Alite Mantis Chair Repair

[Greg Mihalik]

Shifting ground and an overcompensating operator resulted in a fractured sling-strut  –

Alite did not respond to my emails, so I was on my own.

I found a brass tube from OnLineMetals.com  sized for a force-fit over the fracture.  I swapped ends to provide a sound fit at the hub. The sling pocket didn’t care.

While I was at it, I epoxied on reinforcing rings to the four sling-strut junctions at the hub –

All of this added two ounces to the chair.

[JCH]

Clever preventative addition.

[Christian K]

FYI REI sells repair splint sleeves… just like the ones that come with your tent in case a pole breaks.

I picked up the REI flex lite air (1 lb) chair for $30 (normally $100) at an REI garage sale last year. It was damaged just like your chair. I walked over to the repair parts display and was lucky enough to find a $5 splint that was an exact fit.

Now, getting it all the way on was a different story! While it was snug, it was a little too snug for the last 1/4” of the split where the aluminum flared out and I had to beat on it profusely to slide it all the way to the end. Didn’t even bother using adhesive it was so tight! Fun times.

But yeah, cheaper than ordering online w/ shipping costs and whatnot. But nice use of epoxy on your end! Practical and usable. Hope you used a metal epoxy ;)

[Sam Farrington]

Your link to Online Metals was for a brass tube, but that may well be more durable than a tempered ALU alloy.

Using a hub or even two hubs at the base of the these and similar chairs to support the seat appears to be an invitation to fracture.  Putting all that pressure on the tubing below and above the hub(s) is too much, IMO.   No surprise that REI marketed a repair tube for their model.  A good idea for a tent pole section, but not sure it is much of a remedy for a chair that must be lugged home and repaired, and may fracture again due to the hub design.

Should that happen, suggest looking for an alternative in the classic canoe chair design, such as this MYOG chair:  https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/81152/
The canoe designs tend to put the body closer to the ground, but have found that to be an asset, as it is better for stretching the legs out.  The design also allows for swiveling about on the chair with much less risk of breakage. The weak point is at the rails supporting the seat, which were reinforced with carbon tube inserted inside the alloy tube.

[David Thomas]

If a metal tube around another metal tube is a tight fit, toss the outer one in the oven and the inner one in the freezer.  They’ll go together really easily but then NEVER come apart.

My great uncle did that (by design) on the nested main spars of SuperMarine Spitfires during WWII.

[Sam Farrington]

Should have also noted that the low canoe chair is low enough for sitting under the tent canopy to cook and eat meals. Those hub chairs will require much higher ceilings.

David,
Thanks for that tip. Does it work vice-versa? If so, I’ll have to remember which tube gets frozen, and which one gets heated. Will just copy your post, and keep it handy, because I’m sure I will benefit from using it.

[Author]

Posts