Jon Boat Seats
JON BOAT SEATS
Jon boats are short, wide boats that may or may not have an engine attached to them. The most noticeable characteristic of Jon Boats is that they have flat bottoms with sides that angle out to almost 90 degrees. They are great for fishing, duck hunting, and harvesting of wild rice. The seats on Jon Boats resemble bench seats from pontoon boats, but they are very different. Jon Boats have been used for generations to hunt ducks, fish in shallows lakes and rivers, and harvest wild rice where traditional curved hulled boats wouldn’t be able to access.
Jon Boat seats are very plain and some would consider them uncomfortable, but their design is nonetheless ingenious and they allow quite a few people ample space in such a small boat. In almost all Jon Boats, the seats span the width of the boat, and there are usually 2 to 3 rows of seats in each boat. There is no open space underneath the seats for added stability, and they are quite stable. However, they lack backrests of any kind, and worst of all they lack any sort of padding, making them quite uncomfortable to sit on for any substantial period of time.
There are many advantages associated with using Jon Boat seats versus pedestal seats or lounge seats. For starters, they allow multiple people to sit in the same boat in relative comfort because of the way the seats are designed. They are often in rows and they span the entire width of the boat, meaning two or three people can sit on each seat, potentially allowing up to ten people in the tiny boat. Another advantage is that it’s quite easy to turn around on the seats because there is no backrest. The seats don’t rotate, but the people sitting on the seats can just as easily rotate their bodies to face the opposite direction in case of a sudden shift in the wind or if the boat has turned suddenly.
In addition to the advantages associated with Jon Boat seats, there are also some quite obvious disadvantages. The most glaring disadvantage is that the seats are very uncomfortable. They lack any sort of back support, padding and armrests, meaning you will likely be tired of sitting in just a few hours. Another disadvantage of the way the seats are designed is that the seats span the entire width of the boat. This means it’s quite difficult to transverse from the bow of the boat to the stern without running the risk of accidentally tripping on a seat and falling forward, creating a safety hazard.
Jon Boat seats are the most useful kind of seat you will find in a boat, but they are uncomfortable and lack the necessary support and amenities to be useful for sitting on all day. Nonetheless, they are quite popular for fishermen and hunters alike because they can easily rotate on the seat, can sit on either side of the boat, and can sit down all day.