epic 18x seat recommendations

Hi Guys and Girls i am new here and have a question i had my epic 18x now for 10 years and every year i try a different seat or seat covers , i have used the air max seat cover for years but now paddle the boat with no back rest just so i can keep some skin on a back now i also have the the epic v7 which is excellent i can stay in this boat for 20km easy but my epic 18x i get 10km and my foot goes numb first then the leg and sciatic nerve shuts me down i cant use the air max seat without the back rest as the air max seat cover places me to high and my tail bone hit the top of the back of the seat without the back rest holding me forward how do you guys paddle these boats for 30km

Have you tried yellow Skwoosh gel pad? I used it in an 18x when I had one and found it excellent.
skwoosh.com/kayak-pad/

You probably want to secure it to the seat somehow. What worked for me is superglue a strip of non-adhesive velcro (hook side) to the pad and use adhesive loop velcro on the seat.

Yes I hav the yellow gel pad it’s a pretty good my daughter has it now . But every foam I try only gives me a few more km before affecting me. I have a total of 8 different foam and gel pads and two different air max seat. I will give the Redfish seat a try as the reviewers had the exact symptoms and rated it excellent. Just getting to old to suffer on long paddles

Well, surkskis are a bit different - legs aren't locked in place and you rotate on the seat. That moves the pressure points about, which really helps avoid numbness.

I can manage about 2.5hours without any issues, past that I'm ready for a bit of a break. Sometimes get that by sitting with legs over the side for a few min, just for a change.

mrcharly wrote:

Well, surkskis are a bit different - legs aren't locked in place and you rotate on the seat. That moves the pressure points about, which really helps avoid numbness.
I can manage about 2.5hours without any issues, past that I'm ready for a bit of a break. Sometimes get that by sitting with legs over the side for a few min, just for a change.

Legs shouldn't be fully locked in a kayak. Even greenland rolling fit calls for a gap between knees and pads, that is actually important for rolling too.
18x allows for knees up anyways.

Rickydee wrote:

Yes I hav the yellow gel pad it’s a pretty good my daughter has it now . But every foam I try only gives me a few more km before affecting me. I have a total of 8 different foam and gel pads and two different air max seat. I will give the Redfish seat a try as the reviewers had the exact symptoms and rated it excellent. Just getting to old to suffer on long paddles

For what it's worth, I seem to vaguely recall that sciatica pain may be relieved by supporting legs further towards the front end of the seat.
Having said that, I think I only had that issue with my first sea kayak that had a pretty horrible seat. Didn't have that boat for long...