7 Camp Chairs You’ll Actually Want to Pack InSit back, relax, and crack open a cold one. Wherever you end up, you'll have a place to park it. Photo: Fredrik Arnell/Getty Images When you head out into backcountry, you have to find the right balance between being prepared and carrying the lightest load. And camp chairs—often bulky and cumbersome—are usually the first items to be jettisoned. But there’s a new breed of lightweight, compact chair that was born for backpacking. So whether you’re trekking into the wild or just planning a summer backyard-barbecue circuit, you won’t regret taking these comfortable seats along. Best for: Backpacking and bike touring Weight: 1.97 pounds with tote bag The Helinox Chair One has won two of the most coveted awards in the outdoor industry, and for good reason. The Chair One’s poles are made from the same TH72M aluminum-based alloy found in the world’s best tents and hiking staffs. With shock-cord technology, the self-locating poles automatically pop into place.

All you have to do is slip on the mesh seat cover, and you’re ready to relax. Chair One can hold more than 300 pounds, but weighs less than two. office chair cushion neck supportWhen collapsed in a bag, it’s about the size of a shoe. modern wingback chair coversHelinox also makes a portable camp table from the same materials.grey office chair ikea Best for: Backpacking and music festivalswhite tub chairs uk The Monarch is not your standard four-legged chair. ikea dining chairs orangeIn fact, it’s not a four-legged chair at all. comfy dining chairs for sale

This seat’s innovative two-leg design lets you use your center of gravity to either sit still or rock back and forth. egg hanging chair gardenIt works on any terrain. beach chairs for pregnancyAt 1.5 pounds, the Monarch is a very lightweight chair, yet it can hold up to 250 pounds. plastic chair and table rentalWe reviewed this product a few years ago and it’s still one of the best and most innovative camping chairs around. Coleman Oversize Quad Chair with Cooler ($35) Best for: Car camping and tailgating This chair has the same general design as your standard folding camp chair, but with some nice extras. Though fairly inexpensive ($35), it’s more durable than a cheap chair you might get from Walmart. While the Oversize chair is well built and functional, the feature that really sets it apart is its storage space: there’s a built-in cooler bag that can accommodate five beers and some ice.

A storage flap on the other side will hold your keys, camera, snacks, and magazines. Kelty Camp Chair ($25) Best for: Backpacking, camping, watching a game Everyone should have Kelty’s folding camp chair in their vehicle’s trunk. Simple design and versatility make this a worthy seat. Basically a sleeping pad, its closed-cell, Therm-a-Rest-style foam padding will insulate your bottom from the frozen ground. What raises the chair to furniture status, and not just that of a pad, though, are its internal composite stays (which give it structure) and its adjustable straps (which let you adjust your sitting position). Chaheati Four-Season Heated Chair ($72) Best for: Cold-weather camping and ice fishing This all-season chair has a built-in heater that will keep you warm during those cool spring nights. It uses a lightweight lithium-ion battery (no cords!) that can be recharged in the car as you drive. The Chaheati, which can go up to 145 degrees in less than 20 seconds, uses a single button for switching among four heat settings.

Its battery lasts up to six hours, so you can spend a whole day ice fishing next winter without worrying about a frozen butt. Do keep in mind, though, that this chair is too bulky to bring on a backpacking trip. Lafuma Futura Air Shell Zero Gravity Camp Chair ($240) Best for: Car camping and stargazing This is the perfect perch to watch the sky from. All you have to do is lean back to recline, and resistance levers keep you in position. The chair’s ergonomic design and extended leg support render it the most comfortable on our list. A single-thread weave of Batyline material makes up the breathable, durable mesh. For added comfort, there’s a mattress that clips to the chair and that, along with the 3-D mesh, can be removed and washed. Photo: Eagles Nest Outfitters Best for: Backpacking and camping Have you ever wanted to sit and read a book while hanging directly over a rushing backcountry stream? Then you might want to check out the Lounger. Eagles Nest, which makes some of the most popular camping hammocks on the market, has remained true to its history with the Lounger, a hanging seat you can set up just about anywhere.

When teamed up with a carabiner and a strap, the Air Craft aluminum frame can hold up to 250 pounds. The adjustable angle-of-recline and dangling-footrest features let you customize whatever space you choose to occupy. Hiking and Backpacking, Camping, GearThe is our favorite camp chair and wins our Editors' Choice award. It weighs as much as the Original Crazy Creek and is just as compactable, but is way more comfortable and versatile. The wider and taller back makes a huge difference in comfort. And the extra length means this doubles as a sleeping pad or it can be shared with more people. The chair is still one of our favorites and wins our Best Buy award. It is comfortable, extremely durable, easy to set up, and offers a good value. The is the most innovative camp chair we have seen and wins our Top Pick award. It was the lightest and most compact chair we tested and had the coolest design. It lets you sit off the ground and feel like you are floating on air. We have not seen a camp chair that lets you sit off the ground that is nearly as light or compact.

Beach: Crazy Creek PowerLounger Boating: Crazy Creek Original Camp Fire: Any of them, depending on preference Backpacking: Hex 2.0, PowerLounger if using it for sleeping pad, Therm-a-Rest Trekker if you already have sleeping pad that is compatible The Park: PowerLounger or Alite Monarch Sporting Events: Therm-a-Rest Lite Seat if you are just padding a bleacher or stadium chair. Any of the other chairs depending on preference. Outdoor Music Event: PowerLounger or Trekker select up to 5 products Score Product Price Main Material Manufacturer Weight (oz) OGL Weight (oz) Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 PowerLounger foam and nylon 30 30 Crazy Creek Original foam and nylon 30 25 Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 $54 foam and nylon 21 22 Alite Monarch Butterfly nylon with aluminum frame 18 19 Therm-a-Rest Trekker $40 nylon (you add sleeping pad) 10.5 27 w pad 11 w/o pad Therm-a-Rest Lite Seat $30 inflatible nylon-coated pad 3 3 Before reading the text below, we recommend you check out our How to Buy a Camp Chair article.

Because not all the factors below are important to everyone. And a chair that scores poorly in one area may still be the perfect chair for your specific use. The because it uses an inflatable sleeping pad. Every other pad uses stretched nylon or foam. Right behind it is the . The Monarch's innovative design makes it the one camp chair we tested that does not squeeze in from the sides. That said, some testers were spending so much effort staying balanced in the chair that they could not stay comfortable for more than 10 minutes. So the reported comfort level on the Alite is sharply divided — there are those who absolutely love it and those who have trouble using the chair at all. Next most comfortable was the . It has a high back, is wider than the other Crazy Creek chairs, and has extra cushion. The Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 PowerLounger is the runaway winner here. It works well in just about any environment or activity. Unfold it and stretch it out to accommodate three people (when all your friends forget their chairs).

Or use it as a sleeping pad for a quick nap or even as a sleeping pad replacement in the back country. Second most versatile is the . After all these years, it's still got it. It is great on the river, at the beach, at a concert, or at camp. It doesn't roll up tightly like the new Hex 2.0 Crazy Creek chairs, but this almost encourages you to pull it out more often. Keep in mind, you may ignore this versatility category. If you are getting a chair for a specific application, say padding your butt on a bleacher, then versatility does not matter. You just want the best pad for that specific application.If you want a really convenient and low-profile way to pad a hard surface, this is it. However, it doesn't have any back support so you can't directly compare it to the other chairs. The Alite monarch butterfly is the lightest and most compact of the chairs with backs. It weighs just over a pound and compacts down to the size of two soda cans stacked on top of each other. It can easily be put in a small backpack or large purse.

The which weighs a few ounces more than the Alite but is not quite as compact. All the Crazy Creek Chairs were about as stable as each other and the most stable chairs overall. Stability is most important at a place like the beach, where an unstable chair will be very hard to use. Next was the Therm-a-Rest Trekker, which took us a lot of micro adjustments to get stable. And when we would turn our body 90 degrees, sometimes the chair would start to collapse. By far the least stable is the Alite. Some people really had trouble with this chair and this chair does not really work in sand or loose dirt. The Crazy Creek chairs are all by far the easiest to set up. Just unroll them and they are good to go. The side adjusters are very easy to use. And you can go from a reclining position to flattening the pad for a nap in a matter of seconds. The Alite chair takes some figuring out at first, both to set up and to stow. Once you set it up a few times, it can be set up in under a minute and takes about the same amount of time to collapse and stow.

This is not much time, but we found it was just enough time to dissuade us from choosing it in certain situations. For example, you are back at the car after a long hike and your buddy starts what might be a long conversation with an old friend he ran into. Or you are taking a quick water break and snack break on the trail. It's no problem to pull out a Crazy Creek. But setting and disassembling that Alite takes just enough time that you probably won't do it. The Therm-a-Rest Trekker was by far the biggest pain to set up. You have to inflate a sleeping pad, do some minor wrestling to get it in place, and then make lots of little micro adjustments on the side straps. If you did not inflate the pad to the right pressure, you have to pull it out and start over. This is no big deal if you are settling in for a long campfire session or outdoor music show, but this chair does not inspire spontaneous use. To see more backpacking gear that we recommend, you might want to check out our . For a list of some essentials you shouldn't leave home without and more, see our .