UKH

Hi

after hauling a bunch of stuff up a hill I would love to have a seat and enjoy my meal or read something before I lay down.

I would love to bring a chair but the UK weather isnt always inviting to sit outside. 

Is there any way or gear that allows you to lean on so I can sit up in the tent?

I saw thermarest and sea to summit have a kit that converts the sleeping pad into a chair, are they any good?

Thanks!

In reply to stone0917:

You can get a collapsible picnic chair for a £5 from petrol stations or decathlon.

Either that or fork out £70-£100 for an A-lite Mayfly

In reply to stone0917:

I have a thermarest seat conversion thing.  It’s basically some pockets to hold the corners of a folded thermarest and straps to tighten it to a roughly 90 degree angle.

Its not as good as a proper chair but it is light, portable and a helluva lot better than no seats especially if you are carrying your thermarest anyway.

In reply to stone0917:

This is a Thermarest & chair kit, it does really work best with a full size rectangular mat. I was about to advertise it for sale as I have better mats for car camping and better mats for backpacking. 

It is extremely comfortable and supportive.

In reply to Sealwife:

Could you post (or message) me pictures? I've been thinking about trying to make a DIY kit for my original 3/4 thermorest.

In reply to stone0917:

https://helinox.eu/collections/all-chairs/products/chair-zero?variant=39395...

Expensive but I seem to keep seeing them being used in lots of places. I was curious and asked to try it out and it was impressively impressive for a sub 500g chair.

In reply to TMM:

Sports Pursuit had some very similar chairs recently for £50 that seemed decent quality I think.

In reply to Jenny C:

Pedro has just posted a picture above your post of what it looks like

In reply to stone0917:

Phah.. your lack of ankle flexion reveals your inner weakness. Embrace your inner Slav. Waste no more time on your capitalist chair foolishness 

https://youtu.be/TrmkYJfv0Ww?si=mOxaSevherVbhHtm

In reply to stone0917:

How tall a tent? And how tall are you? If you're already struggling for headroom, it makes a difference to the potential options ...

In reply to stone0917:

Helinox and similar are nice but the legs sink and lead to spectacular comedy moments. The super cheap deckchairs are better for this with solid legs... but no good for carrying up hills.

A chair makes camping a lot more pleasant

In reply to wbo2:

Yeah, and on a groundsheet...? I see holes appearing.

And Wingnut's observation about tent height also came to my mind; I'd assumed backpacking tent, rather than car-camping family tent.

I picked up an 'Avalanche' folding chair in TKM the other day, £12. For sitting outside.

https://www.sierra.com/avalanche-ultralight-camp-chair~p~2jfya/

In reply to stone0917: I've a 1973 Better Camping book (Alan Ryallls & Roger Marchant, Piccolo) that suggests making a stirrup (foot -loop) and backrest arrangement from a yard of 2-3" webbing and cord stirrups that it says is surprisingly comfortable. No rigid parts, but I imagine getting the length right is critical. Sorry I can't post pics (or find any on t'web) but self explanatory?

In reply to stone0917:

It's sounds as though you are talking about a one or two night backpacking or camping/climbing kit. I've never heard of anyone taking any kind of chair for those. I normally sit on the ground, on my bum, slightly elevated on an improvisioned cushion comprising, say, empty sack, climbing rope, folded anorak and spare sweater. I prefer reading for a short while, after I've settled down for the night in my sleeping bag.

I've always got a kick out of making the most of the minimum amount of gear. If you try turning the trip into a glamping experience you could end up carting so much up the hill that you might need a back brace at the end of it! (But I never skimp on food. My mantra became: "weight in food is well worth carrying".)

In reply to stone0917:

I know some regular wild campers who use the Helinox chairs - they think well of them. Not for me, though, I too prefer a more minimalist approach.

Edit - and I have just seen the price of the Helinox chairs!

In reply to Pedro50:

heya thanks for the reply

I have the rab ionosphere 5.5, do you think it would fit?

In reply to Basemetal:

ooh yes more rope work 

this is very interesting, I will look into this !

Thankyou!

In reply to Wingnut:

Hi

I have a terra nova Pioneer 2 

tent height is 100cm

im like 173, so plenty of head room, but I dont know about fitting a chair in a tent

In reply to stone0917:

Length and width should be fine, might be a bit fat/thick, difficult to say without testing.

In reply to stone0917:

2nd the Thermarest chair kit as a very light solution for a chair. Downside is that it isn't very high up your back, so doesn't support your neck.

No use for carrying, but I've got a couple of chairs similar to these for car camping - great for sitting in a low tent in poor weather: https://www.outdooraction.co.uk/kampa-sandy-low-chair-p9543/s61082

I have seen some fabric-type mini hammock style chairs that you can use with skis stuck in the snow - would probably work if you could find some suitable sticks to support it.

In reply to Basemetal:

Hey 

I might find my solution with a bit rope work

1. I have my sleeping liner

2. i use a longer rope to tie the upper 2 corners

3. I sit on the liner

4. I hang the rope onto the arch of my feet

5. adjust the length of rope 

the trick is to keep the fabric on my back tight so it can hug my torso quite well 

its quite comfortable actually except my feet being cramped by the rope, but some cushioning will make it fine.

I think a longer towel or an oversized t shirt can also do the trick 

In reply to stone0917:

Clever stuff! The original was more paracord thickness cord than rope, with a bit of seat belt or similar webbing, and entirely linear, but yours sounds comfy! :oD

[fixed autocorrect!]

In reply to stone0917:

I completely agree with you!  I have a crazy creek chair bought in America which has been on lots of far away multi day trips.  Not sure if you can get them in uk

https://crazycreek.com

In reply to wbo2:

Yes that looks like a pretty major design flaw. On anything other than a rock hard surface they are going to sink in.

Hence this: https://www.millets.co.uk/352306/oex-ultra-lite-chair-352306

with an add on 'stability mat' to overcome a problem that exists only due to poor design.

In reply to stone0917:

there must be scope for something inflatable and very light indeed?

there are a lot of new materials about - you can even get inflatable communication masts now, and ones that just unroll and curl into a tube

In reply to TMM:

I can confirm .. they are fantastic.  However ... I am 99.99% sure that they don't meet the OP's requirement:  "Is there any way or gear that allows you to lean on so I can sit up in the tent?".  There is no chance that you're not putting a hole in the bottom of your tent with one of these nor are these, IMO, designed with sitting up inside a 1-2 person tent you might haul up a hill.  They're designed with either sitting round a camp fire in mind or car camping tent size.

They do actually sell these ball things to go on the end of the helinox legs ... which I assume might help with the pointiness.  https://helinox.eu/products/vibram-ball-feet-set  (Also $$$$$)

On a more positive note.  V expensive .. but very very good chairs.  I don't have one of the ultra light ones for backpacking.  Instead .. I have one of the high back ones for going to the beach.  Lives permanently in the back of the car.  

In reply to stone0917:

I have a helinox ground chair and though expensive, consider it value for money.

If using inside a tent though, I would maybe be wary of damaging the floor of the tent.

The ground does not have legs, so does not sink in the ground.

In reply to stone0917:

We use these for festivals:

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15900895/freedomtrail-anywhere-chair-15900895

They look much like the crazy creek mentioned above. Out of stock at the moment but were really cheap (like £10 or so) and seem indestructible.