The Urge is about as easy to outfit as you will ever see in a squirt boat. We will start our discussion on the parts you will likely want to do first and work toward the last. For most cuts I will describe the size "blanks" to start with. By blanks I mean a square pieces of 3" thick outfitting foam. From these blanks you will have to rasp and sand to achieve the fit for you.

The first step is to put a thin layer of neoprene foam under the knee pockets. I would advise you to use 1/4 inch thick self adhesive. 3/8th is too thick.

Do not do the seat yet we will save that for last.


The knee block is perhaps the most crucial element in the Urge. This is where we will start and then work our way backwards. You are likely to feel not very comfortable at all until you place the knee block in place.

In this picture of the underside of the knee block you can see that the block consists of a center wall piece that T glued to another piece. Closer to you in the picture you will see that there are two pieces that are glued on as well. So, the block consists of four pieces total.


To make your block start with oversized square pieces of foam and then later shave the foam for the ideal fit.

Part 1: 7" high, 12" wide on top and 6.5 inches wide on bottom

Part 2 and 3: will vary greatly based on your size but I recommend starting with squares 5" high and 4" wide.

Part 4: is essentially your center wall. Start with a 10" long piece probably no greater that 3" high at its highest point.


You will shave on the bottom outside edge greatly to achieve the fit for you. Be symmetrical in your shaving.

You must have some sort of pull string for safety. A small scrap piece of PVC pipe will keep this rope from ripping through the foam. A neat trick I stumbled on while making this block is that you can put either 45 or 90 degree elbows on your pvc pipe to make the rope last even longer before it pulls through the block. You can get the elbows for .19c at the hardware store.


After the knee block we will move to the hip pads.

Start with a piece 6" high, and 9" wide. This hip pad is viewed from the top after it was pulled back out of the boat for the picture. It ripped during removal but you you can see where I cut a groove in the top so that it will wedge under the cockpit rim nicely.

In the picture below "T" is the top of the pad that is seen in the above photo. The surface area that is facing the camera is what will be facing the outside or chine area of the boat. Where you see a dotted line is a flat surface that is contacting the bottom of the boat. If you have the 1/4 or 1/2 round rail options you will need to bevel this edge to match your groove on the inside of the boat. "S" represents the surface area that will be touching the bottom and the side wall or chine of the boat. If you have a bandsaw table you can achieve a good match by setting your table to 33 degrees for this cut.

On the frontside you will carve a concave section that goes back about 3 inches for your thigh to nestle into. This area is highlighted by a dotted line and indicated by "C" in the picture two above. Don't be afraid to take a lot of surface area out. You will be more comfortable when your legs are not as tight. Don't worry you will still have adequate torque.


Before you can do a real good job of making a backband you will need to know where you want the trim of your boat.

Your boat will come from the factory with many more inches of back wall than most people will need. If you are experimenting with different weight positions prior to fully outfitting your boat cut your back wall so that there is 2.5 inches remaining that stick out into the cockpit area. This is what I recommend as the starting point of trim. When you are ready to make your backbend cut the stern wall down so that it only extends into the cockpit 1 inch. Most people will want an additional 1.5inch thick backband to achieve the best point of ergonomics and trim in the boat. Of course you will have to determine your desired position before you determine the thickness of your backband for what works best for you.

Your back block will consist of two pieces 12inches wide glued on top of each other. The base piece should be 5inches deep or better. You will cut on the top aggressivley so that it fits underneath the back of the cockpit snugly.


The seat pad goes in last. It will be about 12inches wide and 15" front to back. 3/8th neoprene is a good material for this.


Update


After paddling a boat for some time we usually make some modifications to the outfitting. What we don't usually do is take the time to put it on the site here. Well here we go with some actual updates.

Update 1.

The earlier recommended width of the hip pads is too much. We have found that even with the groove pictured in "c" in the picture above that you are better off without out that all together. We are now recommending starting with a 6x6 square and cutting via the same method as the description above.


hip picture


Update 2.

A good way to get the hip pads into place is to slide them into place while the glue is still wet. They will pop in perfectly behind the groove in the hull. When you do this you will need to put something to hold them there while the glue dries for about 45 minutes. The width is about 15 inches which is the equivalent to about a regular square of foam plus you knee block width.

Update 3

.We have found that a pad about 1 or 2 inches thick glued to the floor greatly increases comfort by pressing up and reducing fatigue in the same way that an outside block would do in a surface boat. . We have now expanded on that sort of pad with great results. When it is set up to press against the outside of your leg it does even better.

Look at the block on the right in this picture. You can start with about a 4" square or make a tracing on a block. The height of measurement C is about 2". The measurement of B is about 3". The best way to make the surface of A match the hull is to again set a bandsaw table to 33 degrees and then round off the corners with a rasp.







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