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). 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.
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. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. We like this durable, well-constructed chair that has a frame that makes you confident to sit. The ClassiQ Chair weighs 3.65lbs and holds up to 300 lbs. “Awesome chair! It’s compact, light, easy to setup.”
Set of 2 folding camping chair for camping, traveling, sporting events and the yard. The REI Co-op chair’s polyester seat material feels both more forgiving and more durable than the thinner material on many other kids’ chairs. Compared with cheaper chairs of its kind (like those from Walmart), the REI Co-op chair functions better and will last much longer. The Chair One has a 600-denier polyester and mesh seat and aluminum legs, which are linked with shock cord (like what you’d find inside high-end tent poles). This chair’s big canopy provides ample sun protection at a campsite or sporting event, and it doubles as a backpack-strap-equipped carrying case.
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. 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.
Its steel frame doesn’t wobble when you get in or out. Our testers consistently said the King Kong chair was the most heavy-duty-feeling model of all the chairs we tested. This durable yet lightweight chair features a flat-folding extra-wide steel frame that is easily stowable in a closet or car trunk.
Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). The REI Co-op ozark trail backpack Flexlite Camp Chair and the Flexlite Air (its featherweight sibling) are lighter than any other chairs in their category, but they felt less steady. We blame the crossbar design, which runs front to back rather than side to side; this creates a lot of wobble from right to left, especially if the chair is not on perfectly even ground.
If you’re planning a car-camping trip, you’ll probably want to bring camping chairs. They’re also ideal for sporting events, field trips, outdoor concerts and movies, and picnics in the park. This wider and longer set will provide support for larger adults with the same upright style as the traditional bagged camping chair. Has been rated for 300 pounds, but can hold more weight comfortably. Double cup holders are also extra large to hold bigger drinks.
Renetto licenses its patent to a company called Kelsyus, which makes cheaper versions of the chair. However, they don’t have all of the same features. There are also chairs that are hybrids between categories, such as the Nemo Stargaze Reclining Camp Chair, which comes highly rated and recommended. We’re planning to look at all of these chairs. 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.
There’s also a mesh pocket behind the backrest, to hold things you don’t need to access quickly. This chair comes with a sturdy carrying case, with an over-the-shoulder strap, and it’s simple to expand and fold up accordion-style. 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. Like others in its category, this chair comes with an over-the-shoulder carry bag, but some testers found it was light and compact enough to carry without the case. It’s as simple to set up as any chair we tested. We love the price on this four-set of chairs.