Thoughts on West Marine Chairs and Rod Holders

W

Westie

New member
Hi,
I see West Marine is running a sale until Sept 1 on their King Fish II folding chair (save $60) and Stainless Steel Clamp on Rod Holders (save 20). I need two chairs and four rod holders. How is the quality of these products?

I really like the Taco band rod holders but they are twice the price of west marine. Will they last twice as long?

What are the general thoughts out there?
 
I can't comment on the chairs but I had bought a package that contained 2-stainless steel clamp-on rod holders from West Marine and the quality was poor. I don't remember the specific part number but if what you're looking at is a 2-pack, I'd avoid them. In my case, one of them failed within weeks. The rod holder was attached to the clamp with a bolt that only engaged a few threads in the holder and those stripped out just from the rocking motion of a net in the rod holder. Fortunately when it failed, everything fell into the cockpit instead of overboard. I replaced it and the other one with more expensive but much higher quality CE Smith rod holders.
 
We purchased two of those chairs early this season, also on sale. They are comfortable and wearing well. We use them both in the cockpit; they fit nicely and do not move around much. Recommended.
 
Things I would be looking at in any of these folding chairs are:
1: Aluminum is lighter, but it will corrode with time--SS legs last longer.
2: How much deck space do these chairs take, when set up and folded
3: what is the bottom of the cushion made of? Marine ply treated, plain ply, or plastic?
4: are the staples for the fabric Monel metal? (even SS staples will rust and decay in the marine environment.

These chairs are going to be comfortable. Generally the fabric is good quality--but you do need to keep them protected under a cover from UV light.
 
We bought the aluminum version of the chairs about 10 years ago, but they didn't work out well in the Regal 2665 so we put them in the attic. We've been using them the past 2 seasons on the 255 and they're great. Very comfortable at the expense of taking up much more room than cheaper chairs with less cushion. With age and use, the rubber floor tips yellow and crack up, but I found aftermarket replacements on Amazon. Also the plastic pipe inserts age and crack apart, but that's just cosmetic. They're too nice to leave out in the weather... we put a plastic shower curtain in the v berth and stack all that sort of stuff there during the day.

The PO was an avid fisherman and had 4 Smith holders on the cockpit railings. I gave 2 to Goodwill and use the other 2 for Windline poles for shorepower and boarding handholds.
All I know about fishing is from childhood...that the Zebco 202 is awesome equipment, but not worth half a years annual income.

Oops, Dr Bob posted while I was writing...no rust on our staples and only the expected slight aluminum corrosion (only cosmetic) for age. Count on 15" each thick folded, or better yet check out in a West store in person. I'm not totally convinced SS is worth the extra bucks..it may last your lifetime, but the cushions won't. You could buy a couple extra Zebco 202's with that money and impress your fishing buds.

Happy Boating!
John
 
Thanks. I'll take a closer look at the chairs this weekend.

I was concern about the rod holder. I'll go with something like CE Smith.
 
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