whether it is my sea kayak or whitewater boat, my feet and legs (below the knees) always fall asleep. it seems like it starts the moment i get in the boat, and within 45 minutes, my feet are like wooden clubs with no feeling at all.

i know this is a common kayaker ailment, so i googled it up hoping for a miracle cure. unfortunately, there is lots of conflicting advice. some say it is due to lack of circulation, some say it is due to nerve pressure (though i dont really care, so long as i can figure out how to fix it). some say it is the hip pads (too tight, or too far forward, or too far backward) and other suggest more support/padding behind the thighs. some say it is having the foot brace too close, and others say it is too much splaying of the knees.

for those that have had to deal with this, what worked for you?

Gonna back up Bdog on this one. I have to start stretching a solid two weeks before I go out squirt boating. It ain't no joke. I have noticed a huge difference in how long I can sit in a tight boat when I implement a regime of stretching. I know I wish there were a magic pill or some little trick because I don't really like to stretch either....

Originally posted by water wacko

Stretching. Sit on the floor, straighten your legs and grab your toes, while looking at your nipples. 5-10 minutes a day works for me. When I go more than several days I'll do a big stretch. Taking my time, doing it watching a movie or something that makes me want to sit right there and stretch.

How can you watch TV while looking at your nipples?

I was wondering who it would be to pick up on the nipple thing... Jimmy... if that is really Jimmy... you didn't disappoint me.

Yoga for Paddlers(no kidding). I've done a fair amount of it myself.

http://www.brushymountainpublishing.com/yoga-ventures/paddling.html

That being said, next time we paddle, I'll take a look at your outfitting and make sure nothing too weird is going on.

Raising your seat a little to get your feet lower than your arse might help as well. I have fairly long legs compared to my torso and if the seat is too low it feels like i'm sitting uphill...unless the seat is high enough. Had to do it to my sea boat as well.

Dale - I would actually like to try out the Sweet Cheeks if you dont mind. Did you try it out - and did you not like it? I read about it and it seems like a good idea, but not sure what folks that had actually tried it thought about it.

well, i spent *a lot* of time last night messing with my outfitting trying to see what worked and what didnt. i raised my seat up, and angled the front up and out a bit more. i moved the hip pads back and up (and all around inbetween) and adjusted the backband. i moved my foot braces forward and backward and even rearranged my thigh braces. i tried all kinds of combinations, and all of them had the same result - feet already starting to get tingly after 10 or 15 minutes.

finally, i put a pillow on the floor and sat on it in a kayaking position. even doing that, with no outfitting to press on any veins/nerves/whatever, my feet still started to fall asleep. i then realized that it was probably not the boat at all, but the problem was me. (my feet even fall asleep sitting on the toilet sometimes, but that is probably too much information).

anyway, hopefully the stretching/yoga route will yield some better results. thanks everyone for their input.

sciatic nerve runs right under your ass, no doubt you pinching it sitting in that tight kayak. btw donate your body to your local college, looking at a cadaver teaches you anatomy like no diagram ever will.

Maybe you're actually a canoeist instead of a kayaker.

Grab a basketball or volleyball and sit on it in a kneeling position for 45 minutes or so and get back to us.

If I wear footwear that's too big my feet tend to fall asleep.

I'd feel safe narrowing it down to a good seat pad AND stretching.

Nipple gazing is optional. Personally, I'd rather gaze at someone else's nipples. Those things are all over the place!