Are coarse 3D mesh seat pads effective at keeping your butt cool on a recumbent? The seat of my recumbent has a taut 2D mesh back which is quite good at letting sweat through. That can't be said about the ordinary foam pad supporting the ass. There are special "foam" pads which are really more of a 3D mesh and which were designed especially for recumbent seats:



I only know of one manufacturer of such products, www.ventisit.nl.

Does anyone have experience with a pad like that? When you compare sitting on an ordinary foam pad, sitting on a Ventisit and sliding up on the seat so your ass doesn't touch the seat, where approximately is the Ventisit (or any other similar product you know) on this scale?
Thinking about my stock seat pad - I have a stiff plasticky mesh inside the seat pad, which has a layer of cloth on both sides.  The mesh is an irregular plastic weave, and would be uncomfortable to sir on without a cover.

Thing is, to get the seat back sweaty I've already sweated through every layer of clothing on my back, and lower.  The cloth layer on the seat pad is also between me and the ventilated area.

So I feel that a combination of less clothing on the rider plus more airflow under would help.

Replacing your foam squab with something more open certainly is a good idea.  I'm contemplating something with ribs that run vertically to allow airflow through.

Something vaguely like this backpack design, to keep your weight off your spine, possibly with 2-4 pool noodles or similar: