We have had our kayaks 7 years and they get exposed to a lot of sunlight, it was time to replace a few of the carry handles and the seats as they were UV damaged. The seatt back zippers failed and the covers were faded. The handle webbing tore away on one end, leaving a weak handle attached on only one end. We were pleased to find that the manufacturer Pelican has a nice Parts tab on their website so we ordered new comfort carry handles, seat bottoms and seat backs. The parts arrived and they came with the installation hardware, a choice of 3/16th inch closed end rivets or screws.
Skipper suggested leaving the old hardware in place and drilling new holes, but I of course wanted to drill out the old rivets and get rid of the old seat back panel. The first rivet was drilled cleanly but the second got chowdered up and left a hole that was too big for the rivet. I figured out later I could have left the old plastic seat back tab in place, maybe trimmed down to just the small base, with the oscillating multitool, and installed the rivets right through it. I ended up drilling two new holes just above the old holes and sealing the old holes with 3M 4000 Marine Sealant.
The other seat I was more careful and drilled the rivets cleanly. For the seat strap attachments on one boat I drilled the old rivets and on the other I cut the old webbing at the attachment point and installed the new strap right next to it. Then for the handles I cut off the old webbing and attached them right next to the old attachment points. 4 new carry handles spread out over 2 kayaks.
The new seat bottom gel is not as thick as the old seat, but it was not worn and we use our own extra cushions anyway. The RamX material that the kayak is made of has held up amazingly well.
We like the Premium Icon because the foot rests are adjustable, and we have other kayakers in the family who are tall. We also like the high visibility yellow hull. New carry handle on the bow, makes dragging the kayak down to the beach easy.
Skipper's boat SACAGAWEA has pink duct tape tabs on the bow and stern, her pedals usually don't get moved. On the other boat CLARK we have marked pedal positions with Sharpie so they can be reset quickly.
Log of SACAGAWEA and CLARK.
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