BootsnAll Travel Community

I just heard a radio news story about the brand new product, the Knee Defender which keeps the airplane seat in front of you from fully reclining.

This could be really useful

Hmmmm....and how about the health and safety of my back?

I'm not a particularly tall guy, though not short either (about 5'11" and a half), and have had no leg room problems since I dicovered the art of putting my carry-on in the overhead bin (and just keeping a CD player, CDs and a book in my seat).

However, if I'm forced to maintain an uncomfortable back position for an extended period of time, my back can hurt for days. This knee defender thing is obviously not acceptable. Should be banned.

I'm not all that tall either, but many seats recline so far that I often can't use my tray table for anything thicker than a piece of paper, and can't properly see the video screen on the seat back (since they are passive matrix screens and need to be seen from a narow range of angles). Getting out to the aisle past a fully reclined seat is also a problem.

True, this invention allows travellers to be obnoxious and not allow a seat to recline at all, but it can also be used to simply limit how far a seat can recline, in effect correcting a nasty design flaw that makes anyone behind a fully reclined seat uncomfortable. That way you can recline some (if it's not enough then put a blanket behind the small of your back, do a stretching exercise, or upgrade to first class) and I can have a reasonable flight as well.

Well, I've never encountered a plane where a seat reclines so far as to be a real problem for table usage, maybe at most making a laptop not fit properly (but then you can pull the table closer to you).

I guess, philosophically speaking, since you mentioned upgrading to first class (which, next time I win the lottery, I guarantee I'll do), I would find it more reasonable for someone who knows they don't fit an economy class seat to make their plans accordingly, than for a person who normally can adjust themselves to a suitable position in economy to suddenly get on the plane and find themselves unable to get comfortable (which in my case could cause several days of discomfort) because of the actions of another passenger.

Sometimes (though not always) a simple request to the person sitting in front, also works wonders.

I am sure that this instrument would not be permitted on flights. Have you tried it Everman? Also in some flights after this gadget has been inserted it may not be possible to shut the tray table.

Nope, I haven't tried it. It's a new product that I just heard abnout on BBC radio. I think you're right that I wouldn't be able to close (or completely close) my ray table if I used it, but if I were already using it for a meal or to do some work then this wouldn't be a problem and would prevent the seat in front of me from suddenly pushing everything into my lap (I managed to catch my tray before this happened on the flight I'm thinking of). I have asked people not to recline their seats fully (with good results), but have also come back to my seat from the bathroom to find the seat in front of mine fully reclined and its user already fast asleep. Used politely, this gadget could allow them to recline some, but not fully.

I don't have one, and now that I've seen the website, I may experiment with the idea before getting one - who knows maybe some object I already travel with can be used in the same way - like a large pancil-eraser or something.

If they do ban such devices (or even if they don't) I hope the very existence of it spurs their engineers to come up with a better design for those seats that can lean back too far.

which brings me to mention something that most people probably know. If you want a little extra leg room, request the exit row or the "bulkhead" row (the row of seats at the front facing the wall in between first class and us commoners).

My husband is 6'4" and all legs. We always try to get bulkhead or he is so bummed--it actually can put a real damper on the beginning of the trip because it gets sooo painful for him.

Exit yes, but be careful about the bulkhead. In addition to storage problems if you like to keep a bag under the seat in front (which as previously mentioned, I don't), on some planes there is no wall, and the tray tables are in the armrests (this may also be true of planes with a proper wall, but there wasn't one in the specific experiences I've had.)

The result is you lose about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of seat width on both sides where normally part of your leg would fit quite comfortably under the normal armrests. Even worse if your temptingly sitting next to an empty seat, but can't take advantage. To make matters worse, the planes where I've had this happen had the terminal for the earphones in the side of the armrest (only the already extra narrow bulkhead seats), so then if I wanted to watch the movie, I had to have a little headphone jack jabbing into my leg. Very uncomfortable.

wow, we've had total different bulkhead experiences, but I've flown in bulkhead mainly on domestic US flights...I think we'll try for the exit row next time!!

Yeah every plane's a bit different, the two times I've had this problem, it's been on Air Canada.(there may be a logical reason why they're in bankruptcy protection) But I doubt AC's the only airline in the world that has the same ridiculous seat setup.

I'm just a 6 footer but on a Qantas flight I had my knees slammed when I was taken unawares by a rapid recliner. As well, it's bloody hard to resume a window seat when aisle and middle seats ahead are fully reclined. Requires that you curl your body into an inverted S and wriggle in.

As for 'Almost Free''s suggestion that it is reasonable for someone who knows they don't fit a regular tourist class seat to make their plans accordingly (ie. pay for business class)...HO HO HO. Business class fares are just as inaccessible for most of us as First Class.

'Everyman' says this invention allows travellers to be obnoxious and not allow a seat to recline at all. Yes, I guess so - Obnoxious in the same way that travellers refuse to allow smokers to gas them out.

SO, what are we talking here? Passengers squabbling and defending their rights against one another, when in truth we're all paying through the nose for inadequate seating and comfort in 'cattle-class'.

What it needs is for just ONE airline on the Aussie 24 hour Sydney-Europe run to acknowledge the social justice issue in providing business class conditions at tourist class rates and all other airlines can then follow suit or F%#$ off and go out of business. Come on, Branston, DO it!

Cheers from Oz,
Yamba