Tomcat Inflatable Seat

This is an alternative to the far more expensive 7" AIRE kayak thwart, though the Tomcat "seat" has a float-bag twist valve, not a Leafield valve. The Tomcat inflatable backrest is for AIRE brand boats only, and can also function as a footrest as long as you cinch it down very tightly to the floor (so your feet cannot accidentally slip under it during a flip or big vertical drop). It is held in by a pair of straps that come off each side, and you loop these straps through your boat's cargo loops, then back up through a plastic ladder lock.

As back support goes, the Tomcat seat is slightly better than the $105 seven inch AIRE Kayak Thwart, but not as comfortable as the Cheetah chair and not nearly as supportive in whitewater as AIRE's 12" Kayak Thwart (these other seat/backrests are listed in this same section). However, if you own an AIRE kayak that you fly with, a pair of Tomcat seats will compact nicely with the boat, whereas the stock Cheetah chairs tend to make a rolled AIRE kayak far more bulky in size. On a commercial airliner, it can be the difference between paying "oversize" baggage fees or not. This product comes in gray only.