winter poll: bean bag chairs

jon hansen

jon hansen

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May 25, 2012
4,335
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
how many of you sail with bean bag chairs on board?

i do. i like how the even out one's seat at any degree of heal. enjoy them on the helm seat for long sessions of driving, for racing too. the kids love them on the fore deck.


i rarely see them on other vessels.
they'd float if the boat sank:yikes:
 
tfox2069

tfox2069

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Apr 8, 2011
768
Hunter 40 Deale, MD
I've never had the room to store them conveniently on any boat I've ever owned, but we did have them on the 42 foot catamaran we rented in the BVIs last year. The problem was that you got really hot after sitting in them for a short time, sweating wherever you touched them, so everyone avoided them after trying them once. YMMV but for those two reasons I think I'll continue to avoid them on my boat.
 
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WayneH

WayneH

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Jan 22, 2008
1,039
Tartan 37 287 Pensacola, FL
I've heard of using bean bag chairs on offshore fishing gigs. 7 guys, 6 chairs. When the helmsman gets tired on being pounded by the boat, he swaps with someone else and they get pounded for a while.

Not my idea of a fun fishing trip.
 
Richard19068

Richard19068

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Jun 11, 2004
1,633
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
jon hansen said:
how many of you sail with bean bag chairs on board?
Click to expand
Doesn't work well on my boat but I double handed from Tahati to Nuku Hiva to Hilo on a friends boat and the bean bag was wonderfully comfortable. Had some problems with the auto pilod but could set up to kick back in the bean bag and steer with your feet. Worked out great.
 
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Hayden Watson

Hayden Watson

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Apr 5, 2009
2,819
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
I have heard of using bean bag chairs on boats but haven't seen anywhere to get one. Any sources? I did see a video of Mads on Sail Life where they made a pair.
 
patrickfarley

patrickfarley

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Jan 10, 2011
321
Macgregor 25 675 Lake Lanier
Sitting on the bow fishing while anchored in Sarasota Bay.
Tie down the fishing pole in case you fall asleep.
I keep it in the v berth.
 
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rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,377
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I use them in the bow of my stink pot. Have not on my sailboats.
 
Siamese

Siamese

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Aug 2, 2009
641
Catalina 315 Muskegon
We always have two onboard, and we love them. It's been 10+ years since I tried some inexpensive TV beanbag chairs, and liked them so much that I decided to make them out of Sunbrella and sell them. We had an Amish canvas worker north of Muskegon, Michigan make a couple hundred for us. We got a booth at Strictly Sail in Chicago to test the market and sold a mess of them. My wife and I figured we'd just sort of mom & pop them, and didn't get a patent, although I don't know it would have been possible anyway.

We saw the writing on the wall when a large, nationally known retailer bought two of them. Within about three months, a knockoff appeared in their catalog and we knew we were done. Fun while it lasted, though.

Here's what they looked like. We're still on our original pair on our boat, as they're very durable, and have just a handful on hand if they ever wear out.
 
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TimFromLI

TimFromLI

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Jan 7, 2014
401
Beneteau 45F5 51551 Port Jefferson
I bought a pair from West Marine, they're great. Just make sure you tie them down, they blow away easily.
 
Apex

Apex

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Jun 19, 2013
1,197
C&C 30 Elk Rapids
@Siamese are you looking to sell more? How has the sunbrella held up? What about commissioning design to Sailrite?
 
Siamese

Siamese

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Aug 2, 2009
641
Catalina 315 Muskegon
Apex said:
@Siamese are you looking to sell more? How has the sunbrella held up? What about commissioning design to Sailrite?
Click to expand
Nah, we're out of it. I kept a few unfilled bags for backup if the ones we've been using ever wear out.
 
Hayden Watson

Hayden Watson

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Apr 5, 2009
2,819
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
Siamese said:
Nah, we're out of it. I kept a few unfilled bags for backup if the ones we've been using ever wear out.
Click to expand
Would you be willing to share your patterns for those of us who do our own fabric work?;)
 
Siamese

Siamese

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Aug 2, 2009
641
Catalina 315 Muskegon
I don't have them anymore. When I started, I just got a teardrop shaped beanbag chair from Meijer (a midwest chain), cut it up at the seams, and used them to create the patterns. Did a couple prototypes with some inexpensive canvas from Hobby Lobby before I moved on to Sunbrella and 500 denier (I think) Cordura for the bottoms. The cheap ones from the store has some sort of a white liner in them, but I didn't bother with that. The only part I found tricky to sew was where the side panel met the front panels at the very top of the seat, because of the stiffness of the Sunbrella. Although that didn't seem to give the Amish any trouble.

Interesting side note: The Amish worked out in sort of a barn structure on Consew Model 206 machines. Mostly women, in Amish garb, singing hymns as they worked. So how did they do it without electricity? They had a diesel powered air compressor and tank with compressed air lines running to each of a half dozen or so sewing machines. Then, in place of the usual clutch pedal arrangement used on an electric motor powered machine, they used their feet to activate the valve for a compressed air powered motor. Instead of the constant whirring sound of the big motor on an industrial machine, it would be dead quiet until they pressed the pedal, and the pdddddffffft.
 
Hayden Watson

Hayden Watson

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Apr 5, 2009
2,819
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
The Amish make great use of pneumatics. I have seen a cabinets shop that was all air-powered. It had previously been powered by overhead drive lines and belts but the conversion to air made very thing much nicer.
 
PaulK

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,241
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Have been thinking about this idea of bean-bag chairs and the problem they present with the amount of room they take up when stowed. What about using something that's on board already -- a bagged spinnaker? You can only fly one at a time, so there should be one or two around of a different weight, even if you have one up. The bags are sturdy sailcloth, and they might stuff into a much smaller space than a bean-bag chair.
 
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rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,377
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
PaulK said:
Have been thinking about this idea of bean-bag chairs and the problem they present with the amount of room they take up when stowed. What about using something that's on board already -- a bagged spinnaker? You can only fly one at a time, so there should be one or two around of a different weight, even if you have one up. The bags are sturdy sailcloth, and they might stuff into a much smaller space than a bean-bag chair.
Click to expand
Hmmm … so you would need to design a sail bag shaped like a beanbag chair? That might work:beer:
 
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