Rova Outdoor Gear X6 Carbon Fiber Chair for backpacking and camping and hiking

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Just saw this video and thought that I would share it.  I like their approach. Expensive for a first-generation product.  I think that it is something to keep an eye out on.  I think that the assembly is fantastic.  As others have commented, if they integrate this seat into a backpack, it could really be interesting.  I have no affiliation with the company, I just wanted to share this novel idea.

 

[MJ H]

That’s pretty neat.

[Jeff McWilliams]

Probably gonna be prohibitively expensive, but i like the out-of-the-box thinking, rather than being a copy of just about every other folding chair currently on the market that looks similar to the Helinox Chair Zero.  The ability to do double duty as a pack frame could be interesting if it pans out and they can find a pack maker to work with.

Who remembers packs that used the Klymit AirBeam inflatable pack frame?  Yeah, it wasn’t a success.  But it was an interesting concept that was offered by several pack makers.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I suspect that the inital offereing ($340) will only be purchased by early adopters.  But, that will help with the cash flow.  Once they get some real world data, they can spend additional money to optimize the design (resolve deficiencies, finite element analysis for further weight reduction, better design for higher manufacturing volumes). I would expect the weight to come down as well as the cost (2nd generation).  By the third generation, they may see knockoffs arising and hopefully, they can work with a Backpack company to integrate the design into a frame to make it multi-use.  Anyway, it will be fun to see the company evolve.  My 2 cents.

[Terran Terran]

I think it would hurt as a pack frame. I think it would hurt as a chair. I’d rather see a pack frame incorporated into a chair.

[MJ H]

I guess for frames that become a chair, there’s Luxury Lite. But I’ve never even seen one.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I definitely like the quick assembly. Where I think it needs to improve is the weight (~2 lbs). You’re paying big bucks for carbon, but then it’s about twice the weight of the lightest chairs on the market, so it’s a bit hard to justify paying 2x for something that also weighs 2x.

Pack frames on ultralight packs are usually in the range of about 100g / 3 oz, so the current chair would be massively stronger than you need for an ultralight pack frame. The potential ‘win’ here eliminating a 3oz frame, but if you add 1 lbs in chair weight to do that, you’re not ahead. It’s quite overkill as a frame, so it would be a better fit in load hauling/hunting pack where you do actually need a heavy frame. However, using the chair as a frame is hard to do because it would only work for a specific pack(s). So you’d have to like the chair and like the pack. I don’t think that’s viable commercially because it is a very small group of people that would simultaneously want this chair and want exactly the 1 or 2 models of pack designed to work with it. Most people will have another pack they prefer for various reason.

Overall, I don’t think the frame application is going to work out that well. Just too many challenges of making it work well while being rapid removable, and tiny niche people that want exactly that pack, and it’s way overkill as a UL frame. I think the best path forward is to redesign a lighter version that reduces the max weight from 400 lbs to 250 lbs but hopefully gets it closer to 1 lbs and addresses the awkward packed shape in another way (e.g. make it fold?). If it was 1 lbs and folding that starts to look pretty good.

[jscott]

“I think the best path forward is to redesign a lighter version that reduces the max weight from 400 lbs to 250 lbs but hopefully gets it closer to 1 lbs and addresses the awkward packed shape in another way (e.g. make it fold?). If it was 1 lbs and folding that starts to look pretty good.

yes, exactly, I don’t need a chair that can be run over by a truck and support  300 plus pounds. And I won’t carry a two pound chair. I don’t carry a one pound chair! but at one pound, this would be tempting. As  to the high  cost: it would be a one time deal. The chair should last a lifetime.

I like everything about  it except for the weight; and the fact that it sits a bit too close to the ground. I might be able to live with this last.  But it does  bring up the subject of hammock chairs,  which weigh far less and can be suspended at more comfortable height. Hmm….on second thought, hammock chair for the win.

[Monte Masterson]

The weight is a deal breaker. It’s also too little. Doesn’t look very comfortable either. Many people would pay the exorbitant price if it weighed 12 oz. The X6 might be bomber durable and quick to set up but I can’s see anything else that’s so great about it. Seems like an aluminum version that’s rated at 250 lb could weigh about the same and be 1/3 the price. Nevertheless, there might be a niche use for the chair.

Dan Becker says regarding the weight “but most of these guys are already carrying 2 lb chairs because they don’t want to pay $180”. Really? Just about everyone I see packing a chair has the 1 lb Chair Zero and they can often be bought for $120 with recurring sales.

 

 

 

 

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Expensive? Yes. Heavy? Yes? Overkill? Maybe.  The max load may be conservative as they probably need to get some out in the field for testing and don’t want them to break.  I also imagine that if you plopped into the chair, the initial stress may be high as it looks like there is very little compliance to the system.

I do not use a chair; I think that the current ones on the market are not comfortable.  I like the simplicity of this design and expect that if they wanted to that they could strip a fair amount of weight out of it.  I also like that they at least have an innovative design and are not just copying the leaders out there.  As I said, I look forward to seeing the design evolve.

[bradmacmt]

They lost me at 2lbs.

[JCH]

I wonder how it handles the sinking-into-the-ground problem?  I suspect no better than any other.

[K C]

Maybe they can make one piece into a shovel, another into a table when not using as a chair, I can see it turned into 3-4 items with some creativity

[Kevin Babione]

At least in the northeast where I do most of my backpacking there are plenty of rocks or logs upon which to sit when we take a break or eat lunch, so the instant setup isn’t a big deal.  I do carry a chair if it’s a low-mileage/highly-social trip with friends and I know we’re going to have a lot of time sitting around the campsite chatting.  I’d want a Z-Seat or something on this to pad my bum – something that’s not needed with my ChairZero.

[Thom]

Is this backpacking light ! Two pounds rather bring good cheese or whiskey

thom

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Is this backpacking light ! Two pounds rather bring good cheese or whiskey

True, then why bring a chair at all?

[jscott]

one can find a hammock  chair for under 10 ounces, that is soft and packable. Why bring a chair? Come on.

Still, yes, my decision has been to use rocks  and logs to sit on; and to retire  to my tent and lie out on my pad to read and relax and get out of bugs in the afternoon. But come evening, I’d like to be out of my tent and able to relax in a chair that I can easily get up and out of to wander around. I’d rather be up off the ground and able to expand my legs in a hammock chair than down a few inches off the ground on all the camp chairs available.

and yes, at altitude, I understand there will not be trees available for a hammock chair. But I try to “hike high, camp low” (if 9,000 feet is low). On the west coast of  the U.S., trees tend to be available.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

one can find a hammock  chair for under 10 ounces, that is soft and packable. Why bring a chair? Come on.

Assuming that there are trees around.  I mainly hike the High Sierra, very few places to hang a hammock.  Slot canyons and desserts are also an issue.  But then again, I don’t use a chair.

[jscott]

Jon, I was editing my last post as you posted yours! I think we’re in agreement.

[bradmacmt]

Litesmith Qwikback chair is hard to beat.

[Jessica S]

This chair definitely fits a niche the hammock chair doesn’t: quick setup. I’d love to be able to whip out a chair for 10 minute breaks. I think their biggest mistake is following the viking chair design too closely; wood does fine with with transverse loads, but it was always my understanding that carbon fiber only really excels with tensile loads. It’s no wonder they’re overbuilding it so much with the current design, cantilever loads are the hardest to support, and sitting at the end of the chair instead of against the back could triple the forces involved (or more). They should add two foldout tubes that close the front side of the X, so the chair isn’t cantilevered, and the force is applied mostly through compression of the tubes. I bet they’d be able to cut the weight in half doing that.

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