Wyo George Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Seeing the thread on footrests has gotten me to wondering. Being a canoe guy rather than a kayak guy I have a question regarding footrests. Are they really essential or just a luxury? I've never even paddled a yak, but I do use a greenland paddle in a couple of my small canoes while sitting on the bottom with no seat or footrests. I'm building a pair of Cast-Away yaks this winter and I'm wondering if this is something I'll hate myself for leaving out or if it'll be the same as casual paddling my canoe without footrests? Thanks for the input. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 To me they are as important as a paddle. I steer the boat in part by putting pressure on the foot peddles. I am leaning the boat but by pushing my foot on the rests. I brace/wedge myself in the boat using them. I am absolutely lost without them. Coming from a canoe background you may be fine without them. In a Sea Kayak I would say NEVER leave them out. But in a Cast Away cockpit is large enough you could add them latter. Installing them in a regular kayak would very close to impossible and I promise Bad Words would be said before you got them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 I would NEVER be in a kayak I intended (even unintentionally) to roll without a place to brace my feet. That said, I paddle canoes and pirogues all the time without a seat or foot braces, but I do kneel a lot paddling those. There are no braces in my freeb, but I intend to install them in the firefly I'm building. They are necessary sometimes, I guess. Geez, am I wishy-washy, or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyo George Posted November 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 I understand the need in a sea kayak or something to roll, but from my understanding you can't really roll a kayak with a large open cockpit like the cast away, right? I may still add them later just to get used to the feeling before building a longer kayak with spray skirt to learn big water stuff on. So far about 95% of my use is slow river with very gentle class 1+ at most along with the rest on small lakes. Here's a few pics of the type of waters I float as often as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 I don't expect anyone would be able to roll Cast Away since there is no skirt. If you did it would so unstable full or water your not going to keep it upright long. My issue is sitting on the floor, I need somewhere to rest my feet. That may be because I have always had foot rest? But I can not sit with my legs flat and nothing to rest my feet on. I feel like a little kid dressed up in suit that doesn't know what to do with his hands since he can't put them in his pockets. So, even if it is open cockpit boat I need footrest to be comfortable. 'I' being the key word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyo George Posted November 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 I don't expect anyone would be able to roll Cast Away since there is no skirt. If you did it would so unstable full or water your not going to keep it upright long. Thanks for confirming what I expected. Like I said, despite a lifetime on the water I've just never tried out a kayak so I'm still learning the ins and outs of them. My issue is sitting on the floor, I need somewhere to rest my feet. That may be because I have always had foot rest? But I can not sit with my legs flat and nothing to rest my feet on. I feel like a little kid dressed up in suit that doesn't know what to do with his hands since he can't put them in his pockets. So, even if it is open cockpit boat I need footrest to be comfortable. 'I' being the key word. Your preference totally makes sense, on my canoes I have room to cross my legs, kneel, stand, walk around (a few steps anyway, not far to go) or lay down and nap so long term comfort has never been an issue since I am moving about all day long. In a kayak you're more stationary so things would need to be better dialed in for long term comfort, or so I would imagine. Thanks again for all the input, I'm looking forward to spring when the water thaws and I can get out and start learning a new boating style. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 There is no question you get better control of the boat. Especially in less than glass conditions. There have been times I wished for foot rests in my freeb, and I haven't put them in because I have Shiny Thing Disorder, and because it is a boat I built with the idea it may need to be ditched or stashed. For keeping fishing spots secret, not being illegal about anything. I have had stash boats stolen, and even just stripped of hardware, so my freeb is naked in all respects. The little pirogue you got is like what we build and operate. That's good practice for no foot rests. However, if you're building a boat to fish from, I would recommend foot rests. In fact, if you're building a kayak you'll put real mileage on, I would recommend them, too, they will make paddling easier, and give your hamstrings/lumbar a real break. They add a little oomph to your stroke, too, and boat control. Jeff, part of the ongoing rehab for my ruptured discs is a crazy amount of stretching, and one of them is sitting legs out straight. I do it on my balance bench, and it sorta feels like I'm in a boat, but it takes years of boring sitting like that to feel sort of comfortable. George, that little Elmer Fudd/Hiwatha canoe is adorable! By which I mean the aluminum one in the background, and also no disrespect. My son would eat that thing up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyo George Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 There is no question you get better control of the boat. Especially in less than glass conditions. There have been times I wished for foot rests in my freeb, and I haven't put them in because I have Shiny Thing Disorder, and because it is a boat I built with the idea it may need to be ditched or stashed. For keeping fishing spots secret, not being illegal about anything. I have had stash boats stolen, and even just stripped of hardware, so my freeb is naked in all respects. The little pirogue you got is like what we build and operate. That's good practice for no foot rests. However, if you're building a boat to fish from, I would recommend foot rests. In fact, if you're building a kayak you'll put real mileage on, I would recommend them, too, they will make paddling easier, and give your hamstrings/lumbar a real break. They add a little oomph to your stroke, too, and boat control. Jeff, part of the ongoing rehab for my ruptured discs is a crazy amount of stretching, and one of them is sitting legs out straight. I do it on my balance bench, and it sorta feels like I'm in a boat, but it takes years of boring sitting like that to feel sort of comfortable. George, that little Elmer Fudd/Hiwatha canoe is adorable! By which I mean the aluminum one in the background, and also no disrespect. My son would eat that thing up! Thanks for the input, I think I'll go ahead and plan for them from the start. They aren't expensive to add, I was just thinking about seeing just how light I could build and even though they aren't a lot of weight they do add a little As to the aluminum canoe, thanks as well. It's not quite as small as it looks in that picture, it's a bit of forced perspective with it being in the back. It's a 16 ft model my Dad picked up a couple years ago for $50 and uses quite a bit. Here's another pic of the three at Meramec State Park in Missouri where we met up for a week of family camping and canoeing this summer. My folks drove up from GA and we (myself, wife and 3 kids) drove down from WY. What a wonderful place to stay and canoe. A week later the water levels had risen 15 feet and that whole part of the state was flooded!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Well, the untininess doesn't detract from its charm, although fishing with kids in aluminum boats is hard. I think it's wonderful that your family gets together in nature. My three kids love the boats and water a bunch, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyo George Posted November 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Well, the untininess doesn't detract from its charm, although fishing with kids in aluminum boats is hard. I think it's wonderful that your family gets together in nature. My three kids love the boats and water a bunch, too. No kidding on the clutter! Having four adults and three kids bouncing around between three canoes for ten hours (minus lunch break) tends to get things a bit messier than I like, but as long as there are 6 other smiles in the group then I'll always add the 7th smile no matter what Our lunch break from one of the river trips: Yes, I know I burn a lot of bandwidth with pictures. You should see my build threads! What can I say, I'm a shutterbug. Thanks, G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Glad to see you got to experience he Missouri Ozarks......And foot rests are a must sitting with your feet straight out in front of you.....with my T nut brackets, it is possible to switch the foot rests out from boat to boat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 I should have used a hyphen when I coined my word. Un-tiny-ness. Of the canoe. 16 foot is about the perfect size, but too large to call cute. Boy, I could NEVER point any fingers about clutter. Our camps, no matter how temporary, always seem to resemble a yard sale. Unless I'm alone... I'm the opposite way about picture taking, but I draw and paint as if it were a disorder. This smart thing and forum have gotten me taking more pictures than I ever have. Just absolutely beautiful pics you took, by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyo George Posted November 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Thanks Woodman, it is some nice country and I hope to float it again someday. Tiger, it's my fault for bad reading. I read it as un-tidy!! It was probably a subconscious reaction; I tend to be pretty OCD and hate clutter so I naturally feel embarrassed at showing pics with things out of place! Thanks again for the kind words, hopefully I'll be starting a build thread soon!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy00 Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 George: When paddling gently with a double paddle, foot rests aren't critical; however, when you have to paddle harder for a bit, your butt slides forward resulting in a loss of power. With foot rests, as you pull on the right side of the boat, you push with your right leg to stabilize. Same on the left. Happy paddling, Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyo George Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 George: When paddling gently with a double paddle, foot rests aren't critical; however, when you have to paddle harder for a bit, your butt slides forward resulting in a loss of power. With foot rests, as you pull on the right side of the boat, you push with your right leg to stabilize. Same on the left. Happy paddling, Andy Sounds good, thanks for the tip! Most of the time I use a double paddle I'm floating the river so all I do is make course corrections. Now I'm getting the desire to build a fast yak and get some exercise. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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