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Idleback Combo Chair

Idleback Combo Chair

I have a ‘bad’ back and I can find it impossible to stand, let alone walk, so this chair has been a godsend. I’ve spent countless hours sitting on one whilst after foxes and my back hasn’t played up at all. My rifle is fully supported whilst I wait patiently for my quarry to appear and my lower back is held in an upright position by the lumber support, stopping me slumping down and causing discomfort (followed by agony). The seat base is nice and comfortable and the ability to be able to pan from side to side silently and effortlessly means I can cover the whole field without shifting position too much. The gun cradle and its support arm are fully adjustable, once on target I stay on target and I’ve pulled off some cracking shots using the chair (if I do say so myself!) I’ve not found a position that I can’t get into whilst shooting and I’ve even used it in the farmyard when I’m clearing ferals from barn roofs.

Combo Chair

There’s a variant called the Shotgun Chair without the front arm that makes it perfect for pigeon shooters, as they can sit in comfort whilst waiting for action without the front arm getting in the way. Darren (the inventor of the chair) and his team have had their thinking caps on and have devised the ultimate hybrid, the Combo Chair.

The idea is that you can use just the seat whilst out after woodpigeon etc. with a smoothbore during the day and convert it into a rifle version with inbuilt rest for shooting foxes at night. It obviously needed to be a quick and simple job to alter it from one style to the other, but it also had to be completely rigid once assembled. To achieve this, the front rifle support arm is removed by simply undoing a wing nut and removing the locking bolt; a quick tug forwards and the front section slides out. When back in position, the rifle support is as solid as the original chair and it’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into this design with the two sections fitting together perfectly. I can see this new, more versatile version winning over a lot of shooters, who up till now have not wanted to part with their cash; in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes the company’s best seller due to its sheer all round usefulness. It may also be useful for people with limited mobility, as they could remove the front arm, sit back on the chair, and then re-attach it.

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Ammo Tray

The company have brought out numerous accessories over the last couple of years, including a black painted ammo tray made from folded aluminium plate, which is 7 ½” by 4” with a 1 ½” lip all the way round to keep things in place. As the gun cradle support can be altered, an in-built hinge allows the tray to be adjusted to keep it level and then secured via a thumbwheel (Idleback just love thumbwheels!). Boxes of cartridges, rifle magazines, tins of airguns pellets etc., can all fit in the tray and you could also have a couple of cans of drink in it when shooting on a hot day. There are extra holes drilled in the front of the ammo tray and these have been put there for a reason, but that’s for another day…

The tray and its component parts are well designed and manufactured and are in keeping with the Idleback tradition of rather robust construction. The seat and all of its associated extras look like they’ve been made for the military and I’m sure they’ll last forever if treated with respect. I did find the top corners of the tray to be rather sharp, but that was sorted very easily with a small file and I touched up the finish with a permanent black marker.

Conclusion

It’s clear that Idleback will go from strength to strength in the coming years, as they know just what their customers want and I will be looking at various other accessories in the coming months. The Combo Chair is £340 and the ammo tray is £40.

  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

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  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

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  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Idleback Combo Chair - image {image:count}

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