C-Forum

I have a Dagger Atom that I really like, but the outfitting is killing me.

I'm 5'9", 186 lbs.

I have not had the boat long so I need to figure out what can be done to improve the outfitting.

I've got a foam block about 4" to sit on (on top of the plastic pedestal), thigh straps, and a couple of molded blocks under my ankle and by my foot.

Still, after exactly 13 minutes in the boat, my legs start to ache terribly and quickly lose some feeling but still hurt. If I force myself to stay in there, my legs are totally numb and I can't stand.

I ran into a guy who paddles an Atom and he told me I should take a heat gun and melt the back part of the pedestal, carve out the foam there, so I can curve my feet inward instead of straight back like they do now.

I need input.
Does that sound like a good solution?
Are there other tips you can give me?

A few tips...some boat related, some not (I'm 5'9", but about 160-165)
1) Widen the top foam block to 12"
2) Get your knees spread as far as possible (even if it means removing the factory foam knee pads to put thinner ones in with only enough blocking towards the "outside" of the boat so your thight doesn't rub too bad on the rim
3) Stretch every day.

I do not stretch every day (though I know I should), and in the Sith and Mentor have a 4" seat. Yes, that's 4" off the hull. The secret is no weight is on my knees, as my legs are out to the SIDES, not UNDER me. The wider saddle width also makes a HUGE difference, believe it or not. And no, it's not just because I'm used to it now...a few folks up at Palmerfest hopped in to the Mentor and agreed it was surprisingly comfortable.

FWIW, I found when I lost some weight it helped greatly in boat comfort...but a lot of my weight gets stored in my legs....

Keep tweaking, and good luck!

Oh, and I like my feet out "flat" (toes pointed) with no ankle blocks - with no weight on my legs I can move them around a bit, and I think this helps greatly to keeping my feet awake. When I had a thinner saddle and ankle blocks it seemed I was putting my feet to sleep due to all the pressure on my ankle blocks.

It will help if your lower legs can angle inward rather than straight back. Careful about spreading your knees more, though. I only sat in an Atom once, and I think they're fairly flat bottomed, but sometimes spreading the knees too far out results in them being raised higher by the arc of the hull, so that your knee joints are compressed more.

Make sure your knees are supported on the inside by knee blocks, and not just by the straps. Check the straps and see that they are not so tight that they compress the knee joints. This can be a problem with cockpits designed by liability lawyers, because the cockpit is so big that, unless you have some foam bulkhead in the mix, you get no support to the tops of the thighs except for the straps. If your straps are coming across your thighs at to great an angle, move the back strap mount toward the stern and/or move the front strap mount toward the bow. This will provide more support with less strap tightness.

I picked up a used heat gun today to try to work on the inside part of the pedestal, I'll let you know how that goes.

I'll try to move my knees out farther.

The guy I talked to also told me to try to get plastic cutting boards and melt them with the heat gun, then attack them near the hips and glue on foam to give support on the thighs. Just like what you all said, he said that the idea is to get away from the thigh straps.

I'll see what I can do.

thanks

Curtis,

The changes I made to Dagger's outfitting were:

1) Ankle blocks, my are notched (you'll need to try different heights and positions, too little and much gets uncomfortable)

2) Padding behind my back to keep me forward an inch.

3) Added pads to both the outside and inside which touch the sides of my knees.

4) Moved the floor strap anchor further back ( strap goes across at less of an angle and I use one continuous strap across both thighs)

With those changes, I'm comfortable for the duration of most river trips. Getting the correct ankle blocks are critical for my comfort.

Bruce

errrrrr. WTF are you paddling in Tampa Fl???? lol
(stupid question?)