Big Agnes Cyclone SL Chair Kit Review

[Addie Bedford]

Companion forum thread to:

Big Agnes Cyclone SL Chair Kit Review

[Scott Van Doeselaar]

I just got back from a trip where I used this chair with the clearview air pad. Since I was using the clearview I was nervous about puncture so I would typically use the chair on smooth polished granite. The reinforced area on the back stay where they sit on the ground wore through in about 1 hour of use. This is a highly loaded area when you lean back in the chair so I plan to add small pieces of leather sewn on to reinforce this wear area. With this modification I think it will last quite awhile.

The chair is pretty comfortable.

[Huzefa @ Blue Bolt Gear]

wow. what a brilliant idea! Talk about multiuse – chair, groundsheet, pack frame! I am sure pretty soon we will see some XUL chair made of cuben.

[Mitchell Keil]

Ditto!!
I have sent my Cyclone back to BG for warranty repair and that was more than a month ago. Still have not gotten it back. Talking with their repair folks leads me to believe that this is a problem with all of the chairs. Mine wore through after 3 nights. The webbing is just not durable enough to stand up to any contact with the ground where one might shift around in the chair causing the aluminum stays to dig into the ground. BG tells me that they are working on using some other material as a reinforcement patch where the stays contact the ground.

On a comfort note. If you have a tall torso (as I do), the chair is fairly short in providing support to the back. I am still undecided about long term use of the Cyclone. For another 4 oz I get a more durable, taller and comfortable chair with my Thermarest trekker. Maybe its not worth the hassle to use something so inconveniently sized despite its weight.

[Mitchell Keil]

Just got back my Cyclone SL from BG in for repair. They sent me a new one instead. And they made the improvment that many of us have noted was necessary to make this chair a useful and Durable addition to a lightweight kit.

They put a patch of hypalon where the two supporting aluminum dowels meet. This patch covers the area in contact with the ground and protects it from excessive wear on the thin nylon webbing used for the sleeves encasing the dowels. The solution adds no real weight to the chair and solves the major complaint I had regarding the durability of the chair.

WELL DONE BIG AGNES!!!

[Jerry Cagle]

Carol says: "The Cyclone also makes an acceptable chair when combined with twenty-inch wide foam pads and even the less-than-twenty-inch wide Bozeman Mountain Works TorsoLite pad. Without the stiffness of an inflatable pad, the resultant chair is not as comfortable, since the chair collapses around the user's torso and legs, but it still provides good back support."

I think that's a wee bit of an understatement… In my case (I'm 5'10/150 lbs), when using the BMW TorsoLite the aluminum stays really dig in to both my ribs and legs. If you want comfort (that's why you're carrying this, right?) I think you should plan on using a full 20" wide pad.

I tried my TAR Prolite 3 Full Length, and it was markedly more comfortable than the TorsoLite (which I otherwise LOVE, just not for this purpose, sigh…).

I also have a Pacific Outdoor Equipment – Max Thermo 72" x 20" x 2.5" Inflatable Pad, and it is somewhat less comfortable than the TAR PL 3 as it is cut in a mummy style (Narrower at the head and foot) which allows the aluminum stays in the chair to dig in rather uncomfortably, though much less so than with the BMW TL. One possible workaround for the mummy shape pad, however,is that if you fold the mattress so that its center is situated in the center of the chair, folding the two ends inward to also meet at the chair's center, it will not collapse as readily. Surprisingly, it stays in the chair pretty well in this configuration. I expected it to squirt out…

Regarding the use of a 20" wide foam pad, I'm also a bit skeptical. I think it would have to be a pretty firm foam in order to keep the chair from collapsing inward.

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