Upgraded Hobie Outback Seat

I was tired of the OEM Hobie Outback seat. I am 6'1, 230#, 32YO and after a hour or so of fishing my back is broken from the seat, mainly no support higher up. After playing around with the idea of a STS Expedition Seat($180), converting a Jackson Cuda seat($170) or some other seat, I went with a turkey hunting seat of all things. One of my tackle distributors is also a hunting dealer and found a browning turkey hunting seat that would work great and wasn't too expensive. I ordered it up and it fit perfectly in the Outback without any modification, but I wanted it to be a little lower. I ended up cutting the lower leg section out 1.5" in the front and back. I supported the inside with a dowel and it is held together with galvanized conduit coupling. I rigged up some heavy duty Velcro straps with SS clips that I had laying around the shop, to hold down the seat and keep it positioned. Here are photos of the finished product at the lake down the street to test it out.

Today me and a buddy fished locally in the back bay the seat preformed flawlessly. While it did have a higher center of gravity I never once felt like I was going to flip even leaning over the side. I am sure it is more prone to flipping but you just need to be a little more careful. I will be using it for back bay, freshwater, eeling at night, etc. I probably won't be using it out front or in bumpy conditions. After 2.5 hours of fishing my back was fine and didn't hurt at all. I also had a lot more room for my legs and was able to sit Indian style and bend them and stretch a lot more. Some down side would be the center of gravity is higher and you need to reach a little for the steering controls. Overall I am very happy with how it turned out and only cost me $35.00 all said and done. Maybe Hobie will see this and maybe make a seat that actually is comfortable.