I've recently started fishing a very overgrown lake. The paths are almost non existent so there's a lot of forcing your way through undergrowth to get to the ‘swims'. I've been thinking of ways to lessen the bulk of the gear I take as it's a struggle with a loaded barrow. I use an aqua atom plus and 10ft rods so that helps but it was the bed that was the main issue. They're just so cumbersome! So I bought Robens camp bed and it's great! I only really do a night at a time but it's made me question whether or not bedchairs are even necessary. Does the fact it's a bit higher off the ground and is fairly easy to fold out outweigh all the benefits of using a mega light and easily transportable camp bed? Tbh once I've faffed around with my Bedchair it's no quicker than the camp bed and the camp bed fits easily into my under barrow bag meaning pushing and manoeuvring the barrow is so much easier. Just not really sure how we arrived at the standard design for a Bedchair really.

In reply to Post #1
Most bedchairs nowadays are just really beds, most of them dont incorporate the chair part in them, so in reality everything is the same just different sizes and weights, so what you have essentially bought is to me just a different bedchair

In reply to Post #1
Comfort . . . the fact is camping is uncomfortable - sleeping on the ground is cold damp and wet so bedchairs have evolved to at least give us a little respite. Anyone that says 'its as comfy as my bed at home' is either on drugs or just has a really crap argos bed at home . . .

To sleep on That aside I'd use a thermorest quite happily

I've been down this path..

You've got two choices ,a thermarest as said,or look at Helinox bedchairs ,backalong ,I did a thread on them..

(I use a Helinox Chair one xl for all my carp and course fishing,I won't be going back to a conventional day chair any time soon.. )

The Helinox bedchairs,can be upgraded to adjustable, but they not cheap ...I fish a quiet place or two, its more than possible though to carry on using the lightest conventional carp bedchair ,say a xlite,and put a Dpm tarp inside ,and a walking pole or two,maybe learn a plow point configuration..oh,and sleeping bag can be a snugpak ,junglebag,reality is they not that warm..

Look to the Bushcraft,Wildcamping World,it's where I get my inspiration from

Edit,I should have said... no barrow used at all,carry it all over rough ground...I use a waterfilter,but most would not do that though..my kit on quiet places are if it helps you a bit

Two rods fully protected in double sleeve
Bedchair,plus tarp
Unhooking mat on rucksack
Everything in a 40 litre rucksack,in my case an ESP,or back along a Kombat UK klone

Double edit,lol..I have spent my entire carping time ,a long time minimally as I can,..I bet you 99% of anglers would look at this facet of my set up and ,go no way!..I'd just nod and smile

In short ,if you can barrow,nice one..you can still be super minimak ,if not carrying is the way..

In reply to Post #5
Tbh the thing I like least about carp fishing is the bulky and heavy items of kit. It makes me feel tied down and detracts from the actual fishing imo. I looked at hellinox (couldn't justify the cost as it was a bit of an experiment) and other brands but I'm really pleased with the Robens.

Do you have a link for the adjustable legs? Done a search but couldn't find anything, only the extensions...

I have a few ways of taking a bed with me depending on where I am going.

Just take a normal fishing "bed chair", large to transport about but comfortable and storage space underneath

Take a collapsible bed with four detachable legs that just rolls up similiar to a normal camp bed. and pack away to nothing. Easy to transport, but low to the ground and unable to store any baggage etc underneath.
Like the following for example

https://www.millets.co.uk/15987165/eurohike-utah-4-leg-campbed-15987165

An airbed. Most comfortable of all, but a pain to blow up and no room to store anything underneath and bulky inside a bivvy.

Just sleep on the ground with a foam mat or a SIM.

And my most favourite bed, a US army cot I bought in the 80's for £15, very comfortable, high up off the ground for sitting on, bags of room underneath and packs away to nothing to go on the barrow with no bulk. Its only problem is the legs are not adjustable so I take some blocks of wood for levelling. When Winter comes along with very long nights 12 hour plus, this is my choice of beds as I can spends hours at a time on it and get a good sleep on it with no aches, pains. bad backs or sore spots etc. But, it also needs something warm on top of it in Winter like a foam mat which is perfect. Never tried a SIM on it as never had the need to improve the comfort.

I also have 4 British army ones of the same design but they are not as good and seem to break or rip easy, cheap copies by the cheapest bidding contractor for the UK government probably.

In reply to Post #7
DM,I seen these removable and adjustable legs on an American survival channel during the 'experiment'..I cannot for the life of me remember which channel it was on ,it might have been l9newolf 101..until he fell out with a sponsor or the Outdoor gear channel,if I find it,I'll send it to you

Cheers, be great if you do come across it. The adjustable leg factor is possibly the only stumbling block with these type of beds.

The advent of 2DPA-1 could eventually help to lighten standard fishing bedchairs.

In reply to Post #10
What's this 2DPA-1..then mate ,a super light alloy or similar I guess?

Bivvys, Rods, Bite alarms have all come on leaps and bounds since there initial conception. But so called " Bedchairs " have changed little since Fox introduced the Bedchair to the market in the mid eighties. There basically still the same big heavy awkward to transport things they have always been. It's about time a lot of these brands went back to the drawing board with the concept. And I definately think the way to go is with some of the ideas like what's already been mentioned the outdoor companys are coming out with.

In reply to Post #12
Comfort / Height / Strength & a level of adjustability are important - weight and speed/ease of assembly also key - def think that materials could be improved upon and like the integrated SIM on the Helikon . . .

In reply to Post #11
I'm no expert but have a read...

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/materials/2dpa-1-polymer-10518.html

In reply to Post #12
The thing is do they have to go back to the drawing board? There are alternatives out there, and very few people use them. Which would suggest there isnt really a market for it. Added to the fact that there are a lot of lakes which you can either park behind the swim or at least dump your gear behind, would also suggest there isnt really a need for a camping style bed

In reply to Post #15
Personally think most standard beds are ridiculously oversized - let alone wideboys / emperors etc and they aren't necessarily more comfy - a bed with an integrated SIM and good height / levelling ability made out of an uber light material and sensible footprint could be good

The only purpose they serve is to sleep off the rat ridden ground of a ‘fishery' or urban tow path.
Awful bloody things

In reply to Post #16
Oversized in what way? The bedchair I have is pretty much the same size as my sleeping bag, which is probably what most people want??
I think it's also important to remember, that an awful lot of anglers sit sideways on their bedchairs, looking out at the water, or cooking etc, so the bed has to be able to withstand alot of weight in a small area.
As I've said I think if you were to see more people on the bank using a camping bed instead of a traditional bedchair then they might start thinking abit differently, but I just dont think theres a massive market for them, bit like tents vs bivvys

In reply to Post #11
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/materials/2dpa-1-polymer-10518.html

In reply to Post #1
Have you answered your question with your solution?

Agree with reply #17 also otherwise a sleeping bag and roll mat if you fancy it with the rats and adders may be the way to go with the pond you're fishing on?

In reply to Post #17
The rodent issue is a massive one.

I think design and materials used can certainly be improved upon but Christ knows how much tackle companies will be charging for a Carpy camp bed by then.

In reply to Post #21
Let's not pretend a big rat can't easily gnaw through a zipped up bivvy and scale all of 10” into a bed chair, but it seems safer up there

In reply to Post #23
I went to a day ticket with so many rats you had to fish your banksticks higher than usual as they ran through the indicators!

Bloody massive things that could definately scale a chair leg

In reply to Post #18
They're generally much bigger in footprint - case in point just getting rid of an ancient JRC Cocoon (spare for the kids) which at the time was considered a large bedchair - measure this against a 'standard' sized bedchair from today (eg Tactical X) and its tiny! Have we all got fatter / heavier?

In reply to Post #16
hit the nail on head " levelability " if any of the cots had a levelling capability i would be all in for one. too many banks are uneven to consider it.

In reply to Post #26
>>>" if any of the cots had a levelling capability i would be all in for one.<<<<<

There is a simple way to do it with the "Cot" style bed. You buy some "ALUMINIUM SQUARE BOX SECTION TUBE" off Ebay, its only cheap, which is just big enough to fit over the box section tube on the cot like a sleeve, perhaps lengths of 12" and then you just drill holes through on 2 of the opposite faces at 1/2" spaces. Then it is just a case of adjusting the bed till its level and hold it in place with a steel pin through the Box section. The leg on the Cot rests on the pin so no need to drill the cots legs.

It would be a bit like the earlier beds where you adjusted them with holes and pins through the frame, which is a better system than what you get with these friction ones that eventually wear out and slip.

I have been meaning to do it for years but never got around to it. Plus, I was also going to do it with my normal beds to raise them but using tubular aluminium.

Why do we use Bedchairs?

because im fat and i like to lay down whilst eating crisps.

In reply to Post #28
I go with that, I have a nash indulgence, don't like giving that miserable git dosh but needs must , the beds great

In reply to Post #25
I bought a damaged Nash MF60 sleep system. The legs on the MK1 MF60 are a faulty design and snap - hence the MK2 (which is still crap)

I had done a bit of research and took the plunge. The Nash system arrived. It's a compact size and is 72” across. I swapped the legs off it for a set taken off an18 year old JRC Cocoon and they fitted perfectly, plus enabled me to swap out the single leg at the head end for a double.

As Chris (Belch) has stated the Cocoon at the time was considered a large bedchair and a chair of the same size now is considered a ‘compact'

Funny old world.

Bespoke made to measure bedchairs it's the future.

I believe ,bulky bedchairs are the last frontier in design ,in so far as tackle sizing, from my point of view,we could improve on bivvy design a bit more I think sometimes.

Innovation and materials change all the time,so do people's expectations.

I had a design in my mind for a while,having looked at cots and carp bedchairs,I think it would work ,only alas, I'm only a poor service provider, the word I'm going to drop ,is ,concertina, married to a Helinox ,and made adjustable,with mud ball feet,not flat ,hinge feet..it would change the amount of bulk we carry ,for sure

It will happen.Someone who thinks outside the box like me,who doesn't accept the 'normal ' will do it .

In reply to Post #32
Funny you say that as I think the pramhood was/is the pinnacle in bivvy design and improved further with the latter 2 rib design .... Everything else since (Ie Pioneers or Tempest types) are over engineered and more about marketing imo.
.
You can be pretty compact design bedchairs - JRC X-Lite is very compact ... The problem is the size of 5season sleeping bags being so big and bulky. Talking of bulk some of the size of unhooking mats/cradles are rdiculously bulky

In reply to Post #33
Absolutely..

In fact how about this...a year ago I met and spoke at length, most of an evening with the main man himself, as he was helping me restock a lake ..I was asked this question,did I have a tempest,no I replied ,I have your original design mk1 armo,...

I asked in turn ,has the bivvy design reached a certain level,all things considered,yes..was the definitive answer,only thing that could be improved for mainstream markets are components and material,...I was also told about a specific design,but I will keep my promise to him,as he was so knowledgeable and helpful,really lovely guy..

Personally,I have had a tempest..I preferred, by a country mile the pramhood 3 rib design, although,my mk1 ,did die ,so I now use the Tacklebox longtop,...so Tcarper is right ,an awesome bivvy ,but based on pramhood..

👌

I often go with a Hennessy hammock, a thermarest and an extra tarp to sit under. Considering upgrading to a Haven tent hammock or the Amok Draumir where you can sleep flat.
Needs trees thou but not a problem where I fish.

Everything, including a small lightweight chair weighs less than a bedchair and fits in the rucksack.

In reply to Post #33
Funny you say that as once I took my sleeping bag and cover out of the Bedchair after buying the camp bed I thought it didn't look too bad after all