Canoe Seat

I've been an avid canoeist for 48 years, having gotten my first canoe at 19. A little over five years ago I was riding my bicycle and was hit by a SUV. One of the harder things to recover from was the break at the L-1 vertebrae. Initially there was a question whether I would need a wheelchair for the rest of my life. After the first of three reconstructive surgeries (with a total if five surgeries in less than five years), the doctors gave me a 50/50 chance of walking without a walker or cane. They didn't give me any odds on breaking horses, canoeing, or skydiving again. But now I'm back to lugging my 18' aluminum whitewater Grumman to get it wet. However, I wouldn't even want to do it without the back support of the GCI Outdoor SitBacker Adjustable Canoe Seat with Back Support. The GCI seat with back support was a game-changer for me. Canoeing rehab has been going so well my younger brother and I are planning on canoeing the Boundary Waters in 2026! In fact, I just bought a second GCI seat for my brother! They are that good. The integral shoulder strap is great for carrying the seats hands-free when the seat has to be taken off the canoe. The portage straps securing the seats in the fold-down position are a life-saver during transportation and portaging. The seats themselves are comfortable and warm in all weather conditions. Seat and frame construction is rugged quality. If I were engineering the seat, I would see if the tops of the seat back corners could be rounded more to give a little more clearance on the follow through paddle stroke. But as it is, you can adjust your stroke to compensate and still enjoy all of the benefits the GCI seat offers!

This product exceeded our expectations. The son and I decided to do a few nights canoeing down the Colorado River this last spring. It was truly a lifetime experience. The beauty and rawness of the area is truly something to see. The canoe that we rented advertised that they had seats built in but we decided to buy these for a little extra comfort. Boy, are we glad we did! The hardback plastic seats that were on the canoes absolutely sucked and were not forgiving. Meanwhile these seats, which we placed over the seat support, were padded and comfortable. The bulk of the back support comes from the adjustable strap and we found that to be truly comfortable you cinched down the strap to a more upright angle than you may normally have thought necessary. They strap down and are solidly in place even if you have to move around and there is no chance of losing the seat in a capsize or other unplanned event. Several others in our group expressed their regret at not buying the same seats my son and I did. After the trip they have found continued and regular use as stadium seats. In that capacity they are a little less convenient than some models which simply “hook” onto the bleachers. These seats strap down to the bleachers by means of a buckle/strap assembly. It’s very solid and reliable but a tiny bit more effort than a hook on seat is necessary. This doesn’t bother me in the least but may be worth considering if you are using this exclusively as a stadium seats.

I definitley like this seat. It's well made, sturdy, durable. It's pretty compact and light to pack or carry around. I do a canoe trip every year with family, and last year my back became pretty sore from sitting up & slouching all day. Picked this up, confident that it would make a big difference. It definitely did. I was comfortable the whole time. It's designed well, so the seat padding and back padding are comfortable, and the bar doesnt dig into your back. The recline feature is decent, there is a lot of adjustability. As noted in other reviews, the nylon reclining strap does slip a bit over time, but you can easily tighten it back up. Its kind of nice that if you dont want to use the back rest, you can just flip it down and sit on top of it. That was helpful to get it out of the way at times when i had to pack or unpack the canoe behind the seat. The only gripe I had with it, is while it does support you pretty well, and it is relatively sturdy, its definitely not fully-rigid. When you put your weight on the back rest, it will kind of pull the seat corners up toward you, around your legs. This seems to happen no matter how tight i tried to strap it to the seat. I think if there was a rigid bar or something across the front of the seat, it could prevent this. All in all though, I think this is a great product and in my opinion, a required item for any longer canoe ride. It defintely allowed me to relax my back, and it was always comfortable. I haven't seen any other available product like this that looks to be better. And for $29.00, I think it's a great deal and a cheap comfort solution. Only other alternative, which sounds and looks kind of odd, is to put one of those folding camping chairs in the canoe and sit on it. My buddies do that, and while it looks silly and seems like it might put the center of gravity too high, it has worked for several of them, several years in a row. And because they're fully rigid, they're more comfortable than even this GCI chair.

This is an excellent and comfortable seat for bleachers! I love that it isn’t super rigid and I can lean back a bit or tighten it up if needed. This is NOT for an inflatable paddleboard. I took it out last week and the back “legs” of the seat dug into the board. I would worry about damaging the board using it so I don’t recommend. That was my original idea for it. But it’s just a great bleacher seat and that’s okay.

I really like this canoe seat! My friend and I have been using stadium seats that you would normally use on bleachers, but this seat has features that make it stand out. The frame is metal construction and the cushions are very comfortable. Its one-fold design makes it easy to deploy and put away. Other seats tend to have multiple folds and it feels like you have to fumble around until you get it right. Not so with this one. The portage lock is a really nice touch to keep it flat in transport as well. The back support is easily adjustable, as well as the clips underneath for the seat. You could even use this sitting at a picnic table or on the ground, making it great for a canoe camping trip. Its size is well though out, too. I'm 6ft and weigh 210 pounds, and the back rest comes up way higher than any other seat I have tried. That makes it really nice to paddle longer distances with a kayak or canoe paddle. This seat is easy to use, comfortable, and is well made. I would definitely recommend it.

We bought these for our 16'9" Old Town canoe and couldn’t love them more. They’re incredibly supportive and super comfortable for long paddles. The low-profile design is perfect—we leave them on during transport and use the portage lock, which works great. They’re slim enough that we can mount the canoe to our vehicle without removing them. The seat reclines if you want it to, but stays upright if you tighten it, which is a great feature. Plus, the pouch on the back is super convenient for holding snacks, water, or small gear. Honestly, we wouldn’t use our canoe without them now. Highly recommend!

My experience with this seat has been mixed, but that may be due to the particular type of canoe I was in. This is a well-made seat that should fit most situations. However, it takes some adjusting, and even so, may not be adequate for your needs. The split, hinged seat cushion makes it more adaptable and comfortable, but creates a compromise in stability, as the two bottom rods (perpendicular to the back frame in 'up' position) may simply lean back as you do, rendering seat useless. If they were rigidly connected horizontally, your lower body weight would help provide anchor and stability. People of wider girth may actually see more benefit as their bottom may sit over these bottom rods--I am just narrow enough to sit between these rods. Make sure it is very tightly strapped to your seat (seat straps are strong and can be tightened after fastening). There may also be a trick to positioning it forward and keeping the weight of your thighs across it. Find the sweet spot on the side straps that neither pushes you forward nor leans too far back. My first two days on the water, it simply didn't work at all; on the third, something about the way I had adjusted these parameters had it working pretty well. Wish I could tell you exactly why. The side strap bit into me but I was OK with that since I was finally supported. I still don't think you can really rely on it allowing you to lean back too much, but this may also depend on the seat type and position, as evidenced by the more favorable reviews, here. This seat would be virtually useless in a freestanding situation (e.g., on the ground at a campsite) unless leaning against a tree or something but as long as you have something to strap the bottom to (stadium bench, picnic table, etc.) it should function OK.

This was a life saver in the canoe . Great quality and very sturdy . Definitely was comfortable going down the River . I highly recommend!