Early Native Americans may have been the first to create a comfortable back-rest such as this. This is not a new idea.
As you may realize by now I like fluted plastic. It’s a wonderful sturdy material that I’m discovering can be used for lots of things.
I was curious to see how well the material would hold up for a chair such as this.
I’ve taken it to the beach several times now and enjoy the versatility of the different seating positions you can create by adjusting the poles.
On the right is the first prototype using some scrap. It too worked well. I bolted together two 5/8″ diameter wood dowels cut to 2ft lengths for support.
I wanted a head rest when leaning back, so extra length was added on the second version. On the third and final version I added a dense foam pad to sit
on and as a head rest. New smaller 1/2″ diameter collapsable aluminum poles were created to keep the weight down, which is one pound four ounces.
If you’re interested in making one yourself, here are the basic dimensions. I’m almost 6ft tall. The mid crease near the 7″ mark is located 14″ from the top.
The 4ft long aluminum was purchased at a big box home improvement store, along with the rubber boots and velcro. I glued half way up the larger sleeves
to the pole ends.
They fold nicely into a 14″ long length, the same as the width of the seat.
Nuts were filed to fit and hammered into the tube ends as shown. The other two nuts were installed on the boot end of the other tubes.
I purchased 3 feet of 3/16″ bungee cord. The riveted on velcro strap has the loop on one side and the hairy mesh on the other. Great for bundling stuff.
I used 5/16 diameter bungee to hold the seat-back in place when folded. The post pockets make a nice carrying handle as well. I can also slip a book or drawing pad and pencil between the layers.