Bench vs. Bucket Seats: Which Is Better On A Canoe?

[Glenn MacGrady]

Here's an article on that subject:

At the 1981 Whitewater Nationals in upstate New York, canoe racer Tom Staz arrived to the event with a boat that caused a stir among competitors. He had modified his Wenonah race canoe with a low-set bucket seat and foot braces. . . . [H]e surprised everyone by finishing minutes ahead of the next competitor.

“The Lower 48 is a sitting market, whereas Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada prefer to kneel,” says Bill Kueper, vice-president of Wenonah Canoe, which manufactures canoes with both seat styles. “There are cultures of sitting and kneeling, and you are more likely to sit or kneel depending on where you learn and what water you paddle.”

Are Bench Or Bucket Seats Better On A Canoe?

We're waiting to hear your strong opinions on this one.

paddlingmag.com

What's your opinion? And why?

 

[Alan Gage]

I might be the only respondent to prefer small bucket seats. I just find them to be very comfortable and they pair well with my preferred paddling style of sit and switch.

Alan

 

[Gamma1214]

Both of my Sawyers & my We-no-nah have buckets & they're ok but I really like one I built for my Raven. Contoured from gunwale to gunwale and dished lower on the front, it's comfortable to sit on and heels the boat automatically as I slide to the rail.

I prefer to stay on one side for an hour or more and I think Alan's right; the buckets seem to work better if you switch sides often.

I'm actually very curious what my seat might do in Alan's Bloodvein II hull (hopefully, I'll know by Spring)

 

[ABT]

“Kueper notes that for the regular consumer, bucket seats aren’t custom-made and are shaped to fit the average butt.”

The original bucket seat on my now-sold Rendezvous was ostensibly made for a small child, judging by the size. Clearly not for a man of my proportions. The newer Wenonah seat I replaced it with was larger and much more comfortable, and I didn’t have any issues with it, but I never liked the height. I have played with the seats (height, angle, width, etc) in just about every boat I have, and I have no issues with the comfort. So I’d say the bench is definitely my preference.

Some interesting comments in the article go against some of the popular opinions on kneeling though. Buckets allow more powerful sprints? And allow you to have better rotation and reach further forward with your paddle? As a majority sitter, I’m glad to hear that I guess, but I feel that kneeling allows me to get better forward reach, and greater power where I need it at times. Really interesting that the article’s experts say the opposite. I’m curious about their reasoning. Sitting is much more comfortable for me, over any distance, but I’d like more explanation on the other claims.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

My Hemlock SRT has a Harold Deal bucket seat, which can be kneeled off of or sat upon. Harold made the mold from an old tractor seat. I kneel in the SRT (and all canoes) 90+% of the time, even when I switch paddle, but I need to change to a sitting position occasionally to relieve my ancient muscles and to get circulation back in my legs and feet.

For bench seats, I'm a huge fan of Conk seats. I bought an 8" deep one from Conk that he made to fit the SRT's adjustable rail system. Conk's regular seats are 10" deep, like most bench seats. It worked very well when kneeling but wasn't as comfortable as the 10 incher when sitting, so I've gone back to the bucket seat in my SRT. The Conk 8 incher sits in a box.

Harold advocated for the bucket seat because it allows one to heel the canoe by putting lateral hip pressure on the side lips of the bucket, without having to sacrifice a centered position for reaching all four paddling quadrants for boat control.

 

[Alan Gage]

Harold advocated for the bucket seat because it allows one to heel the canoe by putting lateral hip pressure on the side lips of the bucket, without having to sacrifice a centered position for reaching all four paddling quadrants for boat control.

I have not found that to work so well in the small seats I find comfortable (the child sized seats ABT referred to above) but I can imagine it works better on a bucket of larger dimensions with higher sides.

For whatever reason I never found the larger Wenonah bucket seats to be comfortable for me but the large bucket seats that Sawyer used I really like.

Alan

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I have not found that to work so well in the small seats I find comfortable (the child sized seats ABT referred to above) but I can imagine it works better on a bucket of larger dimensions with higher sides.

That sounds plausible.

The heeling I'm talking about with the SRT + Deal bucket is not nail-the-rail heeling, but moderate heeling to change the carving arc of the canoe. You don't have to shift your lateral position to get down pressure on the rail, as one usually does with a wide solo bench seat. That said, sometimes I like to shift my position all the way over to the rail on a wide bench seat.

I just like variety in all aspects of canoeing—hull shapes, paddle shapes, seat shapes, water shapes . . . .

 

[Punkinhead]

Every butt is different. I can't stand bucket seats. I want to be able to move around and shift position often. I prefer a flat webbing seat in a canoe. It works well for kneeling or sitting. I feel the same about motorcycle seats. I've put an aftermarket seat on almost every motorcycle I've owned and a scooped out bucket shape is the most common offering. I've never liked them and always have a custom seat made that's firm, flat, and level.

 

[tketcham]

I like both styles of seat, just depends on the canoe and how I'll be paddling it. For tripping and cruising I prefer sitting in a bucket seat, while for noodling around on flat water and maneuvering on moving water I prefer kneeling on a bench seat. (For bigger white water I used a saddle.) The bucket seats I've used were pretty comfortable in general but the GRB Newman seat is the most comfortable, mainly because it has a high back. I installed foam blocks below the inner gunwales just forward of the bucket seats of my tripping/cruising canoes so I can get comfortable leverage with my legs in addition to a foot brace. The bench seats I use have a sloped front edge and are fine for kneeling; no real preference.

I kept bench seats in the Hemlock Kestrel and Curtis Northstar because I/we do both in those canoes, though I've thought about replacing them with bucket seats. I think the biggest advantage to having bench seats in tripping canoes is you can drop down into a kneeling position for added stability if the wind picks up and whitecaps develop. I suppose the Harold Deal seat (or something similar) let you do both if there's enough clearance under the seat rails.

 

[snapper]

I became a convert to the bucket seats when I purchased my first We-No-Nah. It was a Jensen 17' and I really liked the way it centered me in the canoe. Like Glenn, I liked the way I could heel the canoe just enough to bring the hull into a more maneuverable position for turns. When I purchased my Hemlock "Peregrine" from Dave Curtis (I was "interviewed" by Conk, it's then caretaker, to be sure I was worthy) it was my first time back on a quasi-bench seat. While I love the boat, my butt must have spent too many hours with bucket seats as I just don't find it as comfortable being on the Conk seat. Since I can no longer kneel for any length of time (some days not at all) due to knee issues, I've contemplated getting the Harold Deal bucket seat mounted in the "Peregrine." Just wish I could paddle one with that set-up before making my final decision.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper