I am relatively new to ww kayaking and have never outfitted a kayak. I recently bought hip padz, ankle padz, knee blocks, thigh risers, butt padz, (all pre-cut) and a block of foam to help outfit my Dagger G-Ride 6.5. I thought there would be some sort of directions to guide me through this, but there aren't, so I have a few questions if someone would be so kind as to help me out.

1) I don't know how far forward or back I need to put my seat, and I don't know how much padding to put in the front of the kayak to plant my feet on.

Where are my knees supposed to fit into the knee braces and how straight or bent should my legs be in my kayak?

2) I am not sure how the hip padz, thigh risers, knee blocks, and ankle padz are supposed to be positioned into the kayak when I put them in.

3) I am not sure how tightly I should fit into my kayak once I do have these outfitting accessories installed.

If anyone could give me soem advice or refer me to a website that could help answer these questions, it would be much appreciated.

If you are new to kayaking comfort ought to be a big priority on outfitting any kayak. If you are not 100% completely comfortable in your boat you won't want to learn or be on the water. As a general rule your outfitting should not cut off you circulation or cause muscles to cramp or feet to go numb. As you progress in the sport you may want to trade some comfort for the performance abilities available in today's ultra small playboats. He are some rules of thumb:

a] Seat positioning. Start out with the seat in the middle and position the foot pegs or bulkhead or foam to allow your feet a snug fit without causing discomfort. After adjusting to this seat position (over many days of paddling) you may want to move the seat up and body weight forward to initiate more advanced moves... but only experience will decide that. Having the back band adjusted properly will probably be the most important thing for you initially.

b] Knee positioning: The knees are critical in whitewater kayaking. They allow you to lean and roll a kayak at will. They need to be positioned so that you can easily lean or rock a kayak back and forth from side to side. The knees should be positioned so that they are ALWAYS in contact with the top deck of the kayak and the pads. As a rule the knees keep the kayak from rotating around your lower torso. If they are too loose you will spin inside the kayak and miss a roll or turn because your knees slip instead of lever.

c] Hips and Seat: Hip pads are are also another critical junction where the body contacts the kayak. They should be tight enough so that you don't slip out of the kayak when you are upside down (making it impossible to roll) but not tight enough to hurt. A seat pad is critical to avoid sliding on the seat when trying to turn.

d] Tighteness: The tighter you are in your kayak the better - especially in class IV - V water where kayak response is critical. The idea is to make the kayak an extension of your own body, so that a slight movement from your muscles translates to movement in your kayak. This is the ideal, however the trade-off in a snug fit is discomfort. The idea is to get a snug fit as possible without causing pain - and also factoring in the water you are paddling. On a class II-III float trip you won't need to be making critical moves all day, so be in an ultra snug boat will be overkill and and agony.

Don't be afraid to sand cut or use duct tape inside your kayak to get the proper fit.

A good article can be found here:

ergonomics.about.com/od/ergonomicsatplay/a/wwkayakergo.htm

Hey Mason,

What this guy has to say is wicked. He is spot on. I think that check out what his site has to say might help you. If it dosen't. Take your boat to the pool bring a screwdriver, set up the seat without hip pads or anything at your feet. Balance the boat using the seat only. Don't trim the boat with the backband. When the boat is balanced (sitting even at the bow and stern at the waterline) Tighten the screws down tigheten up the back band and start building the footblocks. Then the hip pads. NOTE make sure that before you put the hip pads in make sure that when you are relaxed and sitting in the boat that your elbows don't touch the cockpit rim. If they do sit a bit higher. (shoulders relaxed) then slam the hip pads in.

Good luck buddy. But as the guy says in the first post be sure that your in tight tis the only way to fly.
Billy

Then once you've got a really good fit, use a hot glue gun, liberally, if u haven't got one, make friends with a school teacher;) (they have everything and paddler will ever need) and borrow theirs, that will hold it in place better than gaffa tape and wont be as slipy

I always use contact glue to attach foamblocks. It does not hold forever but I don't mind re-outfitting my boat every two years or so (if it lasts that long ). Besides, it allows you to remove the foam if necessary and it's cheap and easy to obtain when out on a longer kayaking trip.