Jackson is in the Canoe Business!! C1 out fitting

[Smurfwarrior]

I'm currently playing around trying to build a saddle system using those large blue plastic 55 gallon barrels and plastic fence posts. Cutting out the portion of the saddle that would contact the hull from the barrel and then attaching the rail to that for the seat and center strap connection point. The natural bend of the barrel helps a bit.

Larry's Carbon Fiber saddle looks amazing. Wish I had the coin for one!

[Berkshire Jack]

Being the proud owner of one of them, I can say with certainty that Larry's carbon fiber saddle is amazing. It is so solid and so light in weight. And best of all when you crack a hull, you can pop the saddle into a new kayak with a minimum of fuss.

That being said, I am glad Jackson Kayak is coming along with a new saddle for the rest of you guys/gals. (I already got my carbon fiber). Although the back band and ratchet thigh straps look pretty dubious, and I wouldn't use them. As others have mentioned, it is a simple process to replace the back band with a block of foam and the ratchet thigh straps with the straps of your own choosing (cam buckles or airline seat buckles or velcro straps) and come up with a very nice set up that will be safe and solid.
Kudos to Jackson for keeping the C1 sport moving forward !!!

Jack

[Bruce Farrenkopf]

Bold move. EJ has taken an interest in the C boating community. Let's try not to be overly critical. My hat is off to EJ!

A guess: this outfitting might be better suited to the playboat where Jackson excels.

P.S. I would bet that Larry Horne's saddle is far superior for river running (oops!) .

SYOTR,

Bruce

[esprit]

I have just arranged to have 2 Jackson outfitted C1's for people to demo in Mexico with Esprit this winter.

So... if you want to not "knock it before you try it" or "try before you buy", you can try them out this winter!

Jim

[marclamenace]

I was also looking forward to this for some time...

I thought it was obvious that JK would first reproduce a piece of plastic similar to the oldy dagger saddles, then see how some of their existing kayak rigs could be retrofitted for C1s.

I just would have hoped they would have gone a third step further after that also... Apparently not.

I would certainly try before to say how good or not it is but... So far it looks like if you replace both the back band and thighstraps with something more appropriate you would still miss something to hold your knees down as well, like a bulkhead or knee straps. I know these are not mandatory but so much more comfy and especially needed for playboats where on a wave you constantly move back and forth in the boat without these, getting you loose.

Just say'n. But thanks to JK for bringing this up anyways: I am sure it will evolve through time like anything else they've got.