*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The best boat seat for crappie fishing is the Millennium Marine B100 Boat Seat. The mesh design is breathable, durable, strong, and most importantly comfortable. I thoroughly researched boat seats when looking to upgrade the bow seat of my crappie boat. My back has been bothering me in recent years, so I was searching for the most comfortable crappie boat seat I could find. One seat kept coming up over and over, the B-100 by Millennium. I decided to give the B100 a shot and am glad I did. Read on to see if this seat is right for you and your crappie boat.
Mesh Boat Seats VS Vinyl Boat Seats
Millennium seats are constructed of a sort of mesh material. This contrasts greatly from the vinyl cushion designs of most other boat seats. To me, the mesh seems to be superior in some key ways, at least for the fishing seats of a crappie boat. Perhaps there is still a place for vinyl “riding seats” in a crappie boat, but for “fishing seats” I now prefer mesh.
Mesh Is Cooler In Warm Weather
Everyone knows how hot vinyl gets on a bright sunny day. This isn’t the case with mesh. Mesh will be a much cooler and less sticky material in direct sunshine. Because of this, mesh excels at keeping you cool and helps to prevent swamp bottom. Down here in the Deep South this is a nice benefit. Besides the physical comfort of the seat, this cooling effect is perhaps one of the best aspects of a mesh chair.
Punctured Vinyl Seats Retain Water
Ideally you’ll never damage your boat seats, but if you do you could have problems. If you get an opening in a vinyl seat, whether it be from a puncture or busted seam, water is going to soak into the foam inside. Then you’ll have a mess on your hands. There is no concern for such an issue with mesh seats.
Mesh Seats Dry More Quickly
For wet seats, you guessed it, mesh wins again. The bulk of the water will flow through or off of a mesh seat, whereas it will sometimes pool up more so on vinyl. Although you’ll need to wipe either type of seat with a rag to truly get it dry in a timely manner, mesh will dry quicker after you wipe away any beaded water.
Mesh Seats Have A Firm Seating Surface
From my experience it seems like boat seats are kind of like mattresses, in that it comes down to personal preference. Just as with mattresses, boat seats can provide different levels of firmness. I would say, generally speaking mesh seats have a more firm surface than vinyl cushion seats do. Whether you like this or not is up to you. All I can tell you is my own perspective.
The shape and firmness of the seat back of a mesh chair goes a long way to reduce back fatigue throughout a long day of fishing. However, the actual seat bottom is a tad stiff in comparison to some cushioned vinyl seats. For me, this is an acceptable tradeoff, as the mesh design seems to have eliminated the back aches I tended to have on the water.
The Millennium B-100 Is The Best Crappie Boat Seat
* Click image above to view prices on Amazon
Hopefully I’ve sold you on mesh style boat seats. If so, the Millennium Marine B-100 ComfortMax Boat Seat is the best option that I found. They are very similar to the Millennium mesh deer stand seats that have been on the market for many years now. If you’ve never sat in a Millennium deer stand, you don’t know what you’re missing.
The B-100 seats are a solid all aluminum frame construction and are backed by a 1 year warranty. They come in a gray and an olive green color. Now days these seats are widely available from retailers all over. Apparently the word has gotten out!
Specs
- Max Weight Capacity is 400 lbs.
- Seat height 21”
- Seat depth 16.5”
- Seat width 20”
- Weights about 7 pounds
Notable Advantages Of A Millennium Boat Seat
- Breathable quick drying fabric
- Excellent back support
- Resists mold and mildew
- Folds flatter for improved visibility
- Roomy and comfortable
The B-100 Is A Cool Breathable Seat
The B100 seat is a sort of sling style construction made of a breathable and cool fabric. The fabric is very unlike the sticky hot vinyl you find on most boat seats. The mesh provides great airflow to give you a much cooler seat in warm weather. Perhaps the great airflow isn’t such a great feature if you fish much in cold weather, so keep that in mind.
Millennium Seats Support Your Back
These mesh style seats provide great comfort over a long duration of sitting like you do with both crappie fishing and deer hunting. Actually, deer hunting in them is what turned me on to this mesh style as a viable boat seat option. Where I would normally squirm around on a deer stand, I found myself able to sit comfortably for much longer durations when in a Millennium deer stand. The same goes for my Millennium seat when on the water. I think it’s because the seat back design provides good lumbar or lower back support.
Does Not Hold Water
The mesh material of the B100 does not hold onto moisture. Because of this, and the airflow through the seat, it will dry quickly. Since they dry rather quickly, these mesh seats resist mold and mildew better than vinyl seats do.
Improved Visibility
I don’t like to remove my bow seat when running from place to place, so visibility is important. The Millennium folds down to a flatter profile than a standard pedestal boat seat, so it’s much easier to see over when hopping from spot to spot.
Excellent Overall Comfort
Three factors come together to make this seat a really comfy option for long sits. It provides excellent back support, a cooling mesh, and a great seat depth which isn’t the case with many boat seats. Many seats don’t provide enough surface area to comfortably fit, especially if you’re an angler of the larger variety. This isn’t so with the B-100, as it’s nearly 17″ deep. So, you have plenty of chair to really slide back into.
Best Boat Seat For Big Guys
With a maximum weight capacity of 400 lbs. this seat is particularly suited for larger anglers. I only weigh half that so I can’t speak to it’s ability to handle the claimed weight capacity, but I do lean on it pretty hard and it seems to be very sturdy. The seat is also 20″ wide, so they give you plenty of room just about no matter how large you are.
Do Millennium Straps Get In The Way?
If you’re looking hard for a complaint, the straps seem to be one of the few that you’ll find, as some people complain that they get in the way. After owning the B-100, I don’t see this as a negative, as I barely even notice the straps most of the time. Occasionally I sit down when the seat has swiveled a bit and I feel the straps as I’m sitting down. When that happens I just swivel the seat into the proper position and take a seat. The straps have not really been any sort of significant annoyance for myself.
Negatives Of The B-100
While I think the advantages far outweigh the negatives of this design, there are a few issues you should be aware of before making your purchase.
Beware Of Sharp Hard Corners
Besides the straps being a potential negative for some people, I did encounter another annoyance of this design. Because it is a sort of square metal frame design, those corners can be painful if you fall into them or bump up against them at certain angles.
I recently had my 5 year old in the boat with me and she bumped her leg against one of the hard corners. We’ll just say she was not happy. So, this is just something to consider when purchasing a seat of this design. All in all, not a big deal, but for me that was one downside over a padded vinyl seat.
Seats May Be Cold In Cold Weather
I suppose one of the huge reasons I bought the seat could in fact be a negative for some anglers. The mesh fabric is probably going to make for a cold sit in frigid temps. I figure a padded vinyl seat will certainly hold your body heat in better than a thin strip of mesh fabric. With that said, I do deer hunt in a mesh seat in the dead of winter and do not notice this being a problem. However, I have extremely warm clothes on during those deer season cold snaps. As long as you have appropriate clothes on to match the weather, this shouldn’t be an issue for you.
Best Boat Seat For Back Pain
Is the Millennium boat seat the best available seat for back sufferers? Perhaps it is! The seat gets glowing reviews for minimizing back pain after a day on the water. This is in fact the primary reason I purchased one. From my experience, they seem to provide great lower back, aka lumbar, support. If you’re an angler that suffers from back issues, this just may be the seat for you.
Are They Worth The Money?
Unfortunately it is going to take somewhere around a Benjamin to pick up a B-100, but I don’t think you’ll find that you’ll regret the purchase. If you can afford it, your back will thank you.
Wise Aero VS Millennium Boat Seat
It seems like the Wise Aero is the closest competitor to the B-100 and is the most similar in design. The problem is that it’s a good bit more expensive. One potential advantage that the Wise seat has over the Millennium is that it does not have the side straps that support the seat back. If money is no object, you might consider looking further into this option.
How To Mount Millennium Boat Seats
The B-100 will fit any common boat seat pedestal. The seat comes with the necessary mounting hardware to attach it to a common pedestal mount. The included hardware is 4 bolts, 4 lock nuts and 8 washers sealed in a bag that is taped to the bottom of your chair.
Seat Mount Plate
This seat does not come with a seat mounting plate. So, you’ll either need to re-use the seat mounts from your existing chair, which is what I did, or you’ll need to purchase one separately. Seat mounts cost about $15. You’ll of course need a seat pedestal post and pedestal base as well. I re-used what I already had in my boat, so I did not have to purchase these additional items.
Seat Mount Base
If you already have a seat pedestal setup in your boat then mounting this chair is a breeze. Otherwise you’ll have to go through the process of mounting a chair base to the floor of your boat, which I did not have to do.
Don’t Overtighten
Because the Millennium is constructed of aluminum, I wouldn’t suggest overtightening the bolts when attaching it to a seat mount. I just tightened the bolts down snugly and called it a day.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for the best value boat seat for the money, I think it’ll be hard to beat the B-100 by Millennium. I researched the best crappie fishing seats and kept coming back to this one. So far, I’m a fan. It’s very comfortable, it’s cool in hot weather, and it folds down to a compact package that is easy to see over when running the boat.
If you found this article helpful you might also like some of my other crappie articles such as those linked below.
Best Baits For Crappie
How To Keep Crappie On Ice
Best Crappie Jig Colors And How To Choose
Augustus Clay
