I recently bought one of these chairs and fishing with it on Saturday, It particulary came into its own when the water i fished had quite over grown banks, so with the feeder arm actually pointing over the water and me perched on the very edge of the bank it made landing and striking extremely easy, no line caught up on thistles.
Its not the lightest in the world but when you consider what you carry on the other shoulder, rod holdall and perhaps your bait bag, I actually felt quite balanced.
I cant see no reason why octopuss bits would not fit as each Preston extention arm (?8.00 ish) comes with a round adapter, so square on one end and round on the other.
My only problem so far is im struggling to find black side trays etc, and im not spending money on that awful bright blue preston match gear to go with my black and green chair.
A good compromise for an all rounder me thinks
Si