I can second this. I had the same 'foot falling asleep' problem with the standard CLC 17LT seat (basically an outer ring of 3/4 minicell covered with a second full layer of 3/4 minicell)--after about 25 minutes of paddling.

I carved a seat out of 3 inch minicell as described here, and in Nick's book, and this weekend I paddled 2.5 hours with no problems at all!

Think about it--most of us can sit in a car for many hours at a time without much problem. A good bucket seat has a lot of support under the thighs, and wrapping around most of the side of the legs and the butt. But putting all your weight on the 'sit bones' has to cause problems!

I ordered a 12 inch by 4 foot block of foam from NOC (http://www.noc.com/store/repair.htm) and glued together two 17 inch lengths to form the block 17 x 24 inches. The 17 inch width fits snugly between the cheek plates, and the back of the block contacts the rear bulkhead. The final length is about 22 inches, overall. Using a bread knife and "dragon skin" metal sandpaper, it took about an hour to get the basic shape, then a bit longer for some fine tuning.

Thanks to the advice on this bb for solving a major pain in the a--!!!

Ed

: Toni,

: I carved a wonderful seat out of a 18" x 16" x 3" piece of
: minicell foam. Carve it out nice and deep in the center but leave full
: height support all around, especially for your legs. As you are carving,
: sit in it often to ensure a comfortable fit. Before this type of seat I
: would start having problems after 20 minutes on the thermarest, now I can
: sit in my Arctic Tern all day without any numbness. Everybody that has
: tried out this seat has loved it.

: The pic below is of a more fancy minicell seat that Joe Greenley carved for
: one of his kayaks.

: Mike