You may want to carve more foam away from the front of the hip pads so they don't squeeze your thighs toward the middle too much. If your knees are under the knee hooks, the hip pads should be just touching, but not pressing, on your thighs.

S

: I'm trying to switch gears from builder to paddler. I never really took the
: time to fit out my first boat and learn to paddle it well. Here is the
: minicell seat so far. The two blocks above will be the hip pads on each
: side. They will get cemented to the blocks that are already in there. My
: goal is to make it like a motorcycle helmet for my butt. I still have a
: lot more carving to do. My question is: how close to the bottom can I
: carve before it starts to weaken/fall apart 1/4"?

: The hip pads will overlap the bottom piece and also fill and cover the gap on
: either side of the back. I figure they will be in there snug enough to
: hold the back and bottom in place without cementing them all together. I
: think it will be easier to dry the cockpit if I can take it out in four
: pieces.

: www.ChipSandresky.com