Canoe Seat Backrests

[Black_Fly]

I was looking around my garage, trying to find a seat that will work on my new boat. I've got several, none seemed right. Some are thick and heavy, make me sit too high up. Some have a back rest that interferes with my PFD. Most of my favorites work with bucket seats. Do you have a favorite seat pad/backrest? I generally use a fanny pack when tripping and my Prism has a thwart that turns the fanny pack into a lower lumbar support, so I just use a pad. Not sure what I'll be able to use with the new boat coming late this month.

 

[yknpdlr]

With a history of back pain, I tried configuring a cheap lightweight type of crazy creek seat with some limited success for marathon canoe racing. It was difficult to get the back to be vertical enough. I Even stuffed a throw bag rope behind me to bump out my lumbar, which worked to a limited extent. You want something that will stay in place, yet not restrict your movement or torso rotation.

Eventually I went with the Wenonah super seat for racing on the Yukon. It was a great solution. The seat comes in different versions for either bench or bucket seats. I would recommend it. [h=1][/h]

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

My wife enjoys her combination seat pad/back rest for the bucket seat. It's a little fiddly to install, but once it's on, the back rest folds down with velcro for portages. It's low profile and doesn't alter the seating position. The back rest flexes with the motion of paddle strokes and doesn't interfere with her PFD.

In the link below it shows versions for bucket and bench seats.

 

[Black_Fly]

I actually have the Wenonah Super Seat for a bucket seat. It is my favorite for those boats, although the wife takes it in the tandem. I may buy the bench version. I also have a crazy creek seat, but the back is too high for me. Too bad, it's good quality. The Super Seat seems to have a lower back, which would do better with my PFD. I'll consider that one for sure.

 

[gumpus]

You may want to get a PFD that is more compatible with back rests. There was a thread on another forum from a guy looking for a PFD that was compatible with a Crazy Creek chair so I posted a pic of my Astral V8. The back is all mesh except for the one pad up high.

 

[sweeper]

Another vote for Crazy Creek. I started with them then bought a set of Duluth seats that are just too heavy but I had sold the CC set. I tried my sons metal frame seats (?) and hated those. End of story, I found another set of CC seats last year at Algonquin Outfitters and all is wonderful again.

 

[latremorej]

Since I use a kayak fishing pfd (stolquist fisherman) I also have an open back that doesn't interfere. I sewed buckle straps to my REI crazy creek type seat. It straps to the canoe bench seat just like the sitbacker from GSI. Works well enough for me. And doubles as a camp chair.

Jsson

 

[Iskweo]

We have some of the padded seats with folding backrest from MEC. They strap to the seat with velcro straps. They work ok and can be used in camp also. I find the seat padding is too hard for me now so I have not used them in some time. It might be time to revisit them.

 

[Guest]

I was looking around my garage, trying to find a seat that will work on my new boat. I've got several, none seemed right. Some are thick and heavy, make me sit too high up. Some have a back rest that interferes with my PFD. Most of my favorites work with bucket seats. Do you have a favorite seat pad/backrest? I generally use a fanny pack when tripping and my Prism has a thwart that turns the fanny pack into a lower lumbar support, so I just use a pad. Not sure what I'll be able to use with the new boat coming late this month.

I have a blown L2/L3 and need some lower back support. I have tried a lot of seat backs and back bands, most of which were unsatisfactory for one reason or another.

The Sit-backer seat pad was too thick, and the back supports too high and too rigid to allow much torso rotation; I didn’t need the seat height raised that much nor the back that high.

The CrazyCreek or similar Wenoah Super Seat was better, but still restrictive, and the underseat straps and buckles inconvenient. Plus the seat back tends to fall over horizontal when stepping out of the canoe, which became one more thing to arrange when getting in. Getting back on the seat after kneeling was even more problematic, unless I wanted to sit on a double thick pad. Not.

Almost every seat back I tried was too tall, taller than I needed, so tall that even mostly-mesh-back PFD’s were uncomfortably against the seat back.

What works be for me (everyone is different) is a Surf to Summit Performance Pro back band.

P1011546 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Works equally well with bench or bucket seats.

Four swivel clips attached at pad eyes or webbing loops easy to put on. Hint, if the back band is always going in the same boat just loosen the straps on the front or the back (not both) to remove. When you go to put it back in just tighten that same set of straps and it returns to last perfect position.

Ladder locks correctly oriented on the sides, so easy to tighten or loosen on the fly. Straps pulling both forward and backward, holding the back band vertical so it can’t fall over when kneeling or stepped out of the canoe. The back band is only 9” high at center, with tapered sides, so it interferes very little with torso rotation, and is short enough to squeeze under some limbo logs without getting hung up.

https://www.surftosummit.com/product...ance-back-band

(That is a terrible product photo; it does not show the two backside straps and clips.

I do want a seat pad, but I’d rather choose my own. A cut-to-size piece of RidgeRest is mighty comfy. I like having the option of deflation adjustment and most often use a Therma-rest stadium pad mostly deflated so I have good sitz bone contact but it still cups my arse cheeks like a bucket seat.

P5010762 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

A couple of webbing straps around a bench seat and the bottom cushion isn’t going anywhere.

I don’t see how any of the seat backs or back band work comfortably while wearing a fanny pack, but that is the part of my back that is screwed up to start with.

 

[Zac]

I prefer the tractor seats and with them I use the Wenonah seat cushions/backs made for their tractor seats but it appears they are no longer in production! **Edit they are still in production, what I am talking about here is the SuperSeat for buckets. Mine are an older model with only 1 velcro spot to keep them folded up and it looks like the backs themselves are also shorter on mine** They are similar to the back Mike uses, but are one piece with the seat cushion. Not much padding on the seat but the back support is just right. Learning to install them and adjust properly was a PITA but after that I don't have any problems. They also have velcro to fold them up for portaging.

My now damaged and unusable Yeti Hopper 30 cooler fits in the space behind the rear seat in both of my wenonahs very well and it adds a bit of lumbar support to the tractor seats that I really appreciate. Too bad that a few days into a trip, when that lumbar support would be most appreciated the cooler is typically not full enough to continue adding support. I will be attempting to repair this cooler (zipper failure) because it fits behind the seat so well. I'd buy a new one but I'm not longer dating a gal that can get super discounts on Yeti products and $350 is just way too much for a cooler that only fits one case of beer.

If I'm on a bench seat I have some CrazyCreek ripoffs that are not so great but the price was right. Probably the same ones Yukon is talking about. The seats I use them with are not as deep as the seat was designed for. I place the front flush with the front of the bench which causes the back to be folded down behind the seat when I tighten the straps. It is a bit awkward but in the end the backrest itself is lower so it doesn't interfere with strokes as much as how it was engineered.

I also have a GCI SitBacker that is large, cumbersome and above all else heavy but oh man is it comfortable. I never thought I'd buy one until I ended up in Montana two years ago and realizing I had forgot all of my seat backs a trip to Cabela's was in order. I now take it on most trips that involve a bench seat and take it off of the canoe for use in camp at night. If I am paddling with one of my friends who has a history of back problems I let him use the GCI and he has had nothing bad to say about it. Conversely he has complained about every other seat back setup I have put him in. I would not bring this on a long trip with portages as it simply weighs too much. This isn't a problem as my lighter canoes all have tractor seats.

Do you still have the boat with the funky skid plates to test seats in or did they take it back already?

 

[Black_Fly]

Do you still have the boat with the funky skid plates to test seats in or did they take it back already?

Heck no, I took that back. My boat should arrive in a few weeks. I'll wait to see what I want to use in that. I'm leaning toward a lower band and a good pad, like Mike McCrea uses. That's similar to what I use in my floor mounted tractor seats.

I have a crazy creek chair that I've used on day trips with my old bench seat solo. Not great padding and the back is too high for long trips.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Heck no, I took that back. My boat should arrive in a few weeks. I'll wait to see what I want to use in that. I'm leaning toward a lower band and a good pad, like Mike McCrea uses. That's similar to what I use in my floor mounted tractor seats.

I have a crazy creek chair that I've used on day trips with my old bench seat solo. Not great padding and the back is too high for long trips.

I think you will find the backband an excellent option for when you go north and have to portage. It won't add much weight and will be out of the way. I use backbands only in my low mounted seats( two inches off the floor) and find them very useful there .. The normal seats are canted so that I don't find a backband necessary.

 

[DanG]

Coleman used to make a plastic seatback that hooked onto the seat. I still have mine and they do work pretty well.

 

[Guest]

Coleman used to make a plastic seatback that hooked onto the seat. I still have mine and they do work pretty well.

Dan, no offense, but I hated those things. And we used four of them for at least a decade in family tandems. These things:

https://www.mohawkcanoes.com/collections/seats-yokes-and-thwarts/products/seat-back-plastic

Let me count the ways I disliked them.

They are 16” high at the back, so horribly high for most mesh back PFD’s, or for ducking under limbo logs. They are completely unadjustable, the angle of the backrest depends entirely on the width of the seat frame. There is no cushion, just hard plastic; if you do lean into them with a mesh back PFD on a muckle-up rest you will have waffle imprints on your back.

Should you be counting on the seatback to help hold you locked in place on the seat they will sometimes abruptly slide sideways on the seat frame, leaving your head out over the gunwales. Glub, glub, glub; ask how I know.

We relegated them to loaner use. Until a borrower managed to release the rear seat frame hook from under a cane seat and then lean back. The cane was no match for that hard plastic pressure bearing down.

They were durable; we still have a couple of them. Next time I pass along a canoe (with webbed seats) I should foist them off on someone.

 

[DanG]

I think they were originally designed for use on Grumman canoes, which is what we had. My wife liked them because she needed the back support and our PFDs then were the vest type with ensolite pads front and back. I could take 'em or leave 'em. Okay for lakes and open rivers but not so good for getting from Porter's Crossing to Snow Hill, much less the put-in further up the Pocomoke, the name of which I have mercifully forgotten!

 

[S.Shepherd]

have any of you used one of these ?
https://www.harmonygear.com/products/9752/Harmony-Folding-Cane-Canoe-Chair.html

 

[dougd]

I had two years ago. Tried them once and got rid of them. PITA to hook to my seat and raised me up enough that I didn't like them. Just my take on them.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Those are for sit on the bottom pack canoes mostly.. I haven't seen anyone EVER use them on a standard seat.