C-Forum

I'm looking for a set of knee pads that include adjustable tops to snug your knees down. I'm replacing a set from about 15 years ago and can't seem to find any online. Does anyone know if this style is still made? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I think Dagger made those and called them "knee boots". I'm not aware of anybody making them now, but... Maybe you could make your own - I think you would just need some vinyl raft fabric (NRS), velcro, access to a heavy duty sewing machine (shoe repair shop), minicell and some Vynabond.

Knee boots- I met a fellow named Ben 2 years ago with TSRA tn scenic river association- ANyway one of Ben's friends makes knee boots so you might want to post your question there
http://www.paddletsra.org/

Northwater also sells adjustble daisy chains and thigh strap anchors-in case thats what you're asking for

Gizmo,

These knee boots are still available. I bought some from Rocky Garrett(sp?) two years ago for a friend. He supplied the same items to Dagger back in the day. His contact info is as follows:

Canoe Sports, Inc.
2558 Hanging Limb Rd.
Monterey TN 38574

phone: 931-839-2806 (nights)

Rocky recommended using Sta-Bond adhesive instead of Vynabond for installing these in a Royalex boat. He said that Vynabond had not held up for some of his recent customers. I used Sta-Bond to install both his knee boots and foot braces in this ladies boat. I see her on the river sometimes and they are holding up very well.

Michael

Dixie_Boater wrote:

Rocky recommended using Sta-Bond adhesive instead of Vynabond for installing these in a Royalex boat. He said that Vynabond had not held up for some of his recent customers

STA-BOND is the way to go for ABS boats... will not soften/weaken ABS the way Vynabond does...

back in the day of the Ocoee Canoe Co. they started with vynabond, and ended up using Sta-Bond exclusively... held better and did not result in any hull damage... they got a lot of boats that had been done (previously) with vynabond, and you ended up seeing a lot of damage from excessive use of vynabond... use sparingly if you go that way

I've never used Sta-Bond, I think I may have confused it with Sea Bond (contact cement). I always have used vynabond though I had been cautioned about excess usage (puddles = very bad). And come to think of it, I have had some failures in my more recent applications...

Any suggestions on it's use? There are instructions on the NRS site :

http://www.nrsweb.com/repair/stabond.asp

Those appear to be for raft repair, but I'm assuming they would apply to royalex as well?

Sta-Bond is used primarily for raft repair in the boating community, but we Royalex boaters have used it for canoes for quite sometime.

This adhesive has two parts, an activator and a adhesive part. The two parts are mixed together (quantities per directions) and it needs to be applied quickly to both surfaces due to a short working time. Apply a thin coat to both the d-ring, velcro boot, etc. and the hull. Allow the first coat to dry for twenty minutes and then apply a second coat. After the second coat dries I use a heat gun to re-activate the adhesive, just as is done with Vynabond, before sticking the d-ring or boot to the hull. This is a key step in creating a strong bond.

Just like Vynabond, if you apply too thick of a coat and don't allow it to dry properly, the Sta-Bond will soften the vinyl layer causing damage to the hull and possibly the ABS substrate.

Mike Yee's website recommends Sta-Bond for applying anchors in a boat that is being re-outfitted. It can also be used in a new boat. This adhesive has a shelf life so check the date on the container before buying. Shops that do a lot of raft repair usually have a fresh supply in stock.

Michael

ADHESIVE!!!!!

Pretty amazing info resource here. Thanks a lot you guys.

It's also pretty amazing what you get into when you pull your boat out after leaving it sitting for a few years. My boat was outfitted about 15 years ago at Go With The Flow in Atlanta and has held up well to light use over the years, so whatever glue they used was pretty good. My knee cups were just coming loose around the edges here and there and I thought I'd slap a bit of Elmers on 'em and go. I started pulling on them a bit and they weren't pulling back real hard, so I figured I might as well do it right since I don't use thigh straps--just foot pegs and the knee cups.

It's not handy being unhandy. I've spent many frustrating hours on a complicated path that I thought would be simple and take minutes (and probably is for most folks). It took a bunch of online research just to figure out it took special glue not found within hundreds of miles of me (Unfortunately, I have already purchased the vynabond online) and a lot of preparation/scrapping off old glue/hard sanding till I see a bit of pretty green ABS shine through (uh-oh)/and regluing the velcro strips back on the knee pads with a hardware store glue that claimed to work with vinyl and velcro stripping. Finally, I was ready to put them back in when the velcro strips peeled right off, and I was faced with more hours of scraping old glue off the pads--my thumbnails are about worn out--and that's when I thought about looking for new pads, or just burning the boat with a deranged smile on my face and buying an inner tube. Anyway, all that just to let you know your clues have helped the clueless. I vow that one day my boat will float again (probably upside down and w/o the knee pads or me attached). Thanks again.