We found this model to be slightly more comfortable and easier to pack than other, similar chairs. While paying premium prices for a camping chair when you only make it to the wilderness a couple times of year may not seem practical, good portable seating can be an invaluable addition to your home life too. If your chair has pole legs, just make sure that you bring along a ground sheet if you may be encountering soft surfaces like sand. After our product team extensively researched the market, a group of editors with a wide range of camping experiences gathered in our New York City lab to test 29 of the best portable outdoor chairs. We evaluated the ease of use, comfort, portability, and durability of each. Testers refrained from checking the prices of the chairs until they’d judged all their other attributes.
The Helinox Chair One weighs about 2 pounds, compresses smaller than a 2-liter bottle of soda, and is the most comfortable and easy to stow of the three top backpacking chairs we tested. Like competing chairs, the Chair One has a nylon and mesh seat and aluminum legs, which are linked with shock cord (the chair legs are made out of the same material as high-end tent poles). The Renetto Original Canopy Chair, a cleverly designed specialty seat, is ideal for anyone who wants sun protection and doesn’t mind a heavier, bulkier chair. Despite the Renetto’s weight, our testers found it easy to carry and simple to set up and adjust.
They also appreciated its cupholder (rare in chairs of this sort) and its quick close-up-and-carry design. The Coleman camping chair is big and durable, and of all the upright chairs that our panel of campers tested, it was the most comfortable. Always have a cold drink within easy reach at the campsite, tailgate, or kids’ ball game thanks to the cooler built into the armrest of the Coleman® Camping Chair with Built-In 4-Can Cooler. The fully cushioned seat and back mean you’ll enjoy hours of relaxing comfort. Generally speaking, the lightest chairs out there won’t deliver as plush of a sitting experience as bulkier products that weren’t meant to accompany you on backpacking adventures. If you’re looking for a chair to take on the move, opt for something weighing under 2 pounds that can be stored as compactly as possible.
Refunds are made based on the payment method used at the time of purchase. Please allow days following receipt of eligible returned item(s) for any credit or refund to display on your credit card statement. There’s nothing like spending an afternoon sitting outside and basking in the sun on a warm day, whether it’s on a beach, at a sports game, or even just in the backyard.
The GCI Outdoor chair also has a pocket built into the back that can hold a phone or a book. This chair comes in green or blue and is rated to hold up to 250 pounds. Select a coleman canopy chair with a built-in canopy, which will give you a little patch of cool at any campsite or cookout. Are you a car camper or do you plan on socializing in friends’ backyards?
Ours also came with some sloppy seams, and the carry bag is very thin and fragile. Again, nothing broke on this chair during our few months of testing, but we are skeptical of its longevity. As far as comfort goes, this chair is a pretty average slouchy seat. It had some thickness, with at least a couple layers of fabric making up the body, but this doesn’t help the integrity.
A few of the lightweights we tested were cozy enough to sleep in for some campers, while others found them to be too narrow to comfortably fit their shoulders. If lumbar support is a must, it could be worth transporting a bit of extra weight to have a super sturdy chair on your site. Along coleman chairs the outline of each chair is an individual nailhead trim in a dark bronze, which adds a classic, rustic flair. Supporting each tall backed seat are four straight and squared legs that taper gently off toward the foot and feature a neutral rustic brown that lends a country charm.