Main Page Dealing with Backside Rubbing & Abrasion

Additional Photo Examples of Custom Padding Setups (Huki.com)

Here are some photo examples of seat padding made from closed cell foam. One source of such foam can be found here at North Shore. One way to install is to first locate where you want to put the pad. The following steps describe using removable padding that is held using Velcro. You can simply tape your foam padding to your bucket. But some of the advantages of using Velcro are: It makes it easier to swap different pads in and out, and it also makes it easy to pull a seatpad out of a boat to carry with you and install in different boat(s) as you might want to do when traveling.

After putting layers (at least 2X 10 mil) of pipe wrap tape in the bucket to protect your boat finish from the velcro adhesive you can install your seat. (Pipe wrap tape will adhere just fine, but it will also make removal far easier and less likely to remove the boat's finish - something you may want to pay particular attention to if your seat padding will only be temporary in a borrowed or rented surfski). After being cut to shape all of the example pads have been covered on the top side with teflon tape to facilitate paddler rotation. Some installers:

1. Mark where they want their seats on the pipe tape
2. Attach 1 side of velcro tape to the back of their seat pad (there will be thin cover plastic protecting the adhesive on the back side of the velcro tape that has to be removed before sticking on the seat pad)
3. Put the mating velcro tape onto that velcro already stuck to their seat pad back and remove its thin plastic cover so it is ready to stick to the pipe tape you already put in your bucket
4. Place the seat in the ski bucket where it has been marked and press your seat pad and velcro tape down with some pressure against the pipe tape underlayer already in the bucket.