First, when I put in my order I didn't want the wood trim. But thought it was pretty cool when I got it so I was OK with it. Paddling this spring I couldn't last too long and my groin got sore. I tried everything except back support. I guess aging has me not as agile. So I brought it up to Spring Creek to have available if anyone would like to test paddle a northwind solo. I'm giving a prism a shot. I think I just can't sit too low. We weighed the northwind and it was an even 30 lbs. Anybody else have that problem sitting lower like that?

I dont.

How low are you talking? Do you use a foot brace?

My solo seats range from 5-7.5 inches off the floor and I haven't experienced a problem with any of them. All of them are comfortable with a foot brace. None of them are comfortable all day without one.

Alan

What were your thoughts on the Magic? What about sticking with the Encounter?

You know the issues I had with groin pain in the Magic. It is why I got rid of it.

Yup. Since femoral artery repair in 2004 I have numbness after about 10 minutes in a canoe seat, so now I primarily kneel. Had to sell my Mad River Monarch, which was a boat you had to sit in. Hope you can find a comfortable position!

quote Frenchy19: "You know the issues I had with groin pain in the Magic. It is why I got rid of it."

I forgot about that. I did have a foot brace and tried different positions. I think back support would have helped, but the wood concerned me too. Pretty boat though, I'm too rough on them though.

I have a Prism and have the same problem, left leg goes numb after about ten minutes. Last spring I bought a Northwind Solo with wood trim also and love it. I have the back of the seat just under the gunnel and the front of the seat about one inch below the gunnel.

I find that I kneel most of the time but I do like to sit and paddle quite a bit also. While I sit and paddle (I do have have a foot brace installed) it is kind of like paddling a Magic as far as balance goes.

I also find that with the Northwind Solo as stable as it is, I can go from kneeling to sitting without going to shore. For what it's worth, I do like my Northwind a little better than my Prism. I do hope you find what works for you.

I've found that a padded seat with a back helps me. The back provides just enough support ( I don't lean back into it. I use a Crazy Creek Canoe Chair when I have to use a bench seat and a Wenonah Super Seat for bucket/tractor seats.

if you are uncomfortable in a magic, I feel sorry for you...its an amazing canoe.

quote kanoes: "if you are uncomfortable in a magic, I feel sorry for you...its an amazing canoe."

I didn't have a magic.

So, those of you have foot pain, are we talking about your feet falling asleep?? Because I have that problem. Maybe a foot brace will help me

This happens to me also, nctry. Within an hour paddling a sit-in kayak, back pain is in full swing. Paddling sit-on-top kayak in about 2 hrs. I reasoned it to be cuz am sitting too low.

Paddling the Prism hardly ever happens, but when it does, it's due to lifting/portaging packs, not maneuvering a canoe....using a yak paddle. :-)

Beware the 'golden years' zone.

I am laughing coz guys seats are fiddleable. Its not the boat. You dont have to accept the cockpit as it comes from the factory.

If you don't like the performance of a hull that is fine. But the seat can be customized even to the point of installing a removable saddle like in the Reveries if you cant tolerate kneeling or sitting!

Seat drop, seat cant, all are fixable. Footpegs are the most important part of a sitting arrangement. Yes with old age you may have to saw the drops and cant the seat a little more.

There are many styles of seats available at Eds Canoe.

If you have the front edge of your seat too high for your body structure you can lose feeling in your feet as the sciatic nerve is pinched.

quote yellowcanoe: "I am laughing coz guys seats are fiddleable. Its not the boat. You dont have to accept the cockpit as it comes from the factory.

If you don't like the performance of a hull that is fine. But the seat can be customized even to the point of installing a removable saddle like in the Reveries if you cant tolerate kneeling or sitting!

Seat drop, seat cant, all are fixable. Footpegs are the most important part of a sitting arrangement. Yes with old age you may have to saw the drops and cant the seat a little more.

There are many styles of seats available at Eds Canoe.

If you have the front edge of your seat too high for your body structure you can lose feeling in your feet as the sciatic nerve is pinched.

"

I used three different sets of drops and three different seats in various combinations in the Magic and was never comfortable. Gave it two seasons, numerous local outings and 4 solo trips. Never experienced groin pain like that in any other boat I have owned. Have had 3 different solo boats since, and not once have I experienced the pain I did when paddling the Magic.

A GCI sitbacker canoe seat might raise you up an inch or 2 and give some back support

With the seat too low in the Magic my hips would bother me. I raised the seat, and sometimes use a pad. I can see where the footpegs might help a lot. Seems like the issue there was more like where my knees were positioned.

I know from cycling, you really want a hard seat that puts pressure on your sit bones and no where else, otherwise you can have all sorts of different wierd problems. You just want a tiny tiny bit of give or padding around the sitbones - but the function of that should be to distribute pressure a bit, not be "comfortable". Did these uncomfortable boats have webbed seats? Maybe those web seats are too "soft" and you sink in too far. Maybe a hard seat with a thin pad.

I had problems with ANY canoe seat for a couple of years, legs asleep, back killing me, thought I was gonna have to give it up. I put a contour seat in my Freedom Solo, that was the worst of all. You can ask ozarkpaddler, I couldn't go 5 miles without a break and sometimes I couldn't stand up when we stopped, just fall in the friggin river. I bought one of those gardening knee pads at Home Depot, put it on the seat under my back support seat, had zero problems since. Once in a while it's something simple like that, sometimes not. If you've never experienced any of this, then God bless you, I hope you never do.