Frej – Marius Markussen

This raises a question for me, in addition to the usual and necessary considerations of seat height, tilt, bracing for legs, proper footrest angle and distance. The question is: isn't adequate cushioning under the pelvis and upper thighs important too? More body weight, it seems, would demand more cushioning to reduce pinching of blood vessels and nerves. It appears to me to become a matter of compromise in a kayak, a boat you wear. Additionally, isn't having the right model of kayak under you according to your physiognomy equally important?

When building your own kayak there is no reason not to have the most comfortable cockpit arrangement possible – perhaps not at the first attempt but eventually. But what constitutes the perfect seating is of course influenced by a lot of factors: personal (wishes, priorities, needs, intended usage) and cultural (seating habits).

I do not think that cushioning is needed in general on the seat area. Mostly I believe cushioning is a simple remedy for commercial one-size-fits-all seats (fits-all is often the same as fits-nobody). When you build the seat yourself, you can shape it exactly to your anatomy, distributing the pressure over a large area. Well designed surfski pods work this way. In traditional Greenland style kayaks you sit with straight legs on the largest area possible – very comfortable when you get used to this kind of seating position.

One common problem is the high decks that many paddler believe is necessary for comfort and safety. They necessitate a high knee position to contact the deck or knee pads, which reduces the contact area on the seat. The common remedy is to raise the forward edge of the seat to support the thights, which means that when you relax the legs, that edge pinch the blood vessels and nerves on the back of the thighs.

My solution for a number of years now have been a low deck line, low seat with minimal or no cushioning, almost straight legs and no back support, but a sloping aft bulkhead that is comfortable to lean back on, when resting or rolling.

Thanks, Björn. Understood. Good information. There is no substitute for experience matched with perspicacity.