Foot Brace

These are now called Sea-Lect foot braces. I've built several kayaks, and had high hopes for these braces. I know they are used in at least one lineup of commercial kayaks. But, I'm not a fan... not at all. They do have some good qualities, such as their strength, and nice adjustability. Two thing have given the negative impression. First, the mounting distance between holes is non-standard, which makes it very difficult to use the braces as replacement in most any boat! I'm headed out to the shop right now to re-re-verify... yep, they are 1/8 to 3/16 in shorter between holes, than WS-Harmony braces. I'm sure I've measured them against Keepers in the past, too. Mine are several years old and marked Sea-Dogs. I suppose it's possible that they've since been revised to the proper hole spacing. The other bad thing, to me, is the angle of the face of the foot pedals, as if looking from above. When sitting in a kayak, I think most people have their feet angled outward. But, the face of the pedals is actually angled inward. This makes them uncomfortable to use. I think the idea of the design is to offset the tapering angle of the kayak hull. I do not think it is well-conceived.

Pluses: easily adjustable. Seem sturdy.

Minuses: My foot slips off when pushing during forward stroke. No grip and seen from above, the braces taper, getting narrower toward the center of the boat. My kayak is 23" wide at the cockpit/21" wide at the braces.

Keepers were flimsy, but my foot didn't slip as much as they did w/these Sea Dogs. Bummer.

Replaced the stock foot braces in the WS Zephyr. What a difference. Solid as a rock, comfortable on the feet, easy to adjust and when rolling they don't come loose. The holes were about an 1/8 of an inch off. Just use a small jewelers file, or the point of a sharp pocket knife to whittle the hole in the kayak to line up. You will not regret this inexpensive change, I got them for less than 40.00 dollars from local outfitter. 10 of 10.