Tackle Tuesday... Fox Bedchair Evolution

This entry was posted on 23rd September, 2014

Reviewed by Carpology Magazine… Fox Bedchair Evolution 30 years of bedchair making combine to produce the FX Flatliter: the lightest, most compact, most advanced sleeping system the original makers of bankside beds have ever produced.

First off, a brief history lesson. It was in 1982 that Fox MD, Cliff Fox filed a patent on an adjustable-legged bedchair. Named The KM Bedchair after the man at the era Kevin Maddocks, it was originally sold in kit form for £45. However, in 1983 Cliff and Maddocks went their separate ways, with Cliff starting a new company – this time called Fox International.

Since those humble beginnings, Cliff Fox has either created or financed many of carp fishing’s greatest inventions: the Micron buzzer, the Swinger (those two products alone were used by 80% of the carp angling population at the time), the System Box and of course and 2011 launch of their Flatliner Bedchair – which was as radical in design features as Cliff’s 1982 original bedchair. The thinking behind this new concept, which saw the cam wheels rotate a full 180-degrees, was to create a totally flat bed and then you built your head up using pillows – just as you would at home. It was a brilliant concept which resulted in a brilliant product and turned out to be one of Fox’s biggest sellers in 2011/12. However, for the summer of 2013, the Fox design team, which is lead by the excellence of Shaun McSpadden and Scott Day, have given us another reason to thumb through our thesauri looking for synonyms for ‘groundbreaking’. What you see before you is called the Flatliter and is the next generation of bedchair. Where with the original the Fox designers created rotating 180-degree cam wheels, with this new model they’ve binned them all together.

“Since the launch of the Flatliner, more and more anglers have grown to appreciate the benefits of not having the cams in the way,” reveals Fox’s Group Media Manager, Lewis Porter. “And in fact many anglers now don’t even require the cams as they use a bedchair only for its bed functionality and not to also be used as a chair.”

In place of the binned cam wheels, Fox have used a double-hinged bracket at both the head and foot end. To add back in extra support and stability, Fox have used a unique single leg design at both ends and this means you only have six legs rather than eight but still have full support with a vast reduction in weigh. Where Fox also score over their competitors is with the one-piece lumbar support on the middle and head section. This gives a much firmer mattress and prevents sagging – a common issue on most other bedchairs. To ensure the bed folds away extremely compact, Fox have included a heavy-duty tension strap with glass-filled nylon clip to secure the bed closed for transportation. The attached sleeping bag is rated as a 3-4 season and has both internal and external zip baffles to ensure there’s no drafts. What’s really lovely about this bag though is the easy-glide polyester inner lining, which unlike fleece, this doesn’t ‘grab’ and remains cool in summer but warm in winter.

Taking more inspiration from your normal sleeping experience, Fox have filled the sleeping bag so 20% of the filling is below you and the other 80% is above you to prevent eat loss – very much like your bed at home where you have a thin sheet layer beneath and the bulk of the quilt cover above you.

With all this invention and excellence you’re probably thinking it’s going to cost you your left kidney, right? Wrong. It’s some £70 cheaper than their competitors – and it’s lighter, too.

Bag rating The sleeping bag is rated as 3-4 season and has both internal and external zip baffles to ensure there’s no drafts.

Sizing Measuring an impressive 210 x 90 x 40cm and having a built-in sleeping bag, you’d expect it to both weigh a tonne and have quite a big footprint when folded away. Well, you’d be wrong on both counts: the bed and bag combined weigh just 12kgs and when packed away it measures just 82 x 90 x 28cm!

Key features

The bits which make this bed so special Where Fox also score over their competitors is with the one-piece lumbar support on the middle and head section. This gives a much firmer mattress and prevents sagging – a common issue on other beds.

No cam wheels For this, their stripped back version of the Flatliner, Fox have binned the cam wheels and used a double-hinged bracket at both the head and foot end. This results in a flatter and lighter bedchair.

Extra support To add extra support, Fox have used a unique single leg design at both the head and foot end. This means you only have six legs rather than eight but still have full support with a vast reduction in weigh.

View The Fox Bedchair Range