Hobie Outback Seat Mod

In regards to the battle waged against horrifyingly awful hobie stock seats, I found this...

http://www.stripersonline.com/t/913113/upgraded-hobie-outback-seat-diy

I think it might be a little bit of genius.  I see he's made even more improvements:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203857113654244&set=pcb.621958394553726

They guy fishes the salt on the east coast and lands some bigass fish (stripers).  so he's definitely been putting it to the test.  says it's been holding up very well.  The chairs are so cheap I just have to try it.

http://www.amazon.com/ALPS-OutdoorZ-Turkey-Hunting-Realtree/dp/B001G7QXA2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1399530587&sr=8-6&keywords=browning+camp+chair

I did get the skwoosh seat and it's definitely an improvement over the stock seat.  Not quite as much as I'd hoped tho. 

Looks more like the seat in the pro angler now, good idea!

This looks like a great seat.  Has me thinking about how I might be able to adapt it to my unique situation.  The saddle on my boat makes some things easier and others harder.  Much thinking and "re-engineering" required. 

See also:

Interesting. Outback owners are finally rising up against oppression!

How wide is that?  Might work in the Oasis...

18.9"

It would be interesting to perform a comparison of the stability of an Outback with the standard seat with the stability of an Outback with one or both of the elevated seats described in this thread.  By "stability test," I mean "go out on the water and try to flip over the kayak."  The test could be performed in flat water and in waves.  I suspect that the Outback, or any other kayak, will be considerably less stable with a higher seat. 

There are worse things than having a somewhat uncomfortable kayak seat.  One of those worse things is having a kayak that feels unstable, unsecure, and like it could dump you in the water at any moment because its seat is too high.  If you are in a paddle kayak with a high seat, if the kayak starts to go over, you can keep yourself upright by bracing with the paddle.  In a pedal kayak, all you can do is grab for the gunwale with your armpit as it comes over on top of you.  For an example of the "grab the gunwale with your armpit" move, see .

Could you still paddle that pig while ssitting up so high if your Mirage drive broke? 

Could you still paddle that pig while ssitting up so high if your Mirage drive broke?

Great point and exactly what I was thinking...however, I still bought one off Amazon as it looks awesome for bass fishing in small calm lakes...I'd definitely leave it at home for trips on bigger water or the salt.

It would be interesting to perform a comparison of the stability of an Outback with the standard seat with the stability of an Outback with one or both of the elevated seats described in this thread.  By "stability test," I mean "go out on the water and try to flip over the kayak."  The test could be performed in flat water and in waves.  I suspect that the Outback, or any other kayak, will be considerably less stable with a higher seat. 

There are worse things than having a somewhat uncomfortable kayak seat.  One of those worse things is having a kayak that feels unstable, unsecure, and like it could dump you in the water at any moment because its seat is too high.  If you are in a paddle kayak with a high seat, if the kayak starts to go over, you can keep yourself upright by bracing with the paddle.  In a pedal kayak, all you can do is grab for the gunwale with your armpit as it comes over on top of you.  For an example of the "grab the gunwale with your armpit" move, see .

But he was paddling and had a paddle in his hand, so he was in a paddle driven boat.

But he was paddling and had a paddle in his hand, so he was in a paddle driven boat.

The kayaker apparently failed to read the sections of the owner's manual for his paddle which explained how to steer a kayak while surfing, and how and why to brace into a breaking wave while side surfing.  So he might as well have not been holding his paddle.  But he did execute quite a stylish armpit grab.

Owner's manual? What's that? Is that the rolled up thing my wife hits me with when I screw up the installation of something? 

Actually, this guy made a few mistakes before he even got the paddle in his hands. But, you are right.  He had no clue how to hold it or even use it.

It would be interesting to perform a comparison of the stability of an Outback with the standard seat with the stability of an Outback with one or both of the elevated seats described in this thread.  By "stability test," I mean "go out on the water and try to flip over the kayak."  The test could be performed in flat water and in waves.  I suspect that the Outback, or any other kayak, will be considerably less stable with a higher seat. 

There are worse things than having a somewhat uncomfortable kayak seat.  One of those worse things is having a kayak that feels unstable, unsecure, and like it could dump you in the water at any moment because its seat is too high.  If you are in a paddle kayak with a high seat, if the kayak starts to go over, you can keep yourself upright by bracing with the paddle.  In a pedal kayak, all you can do is grab for the gunwale with your armpit as it comes over on top of you.  For an example of the "grab the gunwale with your armpit" move, see .

I call people like you "auto-haters".

The outback is stable enough to stand on so I suspect you are wrong in your armchair QB assessment that a seat a few inches higher will make the boat significantly unstable. And i'm willing to try it. Something tells me you're butt is gonna remain snugly and smugly in your stock seat. If your back doesn't hurt yet, you're obviously too busy flaming people's ideas from the couch rather than fishing.

Back pain impacts the enjoyment of fishing, which is, after all, why we're out there. If you wanna be a tough guy, ain't nobody gonna stop you. But if you read thru the comment threads on the original links, hobie seats are pretty widely unpopular.  And hobie hasn't done squat about it (they really need more competition in the pedal kayak space) so it's forced the community to take their own initiative. This guy's idea may not be perfect, but it has some promise.

You found a video with a dude huli-ing in the surf. Is that supposed to be worse than chronic back pain? The guy didn't look any worse for the wear after dumping in 3 feet of water.

For a minute there I thought that was me in the video...looks like one of my usual surf landings.

Can't wait to do a comparison...is it more fun to huli with the high seat or stock seat?