Canoe seats

tketcham said:

Well, I'll find out how well those carbon/Kevlar gunnels hold up over time. Bill must believe it's a reliable setup because I've seen other Swift carbon solo canoes with similar seat drops. I think the key is that the drops provide some reinforcement between the gunnels and the seat rails. The one piece drops are shaped to fit right up against the gunwale and help stabilize the forces. The thwarts are attached in the same way so it must work but It's fairly easy to over tighten the bolts and the gunnel starts to compress/collapse. I suppose a larger diameter washer might help but we each weigh less than 150 lbs so I'm not worried.

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tketcham said:

A friend just bought a carbon Flashfire with the carbon trim and the carbon (kneeling) seat was attached with wood seat drops.

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gumpus said:

I got my Osprey in 2011 and it has a sliding seat so no truss drops to help clamp the seat to the gunwales. I have no concerns with the gunwales, the stiffness and strength seem fine and well matched to the boat. Sliding seat makes extra room for a dog.

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M Clemens said:

If you ever get a chance to take a pic of the seat showing the underside of the gunnel and the drop interface I would love to see it.

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stripperguy said:

Another vote for the patent pending Dodd seat, thanks again Jim...

View attachment 144889

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tketcham said:

Here you go...
You can see how they (Swift) shaped the edge that aligns with the underside of the gunnel. Nice work. (That's the leading edge of the seat by the way.)

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Tsuga8 said:

@stripperguy how are the blocks that the seat bolts to secured to the hull? Seems like a good set-up for a break-away seat in case of entrapment in whitewater.

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carpenter said:

I was thinking of something along the same lines. It looks like the saddle is removable? Holding it down with the thwart would make a real difference with respect to stability.
I have a Sunburst II with a saddle attached to the hull. Considering building a seat with the option of replacing it with a removable saddle like this depending on the type of paddling. Will have to move current thwart but putting more holes in the gunwales anyway.
Truss drops seem to make so much more sense than single dowel drops - my Northstar solo has them, far stiffer than the individual posts of my Evergreen tandem. Planning on making two sets for that boat when I replace an ash replacement seat with a cherry seat to match original.

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