Anecdotally, we found that this chair category in general is more popular among women than among men, who generally prefer a higher, upright seat. “This is the Platonic ideal of your camp chair,” one of our campers gushed. Camping trips, beach days, picnics in the park, outdoor movies and theater performances, a fresh-air get-together with friends—there are countless occasions when you might use a camp chair.
Either way, it’s easy to add a bit of storage if you want or need it. Owing to its extra-wide seat, the first thing you’ll notice about this oversized director’s chair is that it looks rugged and robust. The Ozark Trail XXL Director chair’s metal frame has an all-business look about it too, which clearly sends the message that this is a go-anywhere chair. Finally, we sent the chairs out to put them to the test on real campgrounds, hikes, and other outdoor events. Testers provide periodic updates to report on the chairs' performances over the course of six months. We found the Coleman Kickback Breeze Chair to be a simple yet very comfortable seat, though women liked it more than men did (many of them judged it to be too snug).
If you’re looking for something a bit more subdued, that might be a little off-putting to you. We don’t regard any of these as outright deal-breakers, and at least where the storage issue is concerned, there’s an easy DIY fix. Rocking chairs are relaxing and provide therapeutic benefits for elderly people and others who enjoy rest and relaxation.
In real-world conditions, you’re often packing up fast to try to get ahead of crowds or traffic. So you can easily misplace a carry sack on a dark night in a crowded field, especially if you’re in a large group or have a lot of stuff. At a fireworks show and at the beach, we appreciated a chair that was ready to go without even 30 seconds of hassle. The Everywhere Chair closes like a book—simply lift the padded strap and go. The Renetto chair usually comes in between 8 and 10 colors and is rated to hold up to 350 pounds. Walk around any campground or tailgate party, and you’ll notice the popularity of this variety of accordion-style seat.
REI's Co-op Flexlite Air Chair is perfect for the minimalist traveler. The 1-pound seat comes with a miniscule stuff sack that can easily be slipped into a backpack or suitcase. We also loved that setting up and breaking down the aluminum frame and seat cover is conveniently intuitive. You may doubt a chair this light and compact could also be sturdy, but it held up beautifully to all the plopping, dropping, and throwing they could put it through. Before we tried the Renetto Original Canopy Chair, we had never considered buying a shade-equipped camp chair. The shaded Renetto chairs were consistently the first seats snagged at a beautiful but harshly exposed Indian Grove group campsite.
The industry is flooded with options for portable chairs, from compact seats that are light enough for extended treks to heavy-duty rocking chairs that let you recreate your living room on the campground. This wider and longer set will provide support for larger adults with the same upright style as the traditional bagged camping chair. Has been rated for 300 pounds, but can hold more weight comfortably. 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). Durable polyester fabric allows these folding chairs with cup holders to last ozark hammock chair for a long time and stand up to various conditions.