I added a conversion to the *conversions* section of the site (not live yet), but I just wanted to share my conversion here as well for those looking for ideas. This was my first conversion and I think it is pretty good at this point. After a few pool sessions I went away from the standard backrest and went to using the original backband with some extra foam to make up the distance needed to be effective. I was falling out of the outfitting on loops and I found that the backband prevented this from happening. There is A LOT of space in this boat which makes it hard to outfit and get everything tight.
Here are some details:
Parts sourcing: foam from kayakoutfitting.com (by far the cheapest I found and PROMPT service), snowboard binding parts from fixmybinding.com (great for getting exactly what you need), airline belt buckle from an airline seat belt extender (amazon.com)
Tools used: basic sureform "shaver" from Stanley, hacksaw blades without hacksaw (can get really creative with bending these while cutting to make shaping tunnels much easier)
Other details:
I mounted the thigh straps (binding straps) by using the seat mounting hardware (two screws and one plate each side), which works really well and also seals up the holes at the same time.
I mounted the buckle for the thigh straps to the rail by drilling holes in both sides and tying a length of cord between the holes.
Took a long time, but it fits really well and I'm excited to really get to using it!
Ellingferd
Thanks for sharing, looks great. I have similar setup with the backband and the bulkhead. I have only a lap belt on it but my set up is new so I am still figuring out if the thigh strap is good enough to hold you in, or having bulk head, both thigh straps and lap belt... is this overkill if you are doing stuff like loops... What do you think?
I have a fluid Dope and there is a lot of space in the back.
Your set up.. the anchor is not a solid rod or bar, do you feel that it is sturdy enough to hold you down? I'll take a picture of my set up tomorrow to show you. You can give me some pointers.
I have only been looping it in the pool, but for my setup I think it will be good enough to keep me from falling back out of the dashboard. A friend of mine also uses toe blocks, but I wanted to avoid having to glue those in if possible as there is nothing glued in the boat at the moment. As for the anchor, it is just a piece of cord tied into some holes I drilled in the rail, and it is super sturdy. No issues really other than the cord stretches a bit when it gets wet, but I compensated for that based on how close my release buckle is to it, where I mounted the other ends of the straps, and just tightening the straps themselves. This is my first conversion, so I am by far no expert, but I think it came out pretty well.
