: I'm trying to help out a friend with a weak back who
: needs something more than the stock backband included in Pygmy kits.

Hi Gini -
None of the backbands I tried seemed to help a female friend who suffers from a weak lower back. Turns out the problem was caused by the gap between the backband (in this case a Rapid Pulse band which I use and like) and the seat. That gap would change a bit as she paddled, compressing the lower back vertebrae, making them ache. The solution was to go to a backband/seat combination, so that the back support was continuous with the seat bottom. We tried the Rapid Pulse touring seat, supported by foam wedges on the bottom of the kayak to give it shape, and that's solved the back problem.

Jim