Dang Big Agnes. One Helinox chair begat another and now has given birth to a Helinox table. If the chair gives birth to a Helinox Cot ( $300) the credit card will be beheaded.
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Kitchen Furniture
- Thread starter yellowcanoe
- Start date
I'm a retired dancer. I used to perform for the Bolshoi. Perhaps you've heard of me, or seen me in my prime in my good old Moscovian days. Okay, the truth is I was never a ballet dancer. Ever. But I still do the demi plie to get down into my campside stadium seat. http://www.mec.ca/product/5014-053/mec-senate-seat/?q=senate+seat Halfway down I trust gravity to finish the job, and voila! I arrive in a sitting position. Extricating myself from this sitting duck position involves rolling sideways and onto my knees. Always tricky if there's food and drink involved. Too tricky if I don't want to spill any. Seats with legs look good to me. Add a table with legs and it looks completely civilized. I like your little Helinox family YC. I wouldn't mind starting one of our own someday.
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I've been having a slight love affair with Helinox myself. I've only produced two chairs, but dang that hurt the wallet.
The chair is worth the money and weight to me. Being able to actually sit and read, or stare, in comfort after a nice day on the water is something I'm not willing to give up.
I doubt the table will spawn into my gear assortment (although it does look nice). I've so far been OK with a rock, log or the ground for that.
The cot OTOH would be a nice addition to my non-existent hot tent. How much would that cost? I've yet to finish paying for my new boat and dream paddle...
The chair is worth the money and weight to me. Being able to actually sit and read, or stare, in comfort after a nice day on the water is something I'm not willing to give up.
I doubt the table will spawn into my gear assortment (although it does look nice). I've so far been OK with a rock, log or the ground for that.
The cot OTOH would be a nice addition to my non-existent hot tent. How much would that cost? I've yet to finish paying for my new boat and dream paddle...
$299.95.
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Guest
Ouch! Multiply that by two because everything I get, my wife gets too. And I still need the tent!
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Guest
On first reading the subject line I thought perhaps you meant the stick and string “woodcraft” tables or platform creations sometimes found on established sites. I detest the visual blemish of those things in otherwise natural field of view.
If it is just a dimensional lumber plank bench between two logs I don’t much care, but the stick and twine macramé objects de fugliness are another story.
Personal, transportable camp furniture is another story. I’m done with long hard portages, and often the longest walk is hiking my gear into camp (which on coastal high ground-hammocks can be a goodly distance).
Given my druthers I’ll pay the penalty and bring a full sized folding chair. If I have to choose a single big, bulky thing to bring as a creature comfort it will be a full sized folding chair.
Sitting 4 inches from the ground in some tick infested venue or offering my body as a target to low hunting stable flies holds no allure, and getting my arthritic bones out of those chairs would not be a pretty sight.
Not just a full sized chair, but a full sized chair with a windscreen/sunblock headrest extension.
And, on shoulder season or winter trips, some deployable seat insulation.
In windy, off-season venues that insulated, high-backed chair is my refuge from the cold blow. I only have to be smart enough to sit back-to-the-wind, which for the most part falls within my field of awareness.
And a day hammock. I can’t get a good night’s sleep in a hammock, but I can occupy the hell out of one in camp reading, writing and relaxing.
That is an inexpensive nylon Travel Hammock that packs down to the size of a softball.
Give me a comfy, sun-wind-and-cold protected chair, and a similar day hammock station that spans the Tundra Tarp ridgeline and I’m a happy camper in all seasons and conditions.
I’m still working on the sunbrella function for desert trips at high noon.
If it is just a dimensional lumber plank bench between two logs I don’t much care, but the stick and twine macramé objects de fugliness are another story.
Personal, transportable camp furniture is another story. I’m done with long hard portages, and often the longest walk is hiking my gear into camp (which on coastal high ground-hammocks can be a goodly distance).
Given my druthers I’ll pay the penalty and bring a full sized folding chair. If I have to choose a single big, bulky thing to bring as a creature comfort it will be a full sized folding chair.
Sitting 4 inches from the ground in some tick infested venue or offering my body as a target to low hunting stable flies holds no allure, and getting my arthritic bones out of those chairs would not be a pretty sight.
Not just a full sized chair, but a full sized chair with a windscreen/sunblock headrest extension.
And, on shoulder season or winter trips, some deployable seat insulation.
In windy, off-season venues that insulated, high-backed chair is my refuge from the cold blow. I only have to be smart enough to sit back-to-the-wind, which for the most part falls within my field of awareness.
And a day hammock. I can’t get a good night’s sleep in a hammock, but I can occupy the hell out of one in camp reading, writing and relaxing.
That is an inexpensive nylon Travel Hammock that packs down to the size of a softball.
Give me a comfy, sun-wind-and-cold protected chair, and a similar day hammock station that spans the Tundra Tarp ridgeline and I’m a happy camper in all seasons and conditions.
I’m still working on the sunbrella function for desert trips at high noon.
Ouch x2! Maybe those fecund Helinox chairs need to have their aluminum tubes tied. I'm attracted to the legged, and longer legged variety of chairs now. (Attention. I'm shifting from talking furniture family planning, to planning family furniture.) I've seen those folding chairs Mike is showing (without the ingenious design changes) on some trips. They're a little bulky and heavy, but gosh they're comfy.
ps I can't find the thumbs up for Mike's mini rant against woodcraft living rooms. Logs-yes. Raised logs-yes. Multilevel rambling corduroy table configurations resembling mountain bike downhill courses-no.
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I have been reasonably satisfied with this folding aluminum table by GSI:
http://www.amazon.com/GSI-55300-Out..._sbs_sg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0HBDGHV8W2N2YG0MW11R
Weighs 3 oz more than the Helinox table, rolls up to about the same compact size, adjusts to 2 different heights, both of which are low, but about right if one is sitting in a Helinox type chair. Being aluminum, I have no reservations operating a Jet Boil stove atop one, or placing hot plates or pots on it.
http://www.amazon.com/GSI-55300-Out..._sbs_sg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0HBDGHV8W2N2YG0MW11R
Weighs 3 oz more than the Helinox table, rolls up to about the same compact size, adjusts to 2 different heights, both of which are low, but about right if one is sitting in a Helinox type chair. Being aluminum, I have no reservations operating a Jet Boil stove atop one, or placing hot plates or pots on it.
The micro table by GSI is good for one. The fabric Helinox cant be cooked on but its some 24x16 so its twice as big as the Micro by GSI . I wanted eating space for two with secure cup holders. The Macro by GSI is of course a better price and the same size as the Helinox and twice as heavy.
http://gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/macro_table
Its normal to pay twice as much or more for less weight.. Your choice! I don't do many river trips normally ( this year being an exception) and weight matters to me on portages or while stumbling and sliding on rockweed covered boulders.
I do foresee one problem with the Helinox.. when taking the Helinox family down to the dock for happy hour, if the wind comes up they are all apt to go in the lake if not occupied. I am not sure any of them swim.
http://gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/macro_table
Its normal to pay twice as much or more for less weight.. Your choice! I don't do many river trips normally ( this year being an exception) and weight matters to me on portages or while stumbling and sliding on rockweed covered boulders.
I do foresee one problem with the Helinox.. when taking the Helinox family down to the dock for happy hour, if the wind comes up they are all apt to go in the lake if not occupied. I am not sure any of them swim.
It is true that the GSI micro aluminum folding table has a quite limited surface area. But it will hold a Jet Boil, or similar compact stove, and a good sized cooking pot or skillet simultaneously. Or a decent sized plate and a coffee mug. Or a bottle of wine and two glasses. I generally use mine as a surface for hot items and supplement it with the top of one or two 30 L barrels as necessary.
I'm a nervous nellie if the stove is not square on the ground. And I even distrust my balancing a pot on a stove over a fuel tank or canister. We all decorate our kitchens differently.
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Since I am down to minimal chopping or sawing of firewood I consider boiling water to be the most potentially hazardous thing I do in camp.
I take considerable care with stove and boiling water. Using the folding tabletop on the blue barrel gives me a large perfectly flat and, since the barrel is heavy, stable surface for the stove. As long as I can find a flat piece of ground 12 inches in diameter to place the barrel I have a large level cooking and food prep area at a convenient working height where I am less likely to knock something over with a clumsy reach.
Even on uneven sites I can usually find a small level spot for the barrel.
It is especially nice to be up away from the sand, ticks, sandspurs and other ground level nasties.
I’ll be on a group trip off the Carolina coastal in a couple of weeks, in an area with notorious winds and extremely fine sand. I expect that folding tabletop to be in constant camp use.
An aside – I have been waiting to make a sub one pound version of that tabletop and happened to meet my Senator’s Chief of Staff. He has promised to save me some corrugated plastic (Coroplast) campaign lawn signs, but also had this to say: “ It’s amazing the amount of waste from the signs- wood, signs themselves, screws, etc. We try to save and reuse what we can, but you should see what the dump looks like on the 5[SUP]th[/SUP]”
It might be worth lurking at the dump on November 5[SUP]th[/SUP].
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A small,but worthwhile improvement I made to my Helinox chair, was to glue bigger crutch rubbers over the small originals to keep it from sinking into the ground.
Turtle
Turtle
I just received 2 Helinox chairs in the mail yesterday. They will replace the clunky folding chairs we have been carrying for years. They are the perfect thing to take to a parade or on a day hike. I have used one of those roll up tables for 20 years with the blue vinyl. It works surprisingly well for the galley and is very sturdy.
Next is a cot and I am leaning towards the ThermaRest.. These are concessions to aging and they are well worth the cost, because I can stay out there longer with good furniture .Last trip out we spent a week sleeping on gravel bars with rocks the size of silver dollars. A pad was marginal. I like the blue barrel turned into a table. It would perfect for drinks and appetizers too.
Next is a cot and I am leaning towards the ThermaRest.. These are concessions to aging and they are well worth the cost, because I can stay out there longer with good furniture .Last trip out we spent a week sleeping on gravel bars with rocks the size of silver dollars. A pad was marginal. I like the blue barrel turned into a table. It would perfect for drinks and appetizers too.
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Guest
The chair I use is oversized bulky and heavy, even without the attachable accoutrements. Even with their size and bulk that type of chair is prone to catastrophic failure. The legs in front and back pivot open via a weight bearing X that is attached with a long pop rivet.
After field-repairing too many of those chairs (always the front leg rivet) by using a machine screw or bent nail from the repairs bag I decided to head off that planned obsolescence by drilling out the weakling rivets, drilling the leg holes to ¼ inch diameter and installing a sturdy bolt with washers and nylock.
That chair probably has 300 days of use, in sand and uneven soil and the legs show no sign of failure. I wish I could say the same for the seams and stitching.
Yes, those dang things exactly. I have seen some truly elaborate ones, multi-level ones done up with frayed and fugly plastic twine and cheap cord.
Who does that? Or who still teaches people how to do that? Seriously, how long did that thing take to create?
Confessionally, I still use the corduroy furniture I find when setting first up camp before cutting them apart. The cord goes in my garbage and the sticks go in the fire, or are left for next person to burn.
There is some connection to the stick corduroy “furniture” and a site that is covered in mulch-like wood chips, usually 10 times the wood chips such furniture could have produced. Also not my favorite look.
I'm a newbie & been lurking all night, making little comments here & there. Already posted something like this elsewhere, but I'm completely sold on my "Alite Monarch Chair" Under a pound, slightly larger than a 1 ltr nagalene bottle, and best of all amazingly comfortable! No affiliation, just completely satisfied. https://www.rei.com/product/846402/alite-monarch-butterfly-chair
I'm not sure about a 2 legged chair. Besides I already have a chair I'm Completely Satisfied with and 3 others I thought I was.
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As long as you have a chainsaw, a chair or table is not an issue. They tend to appear as if by magic. On well established sites in the Boreal this is pretty common, along with a stone firepit and a selection of grills. Sadly it usually includes a garbage dump as well but even that can be interesting to poke around in.
I have a folding Coleman stove stand that is the cats pyjamas for cooking. I am making a wooden top for it too. Pics to follow.
Christy
I have a folding Coleman stove stand that is the cats pyjamas for cooking. I am making a wooden top for it too. Pics to follow.
Christy
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As promised...pictures of my folding table. It goes fairly small for travel and expands nicely. You can forego the wooden top and just put the stove on the rails, as I have done many times, but I now have this cool roll up table top. The two grooves in the bottom fit onto the rails to stiffen the whole affair up and the bungee cord wraps around the back to hold it down in place. You can roll it up for travel, around the legs, and stuff the entire setup in a smallish bag.
Put my PFD on top of the barrel and I have somewhere to sit while cooking and drinking my coffee. Pretty slick.
As promised...pictures of my folding table. It goes fairly small for travel and expands nicely. You can forego the wooden top and just put the stove on the rails, as I have done many times, but I now have this cool roll up table top. The two grooves in the bottom fit onto the rails to stiffen the whole affair up and the bungee cord wraps around the back to hold it down in place. You can roll it up for travel, around the legs, and stuff the entire setup in a smallish bag.
Put my PFD on top of the barrel and I have somewhere to sit while cooking and drinking my coffee. Pretty slick.
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