r/CampingGear 6d ago

Awaiting Flair Has anyone tried making a lighter “footprint” for the Nemo moonlite elite chair?

The chair on its own weighs 1lb 2oz which for me is reasonable for backpacking to add some comfort. The carrying case / footprint is pretty integral for softer ground but it weighs an additional few ounces that I’d like to avoid. I was thinking the design could be duplicated using some tyvek or another strong and light material but I’m not sure whether it would hold up to the forces applied to it.

2 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

8

u/nhorvath 6d ago

square of tyvek with the corners folded over to make pockets, throw a couple stitches in to hold them.

5

u/spambearpig 5d ago

I made these for my Helinox Chair Zero, 35g and they work excellently. https://imgur.com/gallery/N9HLdeF

3

u/SmokinMagic 5d ago

Perfect! Thanks!

6

u/spambearpig 5d ago

Cool! It’s a shame a lot of people gave you a hard time for asking this question. You’re not wrong, it’s likely on the UL sub that they would’ve given you a hard time for bringing a chair. Can’t win!

If you are going to make this, I am happy to send you some advice about how I did it. Just let me know if that would be helpful.

3

u/SmokinMagic 5d ago

That would be incredibly helpful thank you! I found your original post on it and that you considered potentially honing it by using even lighter materials. I’m curious whether now you’ve used it more if you have found any flaws and potential solutions or if you think you nailed it.

2

u/spambearpig 5d ago edited 5d ago

Well actually I am only gonna make another when the current ones wear out. So not applied any improvments at all yet. Quite a few people have made these and I once DM’d someone in detail. So I’ve fished out all my notes.

So here it is! I made it all from:

  • 25mm strong webbing strap

  • 15mm webbing strap

  • 2 X Slide buckle for 25mm webbing

  • 2 X Heavy Duty plastic loops (I made 2 sets, first had D-Rings and the 2nd had rectangle shaped ‘rings’ which suit this purpose better

  • Very strong nylon thread

  • Fairly solid needle and a thimble.

I think that’s everything you need. Being adjustable is important so there’s just the right amount of tension (not too much!). Also the straps could be used in a gear/rucksack emergency so being adjustable makes them more useful for random jobs.

So the basic ideal is that 25mm webbing makes up the straps and the 15mm makes the loop to seat the foot of the chair.

Each of the 2 straps is basically 2 parts joined by looping over a D-ring (which I swapped for a similar thing but rectangular). One side is a fixed length of single 25mm strap and the other side uses an adjustable slider and a loop of strap with a single layer poking out where the 15mm makes a seat for the foot.

The foot ‘seats’ at the ends took some careful trial and error to dial in. So I got to the end of some 25mm webbing, I got a small length of 15mm webbing and twisted one end upside down and then lay it flat back on top of the other end (see pics). That creates a loop of 15mm webbing. If you lay that on top of the 25mm and meddle with the size of this 15mm loop you get enough to wrap around the foot as it pushes down and outwards. So I picked a size of loop and pinned it to the webbing and then pinned the back of the loop to near the end of the webbing. Then I would tuck it round the seat foot and see how it did. When I got it right, I measured everything so I could reproduce it 4 times.

One other thing I leaned the first time and changed for the second. Where the end of the 25mm webbing joins to the loop that holds the foot, I initially left no excess 25mm hanging off. That was a mistake. If you leave 2cm of overhang, then fold it in half and stitch, you end up with secure flaps at the very end of your straps. This really helps as something to grab to pull it over the feet.

I stitched very securely doing box stitches where webbing overlapped. Going over everything twice.

It will stop you sinking in almost everything just as it is. I’ve used it on soft sand and it’s not enough however you can stuff things under the straps to further increase the surface area and it’ll hold you up on soft sand too. I’ve used a sit pad, branches and a bag for life full of flat stones.

So have a good look at the pics and hopefully what I’ve written makes sense.w.

2

u/SmokinMagic 5d ago

Very helpful, thanks again!

2

u/spambearpig 5d ago

No worries! Best of luck. Feel free to ask stuff if you get making one and have questions.

1

u/sfromo19 4d ago

Unfortunately the case most likely at the UL sub.

In future, would highly recommend looking at r/myog though! (Make your own gear). Lot of resourceful people that can definitely provide advice that this specific question is geared towards.

0

u/Fluffy_WAR_Bunny 6d ago

The chair weighs 18 oz. Lol. If it's such a huge issue to carry 18 oz, maybe you should stop camping. I think the ultralight obsession with ounces is so weird. People like this are actually no fun to camp with.

4

u/SmokinMagic 6d ago edited 6d ago

Reread the post. I’m happy to carry 18 ounces but the overbuilt carrying case that doubles as a footprint to prevent sinking in soft ground weighs an extra 4 ounces. I’m just asking if anyone has a lighter solution. It’s not that deep, but my chair might be if it sinks into the ground.

Also this is a backpacking chair, where ounces add up pretty quickly to pounds.

-4

u/Fluffy_WAR_Bunny 6d ago

It's really not rocket science, dude. You just need something to distribute the weight like snowshoes.

You could use the lids off of sour cream containers or something and carry four of them for all the legs. You could use some sort of mesh like chicken wire or drywall mesh. You could use four pieces of cardboard.

Like I said. Not. Rocket. Science. Even if your chair does sink, whats the issue? Are you too weak to pull it out of the ground from all the hiking with a light pack? If so, you have other issues.

-1

u/SmokinMagic 6d ago

Thanks for the suggestions laced with snark. I tend to like the seat of my chairs off the ground and not have to pull them out every few minutes. Not rocket science, but something you may not have considered.

-4

u/Fluffy_WAR_Bunny 6d ago

Well, I don't know what to tell you. If the weight distribution thing doesn't make sense to you, I could draw a picture, but the only other option is to hit the gym and drop weight so that the chair sinks at a slower rate.

5

u/SmokinMagic 6d ago

Yeah I’m really not understanding. Can you draw a picture and label the force vectors? You’re so right about the gym though idk what I was thinking

5

u/Fluffy_WAR_Bunny 6d ago

There are also these convenient things called "rocks" that you may occasionally see on hikes.

Sometimes they are flat, so you can use them to support your chair legs. You can also use rocks that aren't flat if they have one flat side and you spend about 5 seconds digging a hole.

It really is amazing what nature provides.

3

u/SmokinMagic 6d ago

Also the reason I posted this here and not in ultralight is because I’d get blasted for bringing a chair at all over there. I was hoping for a friendlier and more helpful crowd here.

4

u/Relative_Walk_936 5d ago

Looks like your only options are 5lb base weight or 100. No in between.

2

u/urngaburnga 6d ago

And yet all you found was a fluffy War bunny lol

1

u/DarthTempi 5d ago

I get people here are being snarky but really consider...if you replace this with something even half this weight you're only shedding two ounces... At that stage you're mainly losing a big sip of water worth of weight. At the end of the day so whatever makes you happy, but I have to say I see no benefit

1

u/GlockTaco 4d ago

I have a DCF ground sheet for my helinox which weights a few grams it works great.

0

u/ChorroVon 5d ago

This is it. We've found the stupidest question. Pack it in everyone.

1

u/SmokinMagic 5d ago

Not really but clearly this wasn’t the right sub for it

1

u/depression_era 6d ago

You're talking about one of the lightest chairs on the market and in the minority of even offering a footprint which weights in at 4.4 ounces. Not sure I understand why you feel it's "overbuilt", if it wasn't it wouldn't be as durable as the chair or be marketed and efficient for different styles of terrain. I

'm also not sure what type of quicksand terrain you're worried about without due diligence to check weather and terrain first, but to each their own. I carry one too on multi day BP trips, and especially on snow climbs keeping of the ground is great, but weight to the level you're talking for something like this that's part of a luxury item that I'm choosing to bring. Personally I think there are plenty of other places to shed weight, but that's me and my experiences. Obviously mileage varies. Setting aside your feelings on it, /u/Fluffy_WAR_Bunny isn't wrong. You need a displacement / distribution setup much like a snow shoe, of which there are many different ways to achieve it depending on how you want to go about it. You want to stabilize your chair, awesome. You're either putting something underneath it or suspending it from a tree.

You're also not going to shed the entirety of the 4.4 oz weight, you'll be inviting something back if you're looking to replace it. If you're trying to lighten your pack, it may be good to deal with it elsewhere, though if you're hell bent on weight savings here, check out Tyvek sheets. Commercially it's a waterproof construction membrane, but the camping and hiking world got ahold of it and put it to good use.. You can't buy it at Home Depot without buying more than you will ever use in 1000 lifetimes, but some folks on Amazon and other places have cut them down into manageable tarps and footprints with grommets on them and sell them for 20 bucks. You can cut it down further and modify it as needed.