Kayak seat Chesapeake 17 hybrid

Im looking online for a seat with great lower back support. Probably a taller seat back. Im guessing the back band that came with my kit will not give me the support  my lower back needs. My question is I see a lot of Sit on top seats online. Wouldnt you be able to attach one of these "sit on top" seats inside the cockpit of a chesapeake 17 as long as the dimensions fit my kayak??? Thank you for any help!!!


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RE: Kayak seat Chesapeake 17 hybrid

My husband has the same seat requirements that you do (tall seat back, lower back support).  I installed an LL Bean Sit Backer canoe seat in his Wood Duck using Velcro just on the bottom so it's removeable.  He uses his normal back roll with the seat and has said that it's comfortable. 

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/54392?page=sit-backer-canoe-seat

I got it because it was reasonably priced and I figured if he didn't like it we could always use it for a stadium seat or in a canoe.  I used Velcro so we could easily remove it if it didn't work out.  Because of the way it's constructed, there's no need to add any attachments to keep the back upright like several of the sit-on-top seats I considered. 

I tried it and thought the bottom of the seat was too hard, but I'm used to my custom Redfish seat that works great for me.  The addition of his back roll gave good lower back support (his back roll has a cover with an elastic strap that he put around the seat back so it stayed in place). I think I might make a seat more like my Redfish one for the times I use the Wood Duck; should be easy to swap with the Velcro attachments. 

I suspect that with some ingenuity you could install most any seat in your Chesapeake.  Hope you find someting that works!

RE: Kayak seat Chesapeake 17 hybrid

Thanks Kathy it's something I'm going to consider. It looks like it would be very stable which in turn would give me the back support I need. Like you mentioned the price is great. I'm not going to find anything else in that price range.

RE: Kayak seat Chesapeake 17 hybrid

Update - as I posted in another thread on seats.  I got to try one of the Redfish custom seats in the Wood Duck today.  Wow, was it comfortable (on the bottom).  However, it does carry a hefty price tag and the standard model does not have the back support or lumbar support my husband would like.  I talked with Joe and I'm going to (save up and then) try to do some experimenting to get a Redfish-type seat with some type of swapable back; a lower one for me, and a taller one with lumbar support for my husband.  If you're interested, I can let you know what I come up with.  It will be pretty expensive unless I do it myself, so it may not fit in everyone's budget. 

Seat choices are pretty unique to each paddler; do you know anyone with a comfy sit-on-top seat you could try out?  Maybe check out some local sit-on-top rental places and try their seats?  Just a thought. 

RE: Kayak seat Chesapeake 17 hybrid

Thanks again--- price is always in consideration but I'm willing to spend what it takes so that I will be happy with my build years to come. I think your right for the fact I should really just try different kayaks to see how the seat feels and attempt to purchase the seat somewhere. Online shopping just doesn't work in this situation.

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