For the most part, it’s held up well, but one common quibble is that the seat bottom begins to sag after several years of use. If you’re looking for highly specialized or ultra-lightweight chairs for backpacking, our recommendations are probably not for you. We also don’t have suggestions for couch-style or loveseat chairs (we’d like to look at those someday, though). Kalee Thompson is the senior editor heading up Wirecutter’s kid coverage. When she wrote the first version of this guide, Kalee lived in Southern California, where she tested chairs on three group camping trips. After new testing, we still love the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair for most outdoors situations.
This chair comes with a sturdy carrying case, with an over-the-shoulder strap, and it’s simple to expand and fold up accordion-style. It’s sturdier than any other chair we tested. No other chair in our testing pool—except perhaps the extremely pricey Yeti Trailhead—came close to matching the King Kong’s build quality.
Has been rated for 300 pounds, but can hold more weight comfortably. Double cup holders are also extra large to hold bigger drinks. Moon Lence released a new generation of its Portable Camping Chair; this new version has a redesigned base and more mesh ventilation than ozark trail chair its predecessor. It comes with a five-year warranty for its frame and a two-year warranty for its fabric; this rivals the warranty for our top lightweight pick. Renetto licenses its patent to a company called Kelsyus, which makes cheaper versions of the chair.
We blame the crossbar design, which runs front to back rather than side to side; this creates a lot of wobble from right to left, especially if the chair is not on perfectly even ground. Its base design is the same as ozark trail chair for other variations, the Flexlite Camp Dreamer and Flexlite Camp Boss. Unbeatable deal if you’re looking to buy several chairs at once. Woman in yellow down jacket holding one of the best hiking boots for women.
Testers preferred the Coleman chair’s thoughtfully placed mesh storage pouch over those of its competitors. This pouch is big enough to stow gear like a phone, book, or tablet. Of the chairs we tested, the Coleman chair was the only one that came with a built-in cooler bag, which can hold four standard-size beer or soda cans. The chair also has the round mesh cupholder found on most chairs of this type. Weighing about 8 pounds, the Coleman chair is lighter than most traditional models, so it’s easier to grab from deep in a car trunk or to carry for long distances.
It has the most comfortable and supportive seat shape of any chair we tested. The Dual Lock chair has a firmer backrest and seat bottom than the competition. And it avoids the slouchy shape of most traditional camping chairs, which can sag to create a hunch-and-slouch posture. Testers consistently ranked this chair as one of the most comfortable models (typically second to the Yeti Trailhead, which costs almost four times as much). The few testers who didn’t like it often preferred the Kijaro Dual Lock XXL Chair, which costs a little bit more but provides a roomier seat.