Hobie Vantage seat cables

[Big Mike]

Today I had the rear cable supporting the seat back on my 2014 Vantage snap at the loop knot connection on the right arm rest. When this happens you get a beautiful view of the sky and your ability to pedal is severely hindered as you have nothing to push back against. I was fortunate to only be about 1/4 mile from the ramp when this happened as a 2-3 mile trek would have been very difficult.

When I got the seat back home I also saw wear on the bottom seat cable, so I’m just going to replace both of them. I’ve jury rigged the broken cable until the parts come in so I can keep fishing,

I’m a big guy and I stress this seat every time I go out. I’m guessing this was around 250-300 trips and averaged 4 hours each trip, so 1000 hours or more. If you’re getting to that life on your seat you might want to take a peek at these “forgotten” parts to make sure they’re in good condition. $25 plus shipping to replace both cables

[silasvirus82]

To add to this, I recently replaced my seat back mesh and had full access to those cables during the process. My seat back has been tearing very slowly over the past couple years due to the seat flying off on the highway and some road rash as a result. I'm shocked the seat survived that and a truck with cargo trailer running over it, but it did! Anyway, my contribution is that both the back and seat mesh are replaceable and not a terrible job to do yourself. The back is much more difficult than the seat, but Hobie has a nice instructional video explaining the entire process. After looking at my seat more closely I wish I would have done both at the same time, but it's still fully functional. The back cost me $29 and I'm guessing the seat is about the same. Not bad considering a new seat is over $500.

The video below is for the Vantage CT seat, but I'm guessing the others are similar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdN0RpwoHr4&t=278s

[Jman]

To add to this, I recently replaced my seat back mesh and had full access to those cables during the process. My seat back has been tearing very slowly over the past couple years due to the seat flying off on the highway and some road rash as a result. I'm shocked the seat survived that and a truck with cargo trailer running over it, but it did! Anyway, my contribution is that both the back and seat mesh are replaceable and not a terrible job to do yourself. The back is much more difficult than the seat, but Hobie has a nice instructional video explaining the entire process. After looking at my seat more closely I wish I would have done both at the same time, but it's still fully functional. The back cost me $29 and I'm guessing the seat is about the same. Not bad considering a new seat is over $500.

The video below is for the Vantage CT seat, but I'm guessing the others are similar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdN0RpwoHr4&t=278s

John, are you able to share where to purchase the fabric for the seat back? I have a rip on the seam of mine that has been expanding and I am outside of the warranty period. Dealer told me otherwise, so this would save me some money.

[mchottie]

John - I'm requesting info as well. The back of my seat has a tear where the seams meet at the backside of the tubular frame. I was quited $150 for replacement mesh/fabric.

$29 will allow me to invest the other $121 into some nice snek lures!

Thanks!!!

[silasvirus82]

I called DPS where I bought my kayak and they shipped it to my door for $29. My kayak was purchased 2015, so it was well out of warranty too. They gave me a $10 discount for whatever reason, Hobie originally told them it was $39.


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[Jman]

That's great to hear. Thanks for the information John.

[Big Mike]

Got my replacement cables today. I pulled out the back support cable and said to myself, hmmm, this looks different, as in bigger diameter, as in it isn’t going through the existing holes without a whole bunch of assistance. Apparently Hobie has made the cable beefier. I hope they redesigned the new chairs with slightly bigger runs. They also have not sealed the end of the cable very well so it starts to fray as you work with it, making getting it through those small holes that much harder.

I won’t bore you with all the details but if I did it again I’d string a piece of Fishing line all the way from the barrel hole to the right hand arm rest, do a whip knot around the end of the cable and then pull it back through all the runs and holes. You can then slide the two washers over the Fishing line onto the cable, tie your overhand, and because it’s bigger diameter line you can take your aggression out by beating that knot into the tiny hole in the barrel. Thanks Hobie for an overly complex piece of engineering that the new cable makes even harder to fix.

[J.A. Veil]

Thanks Hobie for an overly complex piece of engineering that the new cable makes even harder to fix.

I have to chuckle at that (sorry Big Mike). As kayak users, we welcome all the advanced features that manufacturers have added. Many of those features do use complex designs and materials that have been retrofitted to match odd-shaped spaces. Hobie is not the only one -- Native has had some engineering features and designs that made sense to the initial designer, but sometimes prove hard for owners to work with. The other companies are no different.

I'm glad you got the repair finished. I look forward to some fishing reports.

[mchottie]

Mike - Seems like you should have "fished" the wire prior to the cord! HAH! I got a chuckle out of that one also! Seems like the best kind of fishing when there's a torrential rain storm daily, akin to the recent weather pattern...

I looked at my cords last night, i'm a bigger guy too, and they are definitly a wear item. Hopefully the newer cords are heavier duty similar to paracord?

There's only so much fishing you can do when on your back staring at the sky! My girlfriend would be working on her suntan!

Glad to hear you got the repair fixed and the Wazoo is seaworthy again!

[Big Mike]

The replacement cable is the same material as the existing, just beefier. I’m guessing about 1/3 wider than the old. When I looked closer at my failure it wasn’t a breakage of the cable, it was a failure of the splice where they create the loop for attaching to the right arm rest. Not sure what the material they make the cable out of but it’s fairly slippery and I can see this being a future failure point.