I have found the standard seat (in my WD-12) surprisingly comfortable. But I haven't tried the fancy seats. The longest I have been out at a time has been ~2 hours.

I would say try the seat out 1st before buying another.

I went out paddeling last Friday for the 1st time this year for about 1 1/2 hrs on a local reservoir. My rear end & back were fine. It was a very nice day and very calm. There was a large white pelican on the lake as well as ducks, geese, cormorants, etc. I think I talked with everyone fishing, either from the shore or by boat, and they were not doing any good- 1 catfish & 1 trout.

 Ralph

Tom,

I too am very happy with the standard seat in my WD12 with the addition of a Therm-a-Rest Kayak cushion held in place (on top of the cushion) by Velcro.  I have been out for 3+ hours and was great.  The nice thing about the Therm-a-Rest is that you can adjust the amount of air inside for the perfect fit.

It seems that seats are a very personal thing.  I would try the stock seat and adjust as necessary.  I know some people that swear by the creature comfort seat, so that may be an option for you.

Hope this helps.

Dan Kehlenbach

Anchorage, AK 

I'm glad this subject came up. Just today i received my Rapid Pulse back band and some Minicell foam. My 6-year old was out in the shop when i opened the box and asked what the foam stuff was for. when I had finished explaining the detials of making a seat in great detail...he looked me straigh in the eye and said. " i dont think its enough for your big bottom". its was pretty funny. If the foam is more comfortable than the wooden seats in my Millcreek i will be happy,

cheers

jon 

LOL. Not sure if we lose something when we teach them courtesy.

In the meantime, I'm partial to my Creature Comfort seat that CLC sells. (It's even on sale today for just about the same price I paid for it 4-5 years ago.) I spent a continuous 8 hours on it in my WD12 last year. (Click on picture for larger image showing installation details).

Laszlo

Building a Wood Duck 12

A little more on the Therm-a-rest seat, and using it for double duty.  It actually does triple duty: sleeping pad, comfortable kayak seat, and flotation in a capsize.  It substitutes for a paddle float. I have re-entered my Wood Duck propping the paddle on the floating Therm-a-rest chair and it was so stable it was as if my kayak had sprouted an out-rigger.  

http://www.wetdawg.com/pages/touring/kayaking_therma_rest/index_sk.php