Finding a comfortable place to sit while camping can be a struggle, and carrying a full-on camping chair while hiking to camp isn’t exactly appealing. The PacBack Trio is a pretty clever solution to these problems, transforming from a light, portable air mattress into what looks like a comfy chair in seconds.
The PacBack Trio is the first product from a couple of young designers who initially prototyped the concept while in college. The entire unit weighs a little over 2 lb (0.9 kg) and packed up, its dimensions are a tiny 9.5 in x 4.5 in (24cm X 11cm), but when fully unrolled in mattress mode measures 72 x 20 in (182 x 51 cm).
The base of the PacBack is insulated, as any decent camping air mattress should be, and the material is measured to have a durability of 150 denier, which isn’t too bad, although you wouldn’t want to be sliding over sharp rocks with it.
It is called a Trio due to its triad of uses, but really it’s the mattress/chair combo that is important. The third “pillow” function is essentially a triangular pocket that you can stuff with clothes to make a pillow for the mattress. Useful, but not revolutionary.
The mattress isn’t self-inflating so you’ll need a bit of lung power or a separate pump to get it good to go, but the transformation from mattress to chair seems speedy and straightforward, involving a simple fold and attachment of two triangular zippers.
Considering the entire object is pretty light we’re not entirely sure what kind of back support it will actually give, but it no doubt varies based on the level of inflation. You would hope the zippers are durable as they’ll be holding virtually all of your weight if you want to really sit back and recline.
The PacBack Trio has just launched on Kickstarter and it’s off to a flying start, so this one will most likely get across the line. One Pack Back Trio will cost you between US$125 and $140 depending on how much of an early bird discount you can snag. The company expects delivery in May 2018 if everything goes to plan, and while the timeline looks realistic this is a new company so there are no guarantees.
Take a look at the PacBack Trio in the vid
PacBack Trio lightweight inflatable mattress doubles as a chair [New Atlas]