World's lightest self supported camp lounge chair?

[Anonymous]

XxX post

[Anonymous]

Picture is fairly self explanatory. Only would be lightest if you’re already bringing adjustable hiking poles:

[Ben H.]

I don’t think hiking poles are designed to handle loads like that (perpendicular to the shaft at the mid point).

[Dave Heiss]

I think it looks good. Is a prototype in the works?

[Anonymous]

Hi Ben, I’m not certain one way or another.  While the poles would be taking the majority of the weight, they certainly wouldn’t be taking all the weight, especially as you stretch out on it. The reinforced bamboo poles would definitely be taking some of the load as well.

After that, obviously a lot will depend on a person’s specific hiking poles and their weight.  Unfortunately, I don’t think heavier than average people could use such a set up without some other reinforcing pole or poles.

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,  yes, eventually.  Not sure exactly when, but definitely within the next couple months. I have so many different ideas and projects spinning around in my head right now.

[Craig B]

Haha!  Taking up Ryan’s challenge I see!  Interesting idea to stake it out for support.  The one problem I have using trekking poles as the frame for a chair, is that I want to use them in my shelter.

I prefer my solution to a lounge chair, which is just an egg-crate foam pad laid on some rocks that have a reclining shape.  I usually have to move a rock or two to get a good shape, but I’ve never been in a spot where I couldn’t find a comfortable seat like that.

If you want to use the poles for a chair instead, the friction fit two piece poles I posted about a while ago might lend themselves well to this design.  The golf club shafts I used can take quite a bit of bending stress, especially if you use the larger diameter (grip) side of them for the back uprights.

Happy tinkering!

[Anonymous]

Hi Craig, wasn’t actually aware of Ryan’s challenge.  I’ve been posting a lot in MYOG of late in general. Probably too much…

That is a good point about the shelter, but no reason why you can’t just sit outside for awhile before setting up your shelter, and then when you’re ready to retire, then use your poles for that. It’s not like you’re going to want to sit outside in any kind of chair if it’s raining or super cold, anyways. And depending on one’s shelter, it can be relatively easy to set up one’s shelter even in the dark.

But I like your KISS method too. That will definitely be very lightweight, and is pretty pragmatic, if there are rocks or logs appropriate enough around.

Nice tip about the golf clubs, I agree, having experimented some with some Thrift store finds. I don’t know how true it is or not, but I’ve heard that the latest and greatest (read most expensive) golf shafts of late, are especially amazing.

I’ve been making and experimenting a little with carbonized, high crystalline content nanocellulose (originally for battery designs). According to the research I’ve read, when this stuff (at least in the raw, non carbonized form) is added to epoxy at about 2% ratio of CNC weight to epoxy weight, it significantly increases the tensile and modulus strengths of the epoxy matrix.

Then if you combine that with some sort of carbon fiber (I find a combination of a woven cloth inner, and then tow wrapped works really well) and use say a thin’ish bamboo pole as the core (to which expanding foam is sprayed within the bamboo pole)…

Theoretically, you could get a very holistically strong and durable support structure at pretty light weight.

Now, if you want to go the easier, quicker, and not quite so super duper route, you could take some slightly thicker bamboo poles, and slide epoxy connected arrow shafts into them, cap one end of the bamboo pole+CF arrow shafts with small amount of carbon fiber/epoxy, put a quick, light layer of epoxy on the outside of the bamboo pole, and then spray expanding foam into inner tubes of the bamboo+CF arrow shafts, and get a pretty good solution as well.

I had sprayed expanding foam into some carbon fiber tubes/shafts and bamboo poles (separately) before, and noted that it increased rigidity of both without much extra weight.

It would be an interesting testing experiment, to compare the different strengths of 3 different poles of similar thickness and/or weight, 1. a golf shaft 2. the involved super duper CF/CNC/bamboo/epoxy/expanding foam composite and 3. the more simple CF arrow shafts in bamboo + expanding foam and a bit of CF/epoxy.  I don’t have time for it myself, but if someone was sufficiently interested, I could provide them the necessary poles for testing at some point (only stipulation would be that it would have to be video recorded and shared with the community).

 

[DAN-Y]

too many pieces, too much fiddle factor?

[Anonymous]

How is 1 fabric piece + already connected cord, 2 hiking poles, and 2 short reinforced bamboo poles too many pieces?  The 2 stakes would already be part of one’s shelter system.  IMO, no need to have a chair and shelter set up at the same time. Shelter is for sleeping and/or nasty conditions (whether very cold, very buggy, or rainy) and chair is for nice conditions, basically opposite all that.

As to fiddle factor, I suspect it’s so simple that even a caveman could do it…

First you stake out the two end lines, then put your poles in the sleeves, adjust the front and/or back line(s) for tension, and then lounge. At approximately half the weight of most other so called “UL” camp chairs (especially if you already bring hiking poles).  Except, on this one, you can actually stretch out some too…

 

Btw, to clarify a little about the two reinforced bamboo poles.  They would fit into sleeves connected to the fabric’s bottom, and have high density, thinnish foam pads on the bottom of the poles, that you would put on the ground, but butted up against the hiking poles.  The bamboo poles would have hook&loop on them permanently on that end, so it can be wrapped around the hiking poles for greater stability.

Note all the triangles in the above structure…  Triangles are our friends, as the Pyramid builders noted thousands of years ago.

If someone can come up with a lighter structure than this, but one also fully self supported and can more literally lounge on, I would love it and tip my hat to them and say, “Splendid job, splendid job ole chap/miss”.

But so far, I’m not seeing it.  But then again, until the other day, I never gave camp chairs much thought. There may very well be better and equivalently light options out there than this–I haven’t looked all that hard and long.  This was a very quick, impromptu thought and design, that came to me in a Tesla type manner, so to speak.

I’ve started meditating and exercising consistently again, which combined with daily intermittent fasting, taking nascent iodine, and a daily meal of very well chopped and ground dried figs+dates combined in a super food smoothie, is starting to have some interesting effects…   Here I come floating up to you Brother of brothers; on a natural high.

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