Senior staff writer Lauren Dragan said the Renetto is her most comfortable camping chair. Higher back and a head rest that make it more comfortable. Good design with a small pocket to place your cell phone or snacks near the cup holder. Sturdy arm rests and sits a little higher from the ground, making it a great choice for taller people. In addition, the tray has a handy cup holder, which virtually eliminates the risk of spilling your drink. The one thing this chair doesn’t have, however, is storage.
That way, you’ll have all the information you need to decide for yourself if this is the high-weight capacity camping chair you’ve been looking for. If that sounds good, let’s jump right in and take a closer look. Many testers found other chairs more comfortable and easier to put together than the Nemo Moonlite Reclining Camp Chair. This is also the most expensive lightweight chair we tested, and we think the Chair One is a better value. Weighing about 8 pounds, the Coleman chair is lighter than most traditional models, so it’s easier to grab from deep in a car trunk or to carry for long distances.
We chose the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair as the model with the right combination of comfort, durability, usability, and price for most campers. Fun colors, light weight, compact, easy to set up and even a carry case for easy storage. I want to buy more in different colors even though I don’t need them. They’re even comfy so I can sit by the fire or on the beach for hours without my butt going numb. The Chair One is rated to hold up to 320 pounds—more than any other lightweight chair we tested aside from the Moon Lence. In fall 2023, we asked a panel of paid testers with a wide range of body types, dexterities, and mobilities to examine our picks and other camping chairs and to share their perspectives.
Compared with cheaper chairs of its kind (like those from Walmart), the REI Co-op chair functions better and will last much longer. 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). Kalee Thompson is the senior editor heading up Wirecutter’s kid coverage.
For a wide selection of lawn chairs and camping chairs, start by shopping the selection at SCHEELS. Most of our testers found the REI Co-op Skyward Chair to be one of the least comfortable chairs in our testing pool. People who did like it tended to have smaller body types, so if you find that other camping chairs are too big for you, the Skyward might be a good fit. At a little over 7 pounds, it’s also the lightest traditional chair we tested—but it had the lowest weight capacity (250 pounds). It’s currently low in stock, but REI tells us this chair will be widely available again over the summer.
These bag chairs are also a great choice for busy sports parents who are always looking for a comfortable alternative to bleachers. It’s durable and comfortable for a range of campers. The Coleman ozark trail chair Cooler Quad has been our pick since 2016, through numerous camping trips and several testing sessions. That’s because it’s among the most durable and comfortable chairs we’ve tested.
The ClassiQ Chair weighs 3.65lbs and holds up to 300 lbs. Contoured for comfort with just the right amount of hug. GCI Outdoor makes several rocking chairs, and we plan to try more of them to see if they’re any better than the Freestyle Rocker, which we weren’t enthusiastic about. 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. The Renetto Original Canopy Chair is the best chair with a built-in canopy. We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that’s designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space.