It weighs 7½ pounds and is rated to hold up to 325 pounds. The Renetto Original Canopy Chair, a cleverly designed specialty 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. 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. Convenient carrying bag makes is easy to keep in the trunk.
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. We think the REI chair functions better and will last much longer than the similar Ozark Trail Canopies chair from Walmart. But the price difference is significant—and after six months of near-constant outdoor use, the Walmart chair was still in decent shape. If you are looking for an ultracheap choice, the Walmart chair is one. 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.
We got some admiring nods en route to the celebration—and we had one of the more comfy seats at the show. Before we tried the Renetto Original Canopy Chair, we had never considered buying a shade-equipped camp chair. There’s always a sun hat or an umbrella, after all. 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.
Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. Perfect for cold-weather campers or parents sitting on the sidelines for early-spring and late-fall games. This chair weighs a little more than others.
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. 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.
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. We were impressed with the usability of Renetto’s signature design. 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. But carrying the Renetto was comfortable and unobtrusive.
Comes with the same compact bag with a shoulder strap for carrying. If you’re looking forward to serving up a feast on your next camping trip, don’t forget to take one of our camping gas bottles and canisters. Decathlon has a large selection of camping gas bottles and cartridges to fit a variety of camping stoves. Replacing a camping gas canister is very easy, and your stove will probably have instructions on it that tell you how to do it. Overwhelmingly, the Coleman came out on top, with campers praising its comfort and stability.