Chair Comparisons


[The photo here is Bill, our former Managing Director, weighing in at about 90 kilos, plus 200 kilograms of cement, on one of our Lumbar Chairs rated at 130 kilos! The chair was subsequently put in our reception area and used for many years.]

Static Weight Limit

 

 

 

The issue of static weight limits is a weighty one! Australia has no official standard for what a chair's static weight limit should be. So, the Irish sage Rafferty has become the unofficial authority under Rafferty’s Rules, which means the typical Irish approach of having no rules at all. In many cases, it simply became a ridiculous competition to see who could invent the highest and dodgiest number.

By definition, static weight limits apply only to static loads, which means the weight of someone sitting in the chair without movement. It does not apply to someone falling into the chair from a height or distance, flopping down, or standing on it. These actions can dramatically increase the force on the chair.

For example, if you flop into a chair from a short height at just 2 km/h (less than half walking speed), you can effectively triple the weight on the chair. If your actual weight is 80 kg, your "plonk" weight becomes 240 kg. If you're 100 kg, the impact becomes 300 kg. Striking the chair at an angle may reduce the vertical force but introduces large horizontal shearing forces.

The weight limit also assumes that the chair is set up correctly, used on level ground, and not used for rocking. For instance, 80 kg distributed across four legs means 20 kg per leg. If you're balancing on two legs, that's 40 kg per leg, which is effectively testing the chair at 160 kg. More importantly, chairs are primarily designed to support weight vertically. They have very little structural support for horizontal or shear forces.

The weight limits used by Outdoor Connection are those quoted by our manufacturers, who follow a range of testing procedures. One example of a recognised testing protocol is the European Standard EN581.

Your main guide should be the actual product specifications. Check the overall weight of the chair. If two chairs are similar in size and style, the heavier one is often the better built. For more details, look at the diameter and wall thickness of the steel tubing and the weight of the fabrics used.

Sit in the chair and see how far you sink and how comfortable you feel after five or ten minutes. In many cheap chairs, your knees are higher than your ears by then! You do not go to your campsite to sit for thirty seconds at a time unless you are a very fast drinker!

We aim to provide as much information as possible so you can see the difference. Our product information is still a work in progress, so please contact us if you have any questions. We are not here to criticise other brands, just to highlight the quality of our own.

Outdoor Connection — Quality you can see, feel and trust.