Seat Webbing Color?

[Guest]

I’ll soon be ready to web a wide contour seat for a canoe rehab and have a webbing color choice to make.

The canoe has walnut stained gunwales and brightwork, including the seat. The hull is bright red, with a wide black accent stripe under the outwales, and will have bright red partial spray covers, with a black drainage baffle. There are some black accessory pieces; sail mount, paddle straps, bungee and etc.

I have choices of black or red webbing for the seat.

What say you for the seat webbing, red or black?

 

[Waterdog]

IMO I’d roll with the black. It will fade to a different shade of black instead of pink...which is not red.

 

[Roybrew]

I would figure the red on a dark walnut would look great. Maybe a black stripe down the center of the seat like some of the older Mustang cars with the stripe across them.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I'd go with Red ! It would be an eye catcher for sure !

 

[DaveO]

Two tone, red accents, would be distinctive.

 

[Guest]

This seat, webbed 9 x 3

PB040051 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I have stripped and sanded the old frame and am getting ready to stain it walnut.

The hull, once burgundy, is now EZ-Poxy Fire Red.

PB060043 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

It is very red, stark red; I will add a black accent stripe under the outwales.

 

[Conk]

In my mind, the idea of a checker pattern using two colors seemed like a cool idea. Having done it a few times, I now think differently. A good deal of one strap color will be visible on the rails and struts, that uninterrupted swath of color detracts from the coolness to my eye. If the number of fore and aft straps is even, it will accentuate the asymmetry of the resulting checker pattern.
Which color should you use? In my opinion, you have a red canoe with black accent. Stick with that theme.

 

[PeteStaehling]

Purely personal preference... Me, I'd go with black. The red would look garish. The black would accent the red hull nicely.

 

[Guest]

In my mind, the idea of a checker pattern using two colors seemed like a cool idea. Having done it a few times, I now think differently.

Conk, I have found the same, even using red and black webbing, or green and black. Not the fuchsia, orange and black “plaid” I did on one canoe. That garishness looked best when covered by a hairy butt.

EK_0010 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Even with two colors the pattern is often skewed, and the bow seat pattern doesn’t match the stern. It just never looks as attractive as I had envisioned.

Which color should you use? In my opinion, you have a red canoe with black accent. Stick with that theme.

I am leaning towards standard black, there is already a lot of red on the canoe. With the light grey/dark gray interior, black accent stripe and black outfitting bits a little more black should look good.

The seat will get the two customary loose pad keeper straps; I guess I could go red with those. Or not

Maybe I should paint one of our old paddles black and red.

 

[Waterdog]

Whoa wait!.....if you have the materials and motivation to do an authentic family crest plaid, I consider this conversation over! And that would need to be it’s own thread with your usual level of detail of course.

 

[Guest]

Whoa wait!.....if you have the materials and motivation to do an authentic family crest plaid, I consider this conversation over!

I do have most of the webbing colors necessary, but the MacRae tartan is pretty complex, and I’d need to incorporate some very thin webbing. Maybe I’ll just wear the kilt, and catch some refreshing paddling breeze.

Trying to find a sample photo of that tartan the first several links that popped up were for face masks:

https://www.zazzle.com/scottish_clan...0aAotKEALw_wcB

In masks, or anything else, basic black goes with everything.

Our official clan history notes that we “Fell into vicissitudes”; dang, it’s like George Will wrote our family story.

And that would need to be it’s own thread with your usual level of detail of course.

Be careful what you ask for brutha; it won’t have a tartan seat, but I’m slowly refurbishing that ’91 Independence and taking a lot of photographs. EZ-Poxy paint needs nearly a full day before sanding and recoating, so I’ve had lots of wait time on my hands. Like now.

 

[memaquay]

No contest, black. I used a golden colour for my honeymoon canoe, thinking it would match the tones of the red cedar...shoulda went black. Not to totally derail your thread Mike, but do you have any Canadian relatives up this way? We had a Russel McCrea who taught up here for a while, I believe he was a PHD in English. He wrote a novel, thinly disguised, about Geraldton and area. It has kept the town speculating for years about who was whom in the novel. Aptly named "Going to the Dogs". Kind of like S. E. Hinton, bush style.
https://www.amazon.ca/Going-Dogs-Russell-Mcrae/dp/0140101659

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The hull . . . is now . . . Fire Red.

It's therefore now a Fire boat. From Freeland, MD, it is of course a FreeFire.

Here is the Strapworks.com polyester seat webbing I recommended to Conk for his seats in Colden's (Flash, Wild and Star) Fire boats. I don't know that he or Paul Meyer have the requisite fire in the belly to use it, but a fired up Scotsman might for a FreeFire, especially when inflamed by requisite firewater.

 

[Guest]

It's therefore now a Fire boat. From Freeland, MD, it is of course a FreeFire.

Here is the Strapworks.com polyester seat webbing I recommended to Conk for his seats in Colden's (Flash, Wild and Star) Fire boats. I don't know that he or Paul Meyer have the requisite fire in the belly to use it, but a fired up Scotsman might for a FreeFire, especially when inflamed by requisite firewater.

Well, the hull was free.

I do have one decked canoe, the ancient Klepper Kamerad, with (poorly designed) hand painted flames covering my repairs. But it has a sliding bucket seat. Although part of me wants to see what that flame webbing would look like when # woven.

But not on this rebuild. Once you go black you’ll never go back.

BTW, I appreciate your Bell-like capitalization of the F’s, but at least in some catalogs Bell used FlashFIRE and WildFIRE, so FreeFIRE.

And, you are a man of inspired ideas Glenn. Once finished the hull will get a hand painted shop Gogetch, to signify shop time spent at McCrea Boatworx and Tavern, and we have custom names on several boats (Sea Wimp, Feritas, Explorer Solo). A printed FreeFIRE, a carbon paper tracing and a wee paint brush with EZ-Poxy will take care of that.

Figuring maybe ¾” tall letters, what font should I use? Nothing too swirly or fancy, this is small letter hand painting. Needs to be boldish thick, I’m thinking something like Cooper Black.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I’m thinking something like Cooper Black

Since a cooper is a builder (and presumably lover) of barrels and tubs, it all eerily fits together at MB&T in a Jackson Pollock sort of way.

 

[latremorej]

I would figure the red on a dark walnut would look great. Maybe a black stripe down the center of the seat like some of the older Mustang cars with the stripe across them.

That would make the canoe go faster too!

 

[Guest]

Not to totally derail your thread Mike, but do you have any Canadian relatives up this way? We had a Russel McCrea who taught up here for a while, I believe he was a PHD in English.

All of my kinfolk on both sides hail from just across the border in upstate NewYork; Rouses Point, Moores Forks and Chazy. Lots of McCrae/McCrea stuff on that side of Canada as well (McCrae Lake, etc) from the early Scots migration.

Since a cooper is a builder (and presumably lover) of barrels and tubs, it all eerily fits together at MB&T in a Jackson Pollock sort of way.

Cooper Black it is then, and for another unintentional reason. The Independence is paddled by my wife and younger son, Cooper. While he is back for Thanksgiving I’ll have him sit in the canoe for placement of minicel knee bumpers and heel pads.

 

[ppine]

Pick one and look at the rest. They are all going to fade. It is only important to you.

 

[Odyssey]

Brown is the obvious choice. Relates to the wood trim and will fade someday to a pleasing shade of tan.
Otherwise black.

 

[Guest]

If colour is so important then brown is the obvious choice. Matches the wood trim and will fade someday to a pleasing shade of tan.
Otherwise black.

I don’t know that it is sooooo important to me, I was just looking for some feedback and advice, and will take what I received to heart. Mixed colors, as Conk said, look better in theory than practice. Waterdog is right, red would eventually fade to pink, and might look garish.

Glenn’s Strapworks flames would look better as a single strap over float bags or gear. If Strapworks had walnut grain-streaked webbing (I’m not going to look) that might be striking. Or garish.

I do not have brown webbing, only rolls of black, red, green and blue, and am doing most of the refurbishment with what I have in shop stock.

Black it is.