Sling Chair

P

PaulTX

Joined
Aug 9, 2006
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74
Somewhere in my past Internet wanderings I remember seeing an Indian (American) sling chair that was fairly easy to make. I thought about it today and have been searching but no luck. I'm not sure it is called a sling chair - that's the mental picture I have. It was made out of a sturdy cloth and branches. Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Paul
 
That's a new one on me, I've only ever seen the modern US Sling-Light and Crazy Creek Cradle Lounger chairs.

I'm trying to visualize how the original Indian chairs would look.
 
I don't have a picture of it for you, but you are talking about a camp chair. You can find one on youtube. Mine is a nylon version of the coffee sack chair that is depicted there. It gives lots of back support and doubles as a stuff sack when I'm backpacking.
 
We make them at the wlc regularly. We make them to show how you can fashion a litter easily. Take a blanket and lay it out. Take two long poles and place them parallel to eachother on the edges. Roll the blanket around the poles tightly. Place weight in the middle and hold the poles tightly. The friction will keep the blanket from unrolling off the pole.

Now, if you properly attach these "rolled" poles to two tripods or two trees you can make a pretty comfortable bed or seat. Hope this helps.
 
I seem to remember seeing something like this in a book when I was a kid, but I can't for the life of me remember what it looked like. If anyone comes up with a photo or a drawing, I would be interested, too.
 
It seems to me the chair frame (of some type) was set up and the fabric or fabric with thin wood "slats" was hung from the top of the frame and allowed to drape on the ground for the seat. Mainly, this was back support.

Thanks for the replies and I'll do more searching and check you tube.

As you get older, you appreciate something to lean against!

Paul
 
Camp Chair on You Tube

This chair looks good - a little more work than I envisioned. The video does a good job of explaining except for the top attachment of the nylon sling.

Paul

ETA: Looks like another loop sewn at the top with some kind of material to tie it to the top of the tripod.
 
Last edited:
PaulTX said:
It seems to me the chair frame (of some type) was set up and the fabric or fabric with thin wood "slats" was hung from the top of the frame and allowed to drape on the ground for the seat. Mainly, this was back support.

Thanks for the replies and I'll do more searching and check you tube.

As you get older, you appreciate something to lean against!

Paul
Click to expand...

I know what your talking about, i believe it comes from the plains indians. i think my dad might even have one or two of them but ill have to double check.
 
I saw a design in Nomadic Furniture that really piqued my interest.

It is pretty simple, just a triangle of material with a pocket sewn into each corner. You make a low tripod and put the top of each leg into a pocket, and sitting on the seat tensions it so that it becomes stronger the more weight you apply (within the load bearing limits of the materials).

IMG_4387.jpg


My prototype was an equilateral triangle, 12" on each side, made from two layers of cotton fabric. Not only was it too small, the fabric wasn't strong enough to support my weight for more than about 5 minutes. My next version will be made from a heavier material, probably canvas, and it will be either 18" or 24" on each side. The first prototype weighed in at something like 1 ounce, so it was very light. A larger, heavier duty version should only weight around 4 or 5 ounces. Heavy for some, but for some camping situations it would be perfect.

I'm also considering trying to make a chair like the first link above. I've also seen the one made from canvas. Both look pretty cool. I might go for nylon to make it lighter.
 
For the life of me, I can't remember of the British survivalist dude (not Grylls) who has had 5 or... Ray Mears! I've been trying to remember his name for hours now. Anyway. he did an episode in the Vietnames jungles and his guest had a camp set up that featured on of those chairs.

Affixing the sling to the tripod is pretty simple. I ran a cord through some holes in the top of the bag then wrapped the cord and the bag opening around the tripod top until it was secure and tight. Sit down carefully the first time to help settle the wrapped cloth and cord snugly around tripod. The legs of the tripod should be no less than 2/3's the thickness of your wrist. the length of the legs should be taller than you when you are standing.
 
That is really amazing :eek:

I never thought of that, I have a tripod seat that I grabbed from wally world that looks a lot like siguy's seat :o Now I have another project to add to my list....thanks for the videos :)
 
Of course, you could end up finding out how the saying, "getting your ass in a sling" came about. . .

:D :) :D :) :D

Pics would really be helpful.

-- FLIX
 
After a lot of thought, and reading very positive reviews, I bought a Walkstool Comfort 55/22 (the 55/22 denotes the height in Cm and inches). The weight limit for the 55/22 is 440 lbs, 200 kg.

Very light, incredibly strong, with a waterproof, vented seating material, and a varied size range, its the modern version of the type shown in Siguy's post, and being disabled, I find the ability to sit comfortably quite necessary (got Cradle Loungers for the same reason).

The Walkstool website, here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsaZYl4Hqno

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gajgCZAUgk0
 
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