Adding thigh straps to an Ion, recommendations?

[VTBoater]

Looking to stay tighter in the boat for rolling. Problem is, I'm not a fan of footpegs--I'm more comfy sitting c-1 style with my feet flat on the floor of the hull. The pegs are uncomfortable, and my big ol' feet get hung up on them when I exit. I'd like to take the pegs out of the boat altogether.

So I'm trying to figure out how to stay tight enough to roll without the advantage of pushing myself into the bulkhead with the pegs.

Ideally, I'd like to buy something like Mohawk's thigh straps and install them in my Ion. Hopefully without drilling anything.

Has anyone done this? I've researched around and found a lot of pics of strap systems people have installed in bulkhead boats, so I now it's possible if not fairly common, but most systems seem to rely on the footpegs as well.

Thanks as always for the great advice!

[Bob Wiggins]

ive tried. ive found that the only way youre going to stay in the ion well enough to roll it is either going to rely on you pushing against the footpegs into the bulkhead, or a "suicide belt" around your waist. i do enough creeking in mine that i just stuck with the footpegs- its easy to sip your feet off them to relax in calm spots. not to mention its quicker to get out with footpegs than any other secure alternative. theres a reason theyre so popular and widespread.

[Cheeks]

Another possibility would be moving or altering the pegs. I took mine out to raise them up two inches, so that I could get my feet under the pegs. I've seen people take the plack plastic pegs and screw on larger plexi pieces to make them bigger. You might try playing around with the pegs before putting in a suicide belt.

[hankrankin]

do you have PVC going through the base of the saddle to distribute water? easiest way to install a strap in a open boat is to put a length of 2 inch webbing with a quick release through that hole, no drilling and the strap can come in and out in less than 5 seconds.

[Hank]

Re: footpeg comfort. Suggested by Craig Smerda a few months ago: taper the footpeg rails so they (and consequently the foot pegs) are closer together near the stern. This worked remarkably well for me and the work wasn't all that difficult even without removing the saddle to cut foam.

[VTBoater]

Thanks, everyone!

Does anyone have a picture of a plate attachment to make the foot peg flush with the bottom of the boat, or a description of how to do it and what material you use? That may be the way to go for me.

In the pool last weekend, my feet kept getting stuck under the peg, and if I was twisted from trying to roll, it was a bit painful to extricate myself from the boat. Maybe if I can keep that from happening, I'll be more aggressive.

Also, thanks to all for your patience. I know this is a question that comes up a lot; I've read as many of the back posts as I could find. I'm not very experienced with DIY outfitting, so I appreciate the help.

Chris

[boatbuster]

I just took about 10 minutes to type in detailed instructions for to put your footpegs flush on the bottom of the boat but when I went to post them Cboats said I was not logged in and lost all my notes. If you want details for this surgery just send me a p.m.

[DougB]

I made the footpegs on my outrage wider and (almost) touching the floor by simply bolting a piece of plastic to the existing pegs. Lexan was expensive so I bought a $4 cutting board and cut it up.

Another recommendation is to glue a 1/4" of foam ahead of the pegs. Even if you're feet are lying flat it adds warmth and comfort

[boatbuster]

Here are my directions for moving the foot pegs on a Blackfly:

1. Unscrew the four screws at the end of the foot peg trays and remove the trays.
2. There is a plastic plate between the pegs and the saddle. This should be glued to the saddle so you may need to pry it up with a putty knife.
3. Remove the wooden rods that run through the saddle. These should also be glued in, so you will need to carefully loosen the foam around them with a hacksaw blade or something....I used an old broken aluminum shaft from a paddle to cut around the wooden rod, because it was exactly the same diameter as the wooden rods.
4. Take the foot peg trays and put them back on the plastic plates, using the four screws to loosely hold them together. Set them down on the bottom of the boat on either side of the saddle. You may want to put a thin piece of cardboard, no more than 1/8 inch, between the bottom of the boat and the foot pegs, as a spacer. Drive the screws into the foam to mark where the new holes will be and use a marker to outline the new position of the plastic plates. Use the wooden dowels to mark circles around each screw hole.
5. You will need something to cut the new holes through the saddle. I used a broken shaft of a cheapo rafting paddle that was exactly the same diameter as the wooden dowels. It has rough edges so I just turned it to cut through the foam. You have to be very careful to push whatever you are using as a hole saw through the foam exactly straight. It is very easy to get off track but these holes must be lined up on either side. You may have to cut from each side and meet in the middle. Just make sure whatever you use to cut is exactly the same (or slightly smaller) diameter as the wooden rods.
6. You can use the excess foam plugs you pull out of the new holes to plug up the old holes. Just put some contact cement on them and shove them in the holes. Or you can leave them open as drain holes.
7. Coat the wooden rods in contact cement and put them through the new holes.
8. Coat the plastic plate and the newly outlined template on the saddle with contact cement and when the contact cement is tacky re-attach the plates to the saddle.
9. Screw the footpegs through the plates and into the wooden dowels in the new position. The footpegs should be just a hair off the bottom of the boat to allow them to slide.

This whole operation took me about an hour and a half.

[Creeker]

Chris D....I'm not sure if we have met but it seems we boat in the same Lehigh areas. I don't know where you are with your project but I'll Likely be at theBlackFly Demo night on 1/19 @ Lehigh Whitewater Rolling session in Allentown (lvwhitewater.com). I'd be happy to look at anything with you if you need any help then (might 1/12 session too to help a canoeist with their roll). Also we might do a pre pool afternoon easy river trip on the lower Lehigh Sec 3 as its only 30 minutes from the pool.

When new people talk about tucking toes under the pegs or reducing the space between the track peg and the hull, I worry that they might not know how striking a rock can cause a significant deflection in the hull to possibly pinch if not even break toes. the way Jeremy has the Ion setup I think its unlikely to break toes but I do have a friend that reduced the clearance from the bottom of the pegs to the hull in a L'edge and broke several toes on a local Pocono creek. I was shocked to see how small of a ramp with a bump in it did it too him. The Ledge is much softer plastic than the blackfly option/ion hulls but its worth considering. don't reduce the clearance and get your toes caught in that tigher gap.

[boatbuster]

When new people talk about tucking toes under the pegs or reducing the space between the track peg and the hull, I worry that they might not know how striking a rock can cause a significant deflection in the hull to possibly pinch if not even break toes....don't reduce the clearance and get your toes caught in that tigher gap.

I think you misunderstood my advice. My foot pegs are on flush with the bottom of my Option....there is no space for toes to get caught between the pegs and the hull. When I bought the boat there was enough room under each peg to get toes caught, but I eliminated it with this "surgery."

BTW, I have been canoeing for over 35 years so I ain't a "new person." I wish I was "newer"

[VTBoater]

Thanks Creeker, that's awesome, I'd appreciate any feedback you can offer.

Yeah, I'm very conscious of having my feet stuck under the pegs. It made it hard to exit the boat, for one thing, which was a little scary. At first I was looking to maybe take out the pegs and use straps, but that doesn't seem the best way to go.

So, if I need to live with foot pegs, I'd like to find a way to keep my feet from sliding under them. That's my understanding of what Boatbuster was describing: a way to extend the pegs all the way to the hull.

I'm still playing around with different footwear and foot position before doing any alterations to the outfitting. It may take a while to figure out what works.

Thanks for all of the help and advice. I'm loving the Ion; can't wait to get the outfitting dialed in and start learning to roll!

[kimmieOC1]

Chris
I paddle an Ion. I've attached a piece of foam under my foot pegs extending toward the bow of the boat. The clearance is essentially gone. Cushions my feet/toes and I've never had my foot slide under the peg. But, I also wear chacos and now the brewers, so it would be difficult for a bulky shoe like that to have enough room to slide under the pegs with the way I've foamed it out. I put the cushion there mainly to provide, well, cushion.

[nam]

Pictures would be lovely. Thank you.

nam

[boatbuster]

I think you should go with what Kimmie recommended. It is a lot simpler way of accomplishing the same thing, ie., getting rid of the space under the footpegs.