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It’s hard to make a camp chair sexy. But for the past decade, Helinox has done a pretty good job of it. When you see their chairs on a shelf at REI, their bread-loaf sized packaging and spindly aluminum legs don’t inspire much confidence. But sitting in one is to marvel in engineering. I’ve owned their impossibly light Chair One (a small, but fully featured chair that weighs a scant two pounds) for years and it’s held up great. It’s so light that I frequently stuff it in the bottom of my pack on backpacking trips.
This week, Helinox launched its newest product, the Bench One. It takes many of Helinox’s time-tested design attributes, like DAC aluminum poles and metal connector hubs, and puts them in a package for two. It weighs just over four pounds and packs into an 18×4-inch bag. It’s worth noting that it holds up to 320 pounds, while the average adult male weighs right around 190 pounds, so you’ll want to choose your sitting partner carefully.
The Bench One, is in fact, just a bench. But it’s also the first travel-friendly bench I’ve ever seen on the market.
Admittedly, I’ve yet to try it out. I suspect I’ll miss being able to slouch in the way I do with my camp chair. And cupholders would be nice. And sometimes I prefer to be in my own chair with my own space. But benches build camaraderie and are more efficient space-wise than two camp chairs. I certainly want one.
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