on 10/20/00 3:24 AM, MJAkayaker_at_aol.com at MJAkayaker_at_aol.com wrote: snip > Finally is there a benefit to really tightening the fit at the hips. I know > I do not want to feel like I am sliding around, but should I keep making the > fit tighter until I start to have trouble with a wet exit and then back off > just a little. Is there a rule of thumb for testing the hip fit in a kayak? You should feel the hip pads on each hip but should not develop any sore areas after paddling for several hours. Proper torso rotation in the paddle stroke also creates a slight rotation at the hips and if the pads are too tight you will develop pressure points in the hips. Here is a good general on-shore guide for checking to see if your hip pads are too tight or too loose. Put the kayak on the lawn or another protected surface. Get in the kayak. As mentioned above, you should feel the pads touching both hips. Roll the kayak over on one side so all your weight goes on one hip. Now how much space is between the other hip and that pad? If the pad is still touching the hip then your fit may be too tight. If there is about 1/2 inch between your hip and the pad then you are close to a good fit. Go paddle and see how it feels. I shape my hip pads so they catch my hips if I lift straight up so I'm "locked" in the kayak at the hips if I want to be but as soon as I turn my hips a little I come right out. After you've done a custom fit go practice wet exits with a friend near by. Check out Ken and Kathea Rasmussen's web site at www.kayakfit.com. Go to the photos for pictures of several custom cockpits. The skin-on-frame is my boat which I built three years ago. It has custom knee/thigh braces, custom hip pads and a custom seat. They are covered with a black synthetic fabric which is used for covering speaker grills. The hip pads in the other boats are covered with a layer of 1/16" dual density self adhesive foam. Rex Roberton *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Oct 20 2000 - 19:24:34 PDT
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