The Chair One is rated to hold up to 320 pounds—more than any other lightweight chair we tested aside from the Moon Lence. 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.
The bowl brush, for example, has durable bristles with a built-in splash guard. The plunger cup has a protruding flange designed for maximum pressure to clear clogs quickly, and the space-saving trash can keeps things clean and tidy. According to Shearer and Teplin, the 15-piece cabinet door organizer can be configured to fit any space — with three panels, two trays, a sponge and paper holder plus a bunch of extra hooks and clips. Whether you’re wiping up spills or polishing the faucets, cleaning will be faster when all of your favorite products are in place and easy to reach. The Dual Lock seat’s name comes from a locking mechanism that secures the chair when it’s folded or expanded—releasing the lock is a matter of pushing a button on one of the legs. As a result, the chair feels grounded and less wobbly than its competitors.
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. Most of our testers found the REI Co-op Skyward Chair to be one of the least comfortable chairs in our testing pool.
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. This splurge-worthy option is for anyone looking for the best of the best when it comes to comfort and durability.
A lightweight, portable chair is a must-have for a myriad of summer activities — from sporting events to the campsite. With over 300 five-star reviews, this tried-and-true pick from Ozark Trail will help you stay protected from the sun. Nathan Borchelt is a life-long camper and backpacker, and is a huge advocate for using camp chairs — so much so that he successfully lobbied an ultralight-obsessed thru-hiker to add a lightweight camp chair to his kit. In preparing this article, he worked with a team of T+L experts who tested a total of 47 chairs in both real-world and lab scenarios, sorting through testing feedback to choose the best of the bet. Experience ultimate relaxation and maximum comfort with this club chair with footrest! With a weight capacity of 500-lbs, it is perfect for adult use and the extra wide seating provides ample room to stretch out and unwind.
After eight years of consistent use by senior editor Kalee Thompson’s two young boys, the REI Co-op Camp Chair is, she reports, faded and worn but still holding up. By clicking on these shopping links, visitors will leave ABCNews.com. These e-commerce sites are operated under different terms and privacy policies than ABCNews.com. ABC will receive a commission for purchases made through these links. SOME PRICES ARE DYNAMIC AND MAY CHANGE FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. Right now, Walmart.com has this Ozark Trail Americana Camping Hammock Chair for just $24.97 (reg. $43.31).
If your ideal camping set-up resembles that of an outdoor living room, you need the Kelty Lowdown Couch to complete your kit. Even larger than the loveseat above, it provides ample sitting space for up to three adults, with a durable 600D polyester seat that’s padded for added comfort and a slightly reclined, low-to-the-ground design. The ozark trail canopy whole thing pops up smoothly thanks to a strong, powder-coated steel frame — and we were able to set it up with just one person on their own. We also loved the design of the wrap-around carrying configuration, which lets you place other items inside the adjustable straps and then haul everything with the padded, adjustable shoulder strap.
Senior editor Kalee Thompson, who wrote a previous version of this guide, has been regularly using the Coleman chair she originally tested in 2016. Aside from the color fading and the cooler pouch deteriorating, her chair has held up to years of backyard hangs and camping trips. In summer 2023, she bought a newer Coleman Cooler Quad Chair to compare to her 2016 model, and she found them to be more or less the same. 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).
Each arm rest is adjustable, and you can resize the mesh cup holders to fit whatever you need close by, including beverages or your phone. Yes, at more than 20 pounds, it’s kind of heavy, but you also get three seats, so it’s a fair trade-off, especially for car camping. But if you’re thinking you can use this couch as a camping bed, think again — it’s effectively three attached chairs and not one flat surface, so lying comfortably isn’t in the cards. If you don’t want a low-to-the-ground chair like our best overall option, we also loved this chair that was a little higher up off the ground. Unlike lesser camp chairs, the Kijaro Dual Lock Folding Chair locks into position to assure that it’ll never collapse on you.