Kayak Seats

[thundurchasur]

I don't know if there's another place to pose this question but I just ordered a new GTS Expedition seat for my kayak. Is anyone else using this seat and what can you tell me about it?

Thanks in advance.

[Moswimb8slinger]

What do you want to know about it?

It looks like the La-Z-Boy of kayak seats.

Might you be wondering how to mount it to the kayak or just a general option of the seat?

[Pat Magee]

That seat is pretty similar to the Sea to Summit seat I had on my old Malibu Mini-x kayak. I can tell you two things about it. It takes a lot of time fiddling with the straps to make it stiff enough that it's comfortable. It also likes to kick out when you lean back, meaning the part you sit on wants to move towards your feet when you lean back. It is slightly annoying and I had to use a combination of bungee cords to keep that from happening.

The other thing is that you will get kayak butt if you are in it all day long. My boat was one that put your legs straight out in front of you and the seat wasn't elevated so it would cause my butt and legs to fall asleep all the time. I wound up buying a Coosa from a forum member because it was driving me nuts! If you can figure out a way to make it work well for you, you are a better man than I am!

[moguy1973]

I still can't figure out why kayak seats are so expensive. Some are around $150-175, which is almost a quarter of the price of a new middle of the line SOT kayak!

[Moswimb8slinger]

Go check out the price on a seat for a Harley, these prices won't seem so bad.lol

[thundurchasur]

Good points everyone. My questions about the seat was how comfortable is it and how to install it since the seat comes with no instructions? I went ahead and purchased it and it arrived yesterday. It has 4 bull-snaps but nothing on the kayak to attach them to. I'm brand new to kayaks so I'm needing advice. I'm guessing there are hardware packets that can be purchased for attaching things to the yak.

I have a little too much ballast around the midsection and sitting flat on my butt with no back support, (Heritage Angler 14 from Academy), makes for no fun. I'm working on the table muscle but as I get older (62) it comes off much more slowly than it did even 20 years ago so I needed something to get me in the water. If you don't know my yak, there is no seat in it and the backrest looks more like a sling or hernia belt.

I too have a Harley and I can attest to the fact that parts are expensive, like $100 for a set of rear-view mirrors or over $500 for an aftermarket seat. This GTS was $185 on Amazon, shipped directly from Surf To Summit, and that's the base model. That's close to half the cost of the boat. After receiving it, I don't see where the expense is either except for the fact that it has to do with a hobby and anything hobby related is usually expensive.

Thanks again!

[Moswimb8slinger]

Usually install 4 pad eyes, 2 towards the front and 2 rear of the seat area, with rivets. My want to check YouTube for some videos if your not comfortable going at it blind.

[moguy1973]

Yeah, like richy said, you can install pad eyes with rivets such as these:

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/268/Pop-Rivet-Black-Anodized.html

http://www.austinkayak.com/products/223/Nylon-Pad-Eye-Ea.html

Might even be able to find those locally at Home Depot or Lowes or any hardware store too. Just make sure the rivets are the ones that flare out like that so they don't pull through the hull of the kayak.

[Moswimb8slinger]

Ozarks extreme outdoors has Yak-gear hardware kits for that kind of stuff

[Moswimb8slinger]

If you bring the kayak by the OEO shop this weekend, I'll even help you install it