Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 24, 2005 05:57pm | #1

   No.. But the web is full of stuff where boat builders show off their work.. Take a look!... Lots of good stuff out there...

   Seat back in a Canoe?

1. 
   Tryit | Oct 24, 2005 08:14pm | #2

   Seat back?  Can't be paddling very hard if you can sit back against a back.  To properly paddle at least three quaters of your energy and muscle strain is from teh core, namely your back and abs.  You really are leaning forward when in a pull stroke.

   I can amagine a few times lazily pittling around, maybe a really really slow troll for fussy trout, would allow you to set back.

   But hey give it a try!  It is a great excuse for being creative and just an excuse for a wood working project.

   Let us know what you come up with.

1. 
   Grits | Oct 24, 2005 08:25pm | #3

   So I won't sound like a rank amateur, let me explain.  I have canoed for over forty years. I guess that dates me.

   I started hunting from my canoe.  Much time is spent waiting and watching.  My rice farm has about a half section of oak timber that floods in the winter.  It is laced with levees and sloughs.  A canoe is a great way to quitely move thought the water, even if you are not doing anything but looking.  I can spend hours watching mallards working green timber.  It is a cool way to travel.

   Grits

1. 
   kenwerner | Oct 24, 2005 08:40pm | #5

   I once made a nice webbed seat for an old town pack canoe. I found a friend's canoe, copied the dimensions. I used 1" wide nylon webbing. If you dampen it first, it stretches, then as it dries it gets nice and tight. The same canoe has an optional seat back, so you can copy that too. You can find a photo of the back on the web.

   I'm sorry, but I sold the canoe, otherwise I'd send you more info/photos.

   You're on the right track, sitting in a conoe with a seat back is alot more comfy, when you aren't paddlin'.

   Good luck.Ken Werner

2. 
   Tryit | Oct 25, 2005 12:41am | #6

   Makes sense.  I used to hunt white tail using a canoe, but typically would beach it and cut across the bend in the river while a partner canoed around to pick me up.  The point was to hunt and or drive a deer across to my partner now on the other side.  NOt much sitting in the canoe.  But I do see your usage.  And hey, it is an easy why to carry thta deer home, ah?

2. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 25, 2005 02:51am | #8

   Not knocking it.. I see canoes around here but not many.. I just never recall seeing one with a seat back..

1. 
   Grits | Oct 25, 2005 04:25am | #9

   I have seen Old Town's with both passenger seats with backs and square stern's with sterns and bow seats with backs.  In the past, when I wanted to be still, look and wait, I would just sit on the bottom on a cushion.  Being low helps get me out of sight and makes the boat more stable for shooting a rifle.

   Thanks for the input.

   Grits 

1. 
   Grits | Oct 25, 2005 04:46am | #10

   While we are on the canoe subject, has anyone ever built one?

   Grits

2. 
   TXJon | Oct 25, 2005 03:39pm | #11

   yes

   
2. 
   Tryit | Oct 25, 2005 07:55pm | #15

   Will, I was not supporting the idea as such.  As a purist I am not crazy about it.  Perhaps I still have a young back.  LOL.  To each their own!  More power to ya.

2. 
   Frozen | Oct 24, 2005 08:32pm | #4

   If this is to be a passenger seat (for the middle of the canoe), I would look at plans for beach chairs. This is what we use for kids and grandmothers. Ours is commercially made, and not of wood. It has a very low canvas seat (about 6 inches off the ground, and a canvas back just high enough to give support while keeping away from the thwart.

   “Expectation strolls through the spacious fields of Time towards Opportunity.”
   Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before
3. 
   TXJon | Oct 25, 2005 01:41am | #7

   I have heard of somehting like this.  A "princess seat" with an adjustable back that is placed in the canoe, rather than a permanently fixed seat.

   If you are hanging the seat from the gunwales, I would be concerned about the back putting a lot of torque on the rear seat member when you lean on it.

   You might have more luck checking on a forum that specializes in canoes.  This is close, and might help:

   http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi

4. 
   EdHarrow | Oct 25, 2005 07:12pm | #12

   I have a seat back for my canoe.  It "clips" and "velcros" to the proper seat, and folds for storage under it.  It was a purchased present, maybe from LL Bean.  I'd be happy to take a picture of it for you.

   Oh, and it's just the thing for a lazy afternoon.  ;-)

1. 
   Frozen | Oct 25, 2005 07:21pm | #13

   Perhaps this?http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?page=sitbacker-seat&categoryId=34178&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&parentCategory=3915&cat4=8278&shop_method=pp&feat=ssdpa8278“Expectation strolls through the spacious fields of Time towards Opportunity.”
   Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before

1. 
   EdHarrow | Oct 25, 2005 07:39pm | #14

   Nope.  Mine is way more classy than that.  It's wood, and the back is caned.

5. 
   tarsalas | Oct 25, 2005 08:08pm | #16

   Newfound boatworks sells a cane seat with a back.  You might get enough info from the picture to build your own.   BTW, my wintertime project is to build a cedar strip canoe.  Hopefully launch it in the spring.

    

   http://www.newfound.com/canoeacc.htm

6. 
   Schulz | Oct 27, 2005 04:12am | #17

   I used to make a lot of canoe trips in the Boundary Waters when I lived in Minnesota. I have a couple cheap black plastic seat backs made by Coleman. You can buy them from http://www.campmor.com. Cheap and ugly but effective, virtually indestructible and lighter than a wood seat back.

   We left them clipped on all the time, whether traveling or fishing. Never seemed to have any problem keeping up with or even passing other canoe groups. Makes a world of difference at the end of a long day of fishing or paddling, at least for me.

   Steve

1. 
   Grits | Oct 27, 2005 04:24am | #18

   Steve

   Having a back is always helpful.  I am not twenty-one anymore and I seem to be reminded of it daily.

   Having a back also aids in shooting a rifle.  Anything to brace against.

   Thanks,

   Grits

7. 
   Telemike | Oct 27, 2005 07:47am | #19

   Look at the Old Town site. Many years ago I bought a folding cane seat back that slipped over the cane seat and folded up. It worked quite well. It doesn't look very hard to make. Only, I'd put some curve into the back if I made another seat.

   Retired the heavy old town to the barn 10 years or so ago and bought a kevlar Wenonah spirit II when I had my third disk surgery in 30 years. The best boat I've ever had!

   I can't use the old town seatbacks on the wenonah because it has fiberglass tractor seats. We use Crazy Creek seat backs that are foam in fabric. They don't work well enough to recommend them, but they work well enough so I haven't made something better.