Hobie Forums

Hi all. I'm new here, been doing a lot of reading through the threads and got a lot of very good info. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger and buy a PA14. I'm big and tall so this should be a good fit for me.

Speaking of fitting I have one concern and that is the inside width of the new Vantage seat. Being located in the KC area I'm buying sight unseen because there are no Hobie dealers in the area and it would be nice to know that I'm going to be able to squeeze my over ample rear in the seat and be comfortable for the day long fishing trips to the lakes that I have planned.

Just thought of another question about the Vantage seat. What is the weight capacity of the seat? I'm a rather svelt 310 pounds, down from a bit over 350 and still losing and have been known to collapse folding chairs. Gotta love those Bass Pro's big boy chairs.

Hiya,
the seats are wide, though not sure of exact measurement.
If by some chance your butt was too wide for seat and your cheeks hung over the side, then you would have built in outriggers
Only joking....
Seriously, I've seen some very large guys on Pa14's and never heard anyone complain about the seat width.
Good luck with it

Side rail to side rail is 20 1/2". Seat is 20". Would expect if you are wider you could squeeze in more as the sides are open except for the rails.

Hello

I did get to try one, not for hours mind you, but I found the chair comfortable. I was worried the arms would dig into the sides of my legs but they were fine. I think their saving grace is they are not very high and are rounded... I wasn't caught by them and they didn't constrain my leg movements.

Maybe someone could say how high the arms come up? That could be helpful too for some.

My beam when sitting is 22" - hate to say it but I can appreciate it could help.

I forget how easy the chair was/wasn't to adjust but I would probably limit the amount of adjusting I did to it while I was in it just to reduce wear & tear.

I haven't called my dealership yet to see if they can tell me but I'll re-iterate my wish that Hobie would post the chair's weight load. Boat capacity and seat capacity are two different things! I'll post it if/when I find out. It's still not kayaking or kayak ordering season here yet!

Thanks to all for the replies.

I'll be able to squeeze into the seat with a little bit of room left over. The weight limit (or lack of) does concern me. I'm sure that if the seat fails or breaks due to my weight Hobie will cover it under warranty. I read that the replacement cost for this seat is close to 5 bills so hopefully this seat should be pretty much bulletproof.

If the seat doesn't work out I guess that I can make some mods and put a different seat on it. Be nice if Hobie would come out with a retro kit to put the old style seat on.

The consensus at the factory seems to be 300# capacity for the seat.

_________________
Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA

Thanks Matt. Would that be Hobie official or a "suggested" weight limit? Is Hobie working on or considering a retro kit to be able to install the old style seat without butchering the yak?

Thanks for the reply Matt!

Before I bought my older style PA I sat in a new one. I fit in it ok, but I feel overtime the seat would break with my 300# butt. For reference, Im a 3xl guy with a 44in waist. If you look at the new seat, the bottom of the seat looks like it's only supported with one cord (string), not sure what's it made of?
The older seat is so much better and comfortable than the new seat IHO.

There are no plans of an adapter kit to put the new seats on old kayaks or vice versa. At least not that I'm aware of! They are very strong though and that little line that holds the seat bottom and the one holding the back is made of Spectra and has a 1000+ breaking strength. It's like the rudder lines, but way thicker. The only way that will break is if a knot comes untied or its cut. The seat is perfectly safe at 300 pounds and I'm sure it can handle more, but the arms may limit the comfort of bigger users.

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Brendan Castile

Thanks Brendan.

So I can be assured that if the seat fails while the yak is under warranty that it will be fully covered by Hobie even if it failed because of weight related issues?