ozark tentAfter three straight years of regular use and some severe sun exposure, it’s fading a bit but is still as comfortable as the first day we got it. This chair has grown on our lead tester the longer she has owned it, a credit to its impressive longevity and comfort. The odd shape can also get easily caught when putting the chair back into its carry bag.
Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. If you need any new Camping Chairs (AKA ballgame chairs for us!) you have to check out Walmart! I always have a few of these in the back of my car for ball games because you never know what fields will have stands until you get there. Walmart has this Ozark® Trail Classic Folding Camp Chairs for only $7.88 a piece.
The strap that supports the back (and doubles as a carry strap) allows adjustments to control your angle of recline, from upright to a stargazing-appropriate angle. Unlike other portable chairs, the Everywhere Chair is designed to sit on uneven slopes; this can be handy when space is limited at a fireworks show or an outdoor theater performance. Our panel of testers at the Wheeler Gorge Campground deemed the Everywhere Chair to be the most comfortable of the three low-to-the-ground chairs we tested.
It also lacks a headrest, so it’s not the ideal chair for an afternoon snooze. On the other hand, we think this model will stand up to all of your needs for camping, tailgating, fishing, or anything else. If you need a comfy chair or use a camping-specific chair regularly and don’t mind a bit of bulk, we highly recommend the King Kong. T+L writers are shopping and product experts who score the market for the best of the best travel gear. For this article, lifelong camper Lydia Price joined a group of other editors to put 29 outdoor chairs to the test in our New York City lab. They carefully evaluated the comfort, durability, portability, and value of each chair to put together this list of the best options for camping.
Still, you may find these options to be well-suited for your specific camping needs. But after half a dozen excursions, we found—as we had with the Renetto Original Canopy Chair—that having a chair you can easily carry without a bag is preferable. In real-world conditions, you’re often packing up fast to try to get ahead of crowds or traffic.
However, since many campers prefer chairs at a traditional height, the Kelty Lowdown narrowly missed winning our Best Overall pick. Thoughtful features like a zippered pocket for securing valuables, a mesh cell phone pouch, and two cup holders make the Kijaro exceptionally convenient for everything from tailgates to beach days. It’s available in 11 colors, many of which are unique in the outdoor product space. The chair comes with a carrying bag but also has a shoulder strap attached directly to its frame in case you want to ditch the sack. All this at a good price, making it an incredible value for a comfy camp chair that’s built to last through countless seasons. If your chair has pole legs, just make sure that you bring along a ground sheet if you may be encountering soft surfaces like sand.
Our not-too-discriminating underage testers liked all the kids’ chairs, though over time we found several reasons to declare the REI Camp Chair the best of the bunch. The REI chair’s polyester seat material feels both more forgiving and more durable than the thinner material on the Ozark Trail Kids’ Folding Camp Chair from Walmart. The box-shaped cupholder is a little roomier than the round cupholders on the Coleman and the L.L.Bean Base Camp chairs—better for stubby water bottles or mugs of hot chocolate around the campfire.
ozark trail canopyThe material is also resistant to damage from UV rays and breathable enough to prevent spills or rain from pooling in the seatbed. For an ultra lightweight chair that’s ready to make your hiking breaks a breeze, opt for the Helinox Chair Zero. It has two open panels in the seat back for breathability, and when packed up in its ripstop polyester stuff sack, it’s totally tiny. This is a perfect option for throwing in a tote or backpack to take to the park and on hikes. We love that setup is quick and easy, because no one needs to struggle with poles after sweating it out on the trails. Its light weight also impressed — when we threw it around to assess its durability, the chair basically sailed like a feather.
The right chairs can make or break a camping trip — no one wants to go into a s’mores-induced sugar coma while squirming in a flimsy foldable. And if you’re lugging all your gear on a backpacking journey, a portable seat you can properly rest on is even more crucial. Knowing which brands and models to trust is the first step to creating your own outdoor oasis. Before we tried the Renetto Original Canopy Chair, we had never considered buying a shade-equipped camp chair. The shaded Renetto chairs were consistently the first seats snagged at a beautiful but harshly exposed Indian Grove group campsite.