minicel.html

Full buns are 4' x 4' x 3" thick.

Suz

[hoppy09]

Ah yes but then Rob would not be happy.

[NPSheehan]

Never thought much about the resistance of hip rotation on a padded or foam seat until now. I removed the seat pad in my Avocet and noticed a big difference in the ability to slide my bottom and twist on the seat while paddling. I do get bit of an extra twist when fully rotating without any resistance. I guess Ben Lawry was right when he told me to take that seat pad and back band out of there

Neil

[chetpk]

Hi Folks,

I have a new Avocet LV, and after paddling a couple of days on it, I find that the seat is poorly designed. It is digging into my hamstrings and causing discomfort. At first I ripped out the pad, but the ridge from the molded plastic underneath the pad is still digging in.

So I need to rip the entire assembly out and start from scratch. Could anyone help me with what the best kind of foam to use is, and where I can get it? Should I just start with a blank square and rasp it to my butt size, or should I find a premolded foam blank to customize? I will also need to create thigh braces, because I am using my knees to make contact with the boat deck. (short legs)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I want to get this beautiful boat to fit!!!

Thanks!

Dee

If you don't like the seat because the seat pan feels a little to short, you can always look at my NDK Explorer to see what I did because of the short seat pan in it. I cut and carved a piece of foam to fit perfectly flush to the front side of my stock seat pan then carved it to meet my comfort needs and to lengthen the seat pan's feel under my legs. Once I got it to feel the way I wanted it to, I velcroed it to the bottom of the boat butted up against the existing seat pan. That allowed me to have the advantage of a hard seat to maximize the paddling effort, but gave me the comfort I was looking for under my thighs.

Scott

[gerry s]

Thanks folks, for all the feedback. I ended up getting a block of Minicel foam and formed it to my bottom. I will try it out tomorrow to see if things need tweaking. Also put a little back piece in to support my lower spine. It is curved to allow me to lean back comfortably for rolling. I hope that I will not find it prohibitive in hip rotation due to the product stickiness...so the jury is still out. (should have just kept my Romany!!!) : )

If a sticky bottom becomes an issue try painting the foam with "dip it". That liquid plastic stuff for tool handles ( at Depot etc, I think). Comes in colors and really looks slick on a foam seat.

[Brian Nystrom]

If a sticky bottom becomes an issue try painting the foam with "dip it". That liquid plastic stuff for tool handles ( at Depot etc, I think). Comes in colors and really looks slick on a foam seat.

While it looks great, it's designed to be grippy, not slippery.

[brambor]

You could also try coating the seat with honey. It will go in between sticky and slippy and will make for a sweet ride.

While it looks great, it's designed to be grippy, not slippery.

[deeski]

If a sticky bottom becomes an issue try painting the foam with "dip it". That liquid plastic stuff for tool handles ( at Depot etc, I think). Comes in colors and really looks slick on a foam seat.

THANKS GERRY! I was wondering what kind of product I could use to coat it with. Was it very expensive?

D

[deeski]

You could also try coating the seat with honey. It will go in between sticky and slippy and will make for a sweet ride.

Very funny...or we can take it a step further........but then, maybe not. : )

Hmmm...maybe Gerry's grip product suggestion might be too grippy afterall. Would look great, but wouldn't it be even more grippy than the foam itself? Maybe just coating the thing with Amarol to get the glide thing happening?

I did try it out, and do find that it is resistant to movement.

[NPSheehan]

THANKS GERRY! I was wondering what kind of product I could use to coat it with. Was it very expensive?

D

I think the product Gerry was talking about was Plasti Dip

Home Depot - Plasti Dip

Neil

[Michael_Crouse]

I saw Plasti Dip used years ago to coat the biner on a tow rope so it wouldn't scratch a boat. I suppose a high visability color would be a good choice for this.