For many owners we’ve talked to, it’s been an essential chair for watching sporting events or any other time you’ll be in the direct sun for hours, like cookouts, picnics, birthday parties, and field trips. 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).
It has garnered over 6,100 perfect ratings from shoppers who agree it’s ideal for camping and backpacking. Since 2016, our testers (with different body types and physical needs) have subjected camping chairs to multiple camping trips. We chose the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair as the model with the right combination of comfort, durability, usability, and price for most campers. The 4-pound, steel-framed REI chair has an attached carry strap, rather than a carry bag (which the other chairs have). After a couple of camping trips, we concluded that a strap is more convenient than a bag—it’s quicker and easier for a kid to grab the chair and go, without parental help.
These ice packs are extra-large too, measuring 4.75 by 0.5 by 7 inches. They’re made of BPA-free plastic with a non-toxic gel inside. Unlike ice, these don’t melt leaving messy water all over your food inside the cooler either. Plus, they can be refrozen and used over and over again. Senior editor Kalee Thompson, who wrote a previous version of this guide, has been regularly using the Coleman chair she originally tested in 2016.
It’s the lightest, most portable chair that is still comfortable. The Helinox Chair One weighs about 2 pounds, compresses smaller than a 2-liter bottle of soda, and is our most lightweight pick. Other chairs we tested sacrificed too much comfort in order to shave mere ounces off of their weights, and we don’t think the trade-off was worth it. Keep in mind that lightweight chairs won’t be nearly as comfortable as traditional camping chairs, so take the word comfortable with a grain of salt. If you’re planning a car-camping trip, you’ll probably want to bring camping chairs.
This chair costs slightly more than the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair, but it’s still a budget-friendly option. It delivers a solid baseline of build quality, comfort, and reliability that we didn’t find in other, similarly ozark trail wagon priced chairs. This time-tested classic is reasonably priced, roomy, and dependable enough to last for years. It’s not our lightest, most comfortable, or toughest pick, but it’s close enough, and it’s reasonably priced.
It has raked in over 42,200 five-star ratings with shoppers who love it for its comfort, its durability, its easy setup, and its convenience. When you’re staying in a tent and hiking the trails for a few days, you need cooking gear that’s compact, but contains the essentials. All the pieces stack neatly inside each other and collapse to fit in its included nylon drawstring pouch.
After six months of frequent use, the stitching along one arm had come unraveled, and the small straps holding up the back of the armrests had both ripped in half. After years of intermittently using the Renetto chair, ozark trail wagon one staffer said it has held up great. Another said it’s been an essential chair in their life and that it is still going strong after countless soccer games, birthday parties, beach trips, and school events.