How to Install Kayak Thigh Pads

Thigh pads are critical for the control of a kayak as you paddle. There are four points your body touches in a kayak, and all four are necessary for proper control. Your knees and thighs are possibly the most crucial. Thigh pads are made of rubber foam and are attached to a kayak with contact cement. The process of installing thigh pads is not difficult and only requires a few tools and supplies. You can outfit your kayak with thigh pads in a matter of minutes.

Things You'll Need

  • Kayak foam
  • Contact cement
  • 3-inch paint brush
  • Fine grit sand paper
  • Scissors
  • Permanent marker
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut two 1-foot by 9-inch sections out of the kayak foam with your scissors. Get in the kayak and place the sections of foam between your thighs and the kayak. Adjust them until they are comfortably protecting your knees and thighs from the plastic of the kayak. Once the pads are in position, hold them against the kayak with your thighs and trace a line around them with your marker.

    • 2

      Get out of the kayak and remove the pads. Open the rubber cement container and dip the paint brush into it. Paint the underside of the kayak foam and paint the inside of the kayak inside the lines you traced around the pads. Allow the rubber cement to dry for 5 minutes or until it becomes tacky.

    • 3

      Adhere the foam thigh pads to the inside of the kayak; be careful to make sure you tack it to the kayak inside the lines you traced. Press on the foam so the entire pad adheres to the inside of the kayak. Rub and massage the foam with your knuckles and your fingers so the rubber cement sticks.