Hobie Revo seat

[steve999]

Someone has probably done this before, but when I looked for seat alternatives, I didn't see it, so thus this post.

For those of us with the older style hobie seats, this works:

IMG_20151202_140123.jpg

My back was killing me with the older style hobie seat. I tried a stiffer high backed seat, and that was definitely better, but my back still got horribly sore after about 4 hours on the water. My back is not the best, so I can't handle what a lot of the rest of you can.

So I decided to take a whack at building something better, because it was either that or the boat had to go. I just took a piece of oak plywood (oooo, the expensive stuff, $15 at Lowes), had them cut a section that was 14" by 24", rounded off the bottom edge to match the contour of the kayak, did a little puttying the edge gaps, sanding and varnishing, and zipped tied on some foam. I originally thought it would require some struts to hold it in place, and bought some angle aluminum that I was going to bolt on the backrest. But nope, just drop it behind the wheels, and it wedges itself in there. So I just returned the aluminum (sort of expensive anyway). I don't even tie it down, but that might be needed if you went out in some heavy chop.

Will this dig into the plastic? Don't know. I've been using it for about 6 weeks now and it doesn't seem to cause any problems or wear marks. Feels sturdy too. Nothing flexes when you lean against it. The one trick though is to round the bottom of the board to match the contour of the kayak, which takes a bit of work.

This is so comfortable. I can stay out all day now with no issues. I also can flip the board around so that I'm leaning on the side without the foam, and am more reclined. That is oh so nice. My life jacket rides up near my neck a bit for a headrest, and ahhhhh, I could even fall asleep.