Review: I tested a giant outdoor bean bag and now the dog won’t get off it
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
Forget egg chairs and garden sofas – this giant outdoor bean bag turned out to be the most fought-over seat in the garden
When you start choosing some new garden furniture, you might consider a posh sofa. Or you might go for an egg chair, or a swing seat. You might even go completely rogue and order a hammock. But I bet you've never considered a beanbag.
I hadn't either, but then the nice people at Big Bertha Original suggested I should test one of their outdoor bean bags. And, with the promise of decent weather on the way, I'd have been mad to have turned them down.
Bean bags are the bread and butter of the Big Bertha Original range, and they've got everything from dog beds and cushions to giant "mammoth" bean bags and full modular sofa bean bags.
But with summer on the way, the popular choice is bound to be the outdoor range, which comes in a dizzying array of colours, shapes and sizes.
The XXL Giant Outdoor bean bag is on sale at the moment, priced at just £109.90, and it's the one I picked. In bright orange - my wife's favourite colour.
Two large boxes arrived within a few days, one containing the partially-filled bean bag itself, the other containing a bag of "beans". They're actually small polystyrene balls, and you can effectively decide how full or empty you want your bean bag to be.
Filling it up is a tricky process. You'd think you can just pour the beans into the bag in moments, but they stick to the plastic bag they arrive in and it's a challenge not to spill some.
It's pretty much a one-time process, though. Once you zip the bean bag up you can forget about it, and Big Bertha Original reckons it should be "several years" before they need a top up. And top-up bags are offered on the website.
The XXL Giant Outdoor Bean Bag is shaped like a huge cushion. And that's one of the best ways to use it. Just slump back in it, curl up in it, or lean it against something and use it as a chair.
You can also fold a corner into itself, plonk your posterior in, and you've got a rather shapely chair.
This is pretty much how it's remained in my garden, because you can just slump into it and forget about the world for a bit.
Overfill it, and it can get a bit wobbly, but I guess it'll subside over time as the beans compress a bit. It might also depend on how heavy you are, or exactly how you position yourself.
It almost feels wrong leaving a beanbag outside, but even in the worst of the British weather, it's incredibly durable and completely waterproof. Any rain that pools up just shakes off, and it's an easy surface to keep clean. And, at the end of the day, if leaving it outside makes you itch, just use it inside. It's a great lounge chair too.
I really haven't found anything to dislike about the bean bag. I'd say the biggest issue I've had is having to compete with the dog for a turn on it. He's properly adopted it as his bed and if I can't find him on a sunny day, I know the first place to start looking.
As I write this there's currently a half-price "Sloucher" dog bed on the Big Bertha website. Maybe that's worth an investment. The XXL Giant Outdoor bean bag certainly is.