Disabled Adventurers
227 Tennyson St., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (805) 427-1128 Mark@DisabledAdventurers.com
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Disabled Adventurers 227 Tennyson St., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (805) 427-1128 Mark@DisabledAdventurers.com |
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  This is my NEWEST Seat Design that plugs right into a stock Malibu Two! ADAPTIVE SEAT FIXTURE (LATEST DESIGN) - PARTS LIST OK, HERE'S THE DEAL... I just changed my design... Again! I am now making it with 3/4" PVC pipe instead of 1" pipe as shown in the photo above. I'll upload a new photo soon! 3/4" PVC PIPE PIECES:A 2EA 6.0 CM B 2EA 5.5 CM C 2EA 15.0 CM D 2EA 12.0 CM E 2EA 16.0 CM F 2EA 23.0 CM G 2EA 9.0 CM H 2Ea 9.0 CM I 2EA 6.0 CM J 1EA 44.0 CM K 1EA 40.0 CM H will appear ~3/4 inch longer than shown to compensate for shorter B and E. PIPE FITTINGS:4EA 90 Degree Elbows 6EA 45 Degree Elbows 6EA T Fittings 2EA Couplers - Use the long ones if you can find them! NOTES:It's easiest to make the groups as shown below first, then fit them together.J is 4CM longer than K to spread the upper supports. J is wrapped with closed-cell foam hot-water-pipe insulation for padding. The lengths of E, H, and I are critical to properly position J. B, C, and D are joined by 45 degree Elbows. H and I are joined by a 45 degree Elbow. The fixture is held in place by the seat, and by the paddler's legs over piece J. This design uses 2 fewer fitting pieces than my original design and can be made with one 10-foot length of 3/4" Schedule 40 PVC pipe. Pieces A can be lengthened for more of a reclining position. Pieces F and D can be adjusted equally to accommodate paddler height. DO NOT CHANGE the length of pieces E, H, and I, for use on a Malibu Two!  MY ORIGINAL ADAPTIVE SEAT FIXTURE DESIGN My first attempts at designing an adaptive kayak seat for paddlers who need a substantial amount of additional trunk support while paddling are shown below. The design was originally prompted when we seated a paddler whom I believe was about 6'2" and weighed ~300 pounds. He was highly disabled in his upper body, and, because of his size, even the best Surf-To-Summit high-back seat would not give him the upper trunk support he needed. The original fixture is adjustable by resizing all the latteral, horizontal PVC pieces which are not glued in. I hope to work with Surf-To-Summit to design and manufacture a stand-alone seat that eliminates the need for this fixture altogether! ADAPTIVE SEAT FIXTURE (ORIGINAL DESIGN) - PARTS LISTNOTE: This design is still useful on kayaks other than the Malibu Twohowever, you may have to add eyelets along the gunwale to secure the fixture. 1/2" PVC PIPE PIECES:A 2EA 15 1/2" B 2EA 7 5/8" C 4EA 4" D 2EA 2" E 2EA 2 1/4" F 2EA 6 3/4" G 4EA 3 3/4" H 2Ea 4 1/2" I 2EA 1 7/8" PIPE FITTINGS:4EA 90 Degree Elbows 4EA 45 Degree Elbows 8EA T Fittings 4EA End Caps NOTES:E is slightly longer than D to fit the kayak thatis wider in the middle than it is towards the ends. The two Gs and the H are joined by 45 degree Elbows. I is just long enough to join the T and Elbow between G and A. The fixture is secured to the kayak via tie-wraps around the C pieces.  One innovation shown in the picture above is the simple addition of a padded PVC pipe that is secured just at the leading edge of the seat pad. Note that my newest seat fixture design eliminates the need for this as a separate item. This pipe effectively deepens the seat-pocket and does a great job of ensuring the paddler does not slide forward and off of the seat-pad. It keeps the paddler seated more upright (as much as desired by the paddler), allowing the seat-back and sides to provide a greater level of support. This simple device will almost certainly be a regular addition whenever we outfit any paraplegic or quadriplegic paddler with this original seat design in the future. |
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