Thigh Straps for Seated Canoeing?

[ABT]

I recently had the opportunity to use a borrowed inflatable kayak on some whitewater and I found the thigh straps intriguing. I was curious if anyone has ever given any thought to using something like these in a canoe. I thought I recalled reading a thread on it somewhere but could not find it. They look like they might be usable in a similar manner while seated in a canoe with a foot brace. Thigh straps in whitewater canoeing are very common of course, and go over the top of the thigh while kneeling on a saddle. These go on the inside of the thigh/knee area and hold the leg in contact with the side (see attached pic).

I do kneel sometimes in a regular canoe with a hung seat but I’m always a bit worried about entrapment under the seat in a pin situation. Additionally, I have some seats hung low enough that getting your feet under them is an issue, and I do not kneel with those for fear of entrapment (I know I could always raise them if I wanted). While seated in solos though, my knees are often in contact with the gunwales, and they are somewhat bent from using the foot brace. Seems like some padding on the gunwales and these thigh straps might add to stability and control and still be safer to get out of than kneeling under a web seat. They certainly made a huge difference in the IK. I did manage to flip it once and I came right out of the straps with no problems.

Seems like they could potentially be a good option for those that can’t kneel, have a pack canoe, or are just worried about entrapment. Easy to get on and off while under way and would probably hang out of the way when not in use. Not for serious whitewater use in place of a saddle and traditional straps, but for class II while tripping maybe? Curious what everyone’s thoughts are.

As an aside, those IK’s are much tougher than they appear from a distance. I won’t be giving up WW canoeing with a saddle any time soon, but it was a neat little boat to play with for a couple hours. Just a smaller/personal WW raft almost.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

To clarify, @ABT is asking whether anyone has experience or thoughts about using the inflatable kayak-type of thigh straps while seated in an open canoe to enhance stability and control.

All serious whitewater paddlers in dedicated whitewater canoes (and kayaks) use thigh straps or thigh blocks of some kind to help heel the canoe and to control its longitudinal rotation in waves, holes and other hydraulic complexities. Of course, most whitewater canoeists kneel.

However, the same hull control issues apply to seated whitewater canoe paddlers in rapids and to seated flat water canoe paddlers in wind waves, which I assume sparked @ABT's question about using kayak-type thigh straps for seated open canoeists.

I have thought about it many times over the decades.

I outfitted my Hemlock SRT with thigh straps even though I paddle it 95% of the time on flat water. As mostly a kneeler, I use typical kneeling thigh straps whenever I am paddling flat water in strong winds or significant waves. Even when I sit in the SRT with my feet on my foot bar, I can configure my buckled straps to cross my thighs for enhanced hull control. Here is a picture of my SRT in which you can see the lower parts of my unbuckled thigh straps on the bottom of the canoe near the double dog bone D-anchors. The upper 3/4 of each strap is jammed behind my adjustable seat drops.



If I were mostly a sitter, I might very well give the kayak-type straps a try. I recall jury-rigging that kind of a sitting thigh strap in another of my canoes.

@Mike McCrea, who is an inveterate sitter, outfits all of his solo open canoes (and decked canoes) with minicell thigh bumpers under the inwales for the same purpose of longitudinal hull control. Here are two examples of his thigh bumper work of the several on this site:

Bell Yellowstone Solo Rebuild

I love custom outfitting. There are dozens of little steps, and a best sequential order that requires some contemplation and planning. I started with the outfitting that doesn’t require a paddler’s custom physiology test sit. A Wenonah adjustable foot brace first, taking measurements from my...

www.canoetripping.net

Seat and thwarts in a solo canoe

Got the OT back together. Stock rear thwart, new front thwart in the old holes of the front seat. New Essex curved seat 9 inches behind the balance point. The seat is about 3 inches in front of the rear thwart. Paddling this week. Hopefully a photo to follow. Ppine, cool beans, looking forward...

www.canoetripping.net

 

[memaquay]

I'm not trying to be a contrarian, just expressing a contrary idea about the necessity of thigh straps in an open canoe.

I'm no white water aficionado, and almost all of my white water experience is derived from tripping in an open canoe. However, I have had excellent white water training from pro's. The focus of those courses was for tripping canoes as well. There were no thigh straps. Seems to me those are things for dedicated white water enthusiasts, not the canoe tripping sort.

I have never been a fan of kneeling, and gave it up completely about 20 years ago. I have run lots of big stuff from my seat, both solo and tandem, and although on occasion I have returned to my knees in some hairy situations, I have been mostly successful as a sitter.

The OP mentions pack canoes......I'm not a pack canoeist, I like big things, but my sense is that one would not be running a pack canoe through rapids large enough to necessitate thigh straps or kneeling. Of course, I could be wrong, perhaps there is as subset of canoeists who play in class 3's with pack boats.

I remember when I first started canoe tripping in my beat up aluminium canoe with my Canadian Tire tent and back pack and fishing rod. I think it was the simplicity of throwing stuff together in 5 minutes and going on an adventure. Didn't overthink things and enjoyed the moment. For me, something like thigh straps for canoe tripping would fall into the overthinking category.