The last details on the SOF I built last season from Chris C.'s articles in SK are the seat and back support, and I'm struggling... I tried various pieces of ensolite cut to fit between the ribs for the seat. Not enough padding. I have a Thermarest seat that I think will do the trick with its adjustable firmness. Biggest problem is back support. I tried a foam piece (pool noodle) carved to fit between my back and cockpit rim, with a strap around the deck beam to hold it in place. Its OK for a half hour or so. I usually prefer a backband style but can't figure out how to fit it and stay "authentic" with the boat construction, i.e., no glue or metal fastners. Something that fit in with the look would be nice too. I know the Inuit just sat on a pile of skins... If anyone has come up with a solution I appreciate hearing from them. Cheers, Jim on the Great Lakes _________________________________________________________________ Join the world^Òs largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 11:04 AM 4/15/2002 -0400, you wrote: >Biggest problem is back support. I tried a foam piece (pool noodle) >carved to fit between my back and cockpit rim, with a strap around the >deck beam to hold it in place. Its OK for a half hour or so. I usually >prefer a backband style but can't figure out how to fit it and stay >"authentic" with the boat construction, i.e., no glue or metal >fastners. Something that fit in with the look would be nice too. > >If anyone has come up with a solution I appreciate hearing from them. If you spend a bit of time concentrating on the boat in the foreground of http://home.attbi.com/~jkolsen/g2k/alec1withbeach.jpg You can make out a adjustable back brace. The backbrace is basically a dowel with a wooden oval attached to it. The dowel fits into one of 5 slots so you can adjust the trim of the boat. A fancier version would be to pad the wooden disk, with some forming the wooden oval is pretty comfortable. Alternatively the boat in the foreground of http://home.attbi.com/~jkolsen/g2k/4onbeach.jpg simply has a back pad secured to the cockpit coaming. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>The last details on the SOF I built last season from Chris C.'s articles in >SK are the seat and back support, and I'm struggling... Jim, The traditional outfitting can be very comfortable. Did you space the ribs in the cockpit area so that your "butt bones" fit between two adjacent ribs? If not, you may want to remove a rib or cut out the bottom of a rib to make a half-rib. In addition to helping with comfort, this gets your weight as low as possible. When the Greenlanders capsize you often see their butt and heel impressions on the bottom of the kayak. Many of the modern Greenlanders use a 1/4" thick foam pad that stretches from the backrest to the footrest and serves to pad the seat, backrest, footrest, provide insulation and keep sand from getting into the lashings. With the ribs spaced in this manner and with the foam pad, the fit can be very comfortable. The kayak and paddle are a tuned system, and a number of kayakers who use a Greenland-style SOF with a Greenland-style paddle find that they place very little pressure on the backrest. As for myself, I lean forward slightly and help drive the paddle using a slight abdominal "crunch" where you start with your torso erect and then lean forward slightly. This technique was shown to me in West Greenland and appears to be quite widespread there. (I was warned not to "bounce" the kayak up and down). It reminds me somewhat of standing on the pedals during biking. With the low foredeck common to Greenland kayaks you can lift the opposite knee in concert with the "crunch" to use very large muscle groups. This requires proper timing and feels somewhat like performing a sit-up with someone holding your legs. This technique puts very little pressure on the backrest. Hopefully this helps, but we are all built differently, and one person's comfort is another's misery. Greg Stamer _________________________________________________________________ Join the world^Òs largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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