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Parking was scarce, and when we finally found a spot, more than half a mile from the festivities, we considered leaving the bulky chair in the car, especially since we were also pushing a stroller loaded with a toddler, a blanket, a picnic setup, and three other folding chairs. We got some admiring nods en route to the celebration—and we had one of the more comfy seats at the show. The TikTok version of the chair is adorably summer-themed, featuring nostalgia-inducing red, white, and blue popsicle designs all over the seat.
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). Because people use outdoor chairs for an array of purposes and have different preferences when it comes to comfort, it was almost impossible to choose just one best chair.
This low-profile chair is easy to carry, and it adjusts for uneven ground. The Chair One is rated to hold up to 320 pounds, versus 250 pounds for the Flexlite and for the third chair we tested, the Alite Monarch Chair (the latter chair is no longer available, as Alite went out of business in late 2019). The GCI Outdoor chair also has a pocket built into the back that can hold a phone or a book. ozark trail hammock chair “This is the Platonic ideal of your camp chair,” one of our campers gushed. 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). Anecdotally, we found that this chair category in general is more popular among women than among men, who generally prefer a higher, upright seat.
After two hours of initial online research, three camping trips, and several months of use in a Los Angeles backyard, we determined that the Helinox Chair One is the best outdoor chair for anyone who requires an especially lightweight, easily portable seat. The canopy quickly and easily transforms into a carrying case—just wrap it around the chair and snap it closed with two plastic buckles, and you can carry the whole thing on your back like an oblong backpack. We brought this chair to a dense Los Angeles neighborhood to watch Fourth of July fireworks.
We recommend buying this type only if you intend to carry your chair long distances, whether you’re backpacking or trekking across Central Park. If you do need a fits-in-a-knapsack chair, we recommend the Helinox Chair One. We found this model to be slightly more comfortable and easier to pack than other, similar chairs. The Renetto Original Canopy Chair, a cleverly designed specialty ozark trail lounge chair seat, is ideal for anyone who wants sun protection and doesn’t mind a heavier, bulkier chair. Despite the Renetto’s weight, our testers found it easy to carry and simple to set up and adjust. We discovered that even though most testers had not previously considered a shade-equipped camp chair, once they used one they appreciated the comfort and convenience of built-in sun blocking.
Our testers liked the comfort and back support of the GCI Outdoor Everywhere Chair, as well as the ability to adjust it to sit on uneven ground. They also appreciated its cupholder (rare in chairs of this sort) and its quick close-up-and-carry design. After six months of regularly using the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair, we think it’s the best choice for most people who are seeking an upright chair for car camping, tailgating, and outdoor gatherings. We noticed during the first of our three camping trips—a weekend in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, with a total of seven families—that, given the choice, campers prefer to take the biggest seat. When we set up a dozen chairs around the campfire without comment, people consistently claimed them from largest to smallest. They’re also far more expensive and significantly less comfortable than typical full-size camp chairs.
After spotting the Ozark Trail Oversized Mesh Cooler Chair on TikTok, I immediately knew I had to get my hands on it. The Coleman camping chair is big and durable, and of all the upright chairs that our panel of campers tested, it was the most comfortable. Before we tried the Renetto Original Canopy Chair, we had never considered buying a shade-equipped camp chair. But the Renetto’s utility was immediately apparent on our inaugural chair-testing excursion, a “winter” camping trip in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, where the beating sun made temperatures in the high 70s feel like the mid-90s. The shaded Renetto chairs were consistently the first seats snagged at a beautiful but harshly exposed Indian Grove group campsite. Like most chairs of this type, the Coleman Oversized Quad comes with an over-the-shoulder carry bag.
Portable outdoor chairs are also helpful for anyone who doesn’t have the room or budget for permanent backyard furniture. And they can save your back, make it easier to juggle a picnic plate and a cold beverage, and generally help you to relax comfortably outdoors. At just 21 ounces, the Alite Monarch was the lightest of the three chairs we tested in this category, as well as the most compact, but its two-legged design required your own legs to serve as the third leg of the stool. The Ozark Trail Oversized Mesh Chair from Walmart, although similar to our pick in size, was far less comfortable, with rough-feeling material that was obviously of lower quality. We later found, after six months of frequent use, that the stitching along one arm had come unravelled and that the small straps holding up the back of the armrests had both ripped in half.
We did select our favorite upright chair for car camping and tailgating, and then additional low-to-the-ground, ultra-lightweight, and canopy picks, as well as a great chair for kids. We also let two boys, ages 1 and 5, play with them and sit on them in the backyard for six months. After all that, we concluded that the REI Co-op Camp Chair – Kids’ is the best choice for anyone who wants to buy a practical, portable outdoor chair for a small child. The 4-pound, steel-construction REI chair has an attached carry strap, rather than a carry bag like the other chairs. After a couple of camping trips, we concluded that a strap is more convenient than a bag—quicker and easier for a kid to grab the chair and go, without parental help. The REI chair is rated to hold up to 150 pounds, the same as the L.L.Bean and Walmart chairs.