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There is little doubt that chatting to friends on a log by a campfire while balancing a beverage on a nearby rock is a memory that draws many of us ‘back to the bush’, especially when peak-hour traffic gets a bit too much.
However, we often forget how the log grows hard, a cold breeze blows up our hunched-over back and our drink tumbles from that tippy rock, no matter how many twigs we stick under it to keep it level. And thus, the introduction of the camp chair.
Of late though, the simple ol’ camp stool now comes adorned with inbuilt coolers, fold-out trays, smartphone pockets and multiple obligatory drinks holders. Chuck two of these behemoths in your car, and you’d best boot the kids out to make room.
And so, with the advent of the new-age, super-lightweight, compact camp chair, we decided to grab a handful of the most prolific and put them through their paces to see whether they’re simply a backpacker’s luxury, or if they can replace that semi-broken service-station special you’ve been holding on to for so long.
We scored each chair (out of ten) in six categories: comfort, quality, design, packability, features and value. Here’s how they fared.
BEST BUDGET HIGH BACK CHAIR
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Mountain Designs Camping Chair
Mountain Designs High Back Adjustable. The Poler comes in equal on points but loses top spot to the Mountain Designs based on chair-stability and price.
BEST LUXURY CHAIR
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Nemo Stargaze Camping Chair
Nemo Stargaze Recliner Luxury Chair (large and hefty but super comfy). The Nemo Stargaze sits somewhere between a traditional heavy camp chair and newer lightweight trekking chairs. The Helinox Savanna rivals the Stargaze for quality and workmanship, but the Stargaze wins with a mass of features at a similar price point as the Savanna.
BEST COMPACT CHAIR
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Nemo Moonlight Camping Chair
Nemo Moonlite Reclining Chair (ridiculously small and light). This was an easy win for the Moonlite as the only compact low-back on test. However, the Moonlite deserves praise for its clever design, comfort and quality of materials and workmanship. We suggest evaluating the Moonlite against other super-compacts like the similarly priced Helinox Chair Zero to allow comparison of apples with apples.
RISEPRO UPGRADED OUTDOOR CAMPING CHAIR
First off the ranks is the Risepro Upgraded Outdoor Camping Chair available from Amazon for $59.90. Straight out of the box the Risepro impresses with its size and weight. At 1.33kg and packed dimensions of only 41cm H x 14cm W x 14cm D, the Risepro is the smallest and lightest of the high-backed camp chairs we tested (we also tested a ridiculously compact Moonlight low-back chair).
Arriving in a small, zipped bag, the Risepro impresses with a nice simple hook-and-loop tab to hold all the poles together in a compact bundle.
Set up of the chair is straightforward, and immediately noticeable is the smaller diameter of the poles compared to some of the other chairs on test. Minimising diameter does reduce weight, but theoretically also reduces rigidity and strength. The Risepro opens to 104cm H x 45cm W x 45cm D and is noted to have a maximum weight capacity or 145kg.
The chair is compiled of aluminium poles, plastic joints and what is promoted as 'waterproof' denim fabric. The Risepro comes with a headrest cushion that attaches to the chair via a simple elastic strap. For a cheap offering, it is nice to see smart design features like sculpted plastic feet to reduce the legs sinking in to the ground.
Unfortunately, the smart design does not extend as far as the pole sleeves that are sewn quite narrowly and have no thumb/finger tabs to assist with chair assembly.
On use of the chair we found that it was the least comfortable on test, in part due to the narrow cut of the seatback, and after some use we noted stress and stretching of the fabric along some seams. While there was no catastrophic failure, we wonder how long the fabric and stitching will last with constant use in exposed Australian weather. Overall, the Risepro wins on price, but loses points for quality and comfort.
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HELINOX SAVANNA CHAIR
The Helinox Savanna Chair proves the company’s reputation as a premier manufacturer of lightweight, portable furniture is well-deserved. The new Savanna Chair combines super high-spec aerospace aluminium-equivalent DAC TH72M poles with a waterproof 600 weave polyester seat, high-strength nylon hubs and three-mesh panel design to deliver a wider profile seat than many of its competitors in the lightweight chair arena.
Measuring 54cm H x 16cm W x 12cm D when disassembled, the 1.9kg assembled chair can expand to 112cm H x 68cm W x 60cm D and is capable of 145kg of occupant capacity. While the Savanna slots in as more expensive, larger and heavier than its counterparts in our test fleet, it is a larger chair overall and suits anybody carrying a few extra COVID-kilos.
The Savanna Chair incorporates a supportive top strut to aid form when open, as well as armrests, adjustable hook-and-loop headrest/pillow panel and dual drinks holders. Unfortunately, the Savanna Chair does not offer any sleeve-tabs for assisting set up, nor a Velcro strap for holding poles together. And if you want larger feet for soft ground, they are an add-on accessory.
The Savanna comes in at the very pointy end of the field for quality, workmanship and materials, and when used with a headrest or pillow it is fantastic, but without the pillow the Savanna loses some points on comfort.
As the most expensive of our standard-design high-back chairs in the group, it is hard to justify the extra dollars when compared to similar designs at nearly half the price. (Of note: Where the Savanna falls, the Sunset makes it up ... see Helinox Sunset Chair.)
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POLER AUSTRALIA STOWAWAY CHAIR
Poler Australia is a decade-old company with intent to bridge the gap between action sports and traditional outdoor activities by making fun and practical outdoor gear for the everyday adventurer. Its Stowaway Chair is certainly fun and comes in bright patterns, with our test chair the Orchid Floral design.
Our Stowaway Chair weighed in at a relatively light 1.42kg (the second lightest high-backed chair on test) and packed to 48cm H x 20cm W x 20cm D. Well-considered design features like oversized sleeve-tabs on the pole-pockets make assembly of the Stowaway Chair a breeze, and once assembled the chair expands to a comfortable high-backed 110cm H x 45cm W x 40cm D with an inbuilt padded headrest.
The Stowaway offers a hydrophobic nylon seat with breathable mesh panels, but it lacks the media pocket or drink holders of other chairs on test.
A noticeable design advantage of the Stowaway Chair is its single-pole design. The aluminium frame is designed with leg and upright poles inserting directly to a cross-pole, and thus removing a need for plastic joints. Such a design achieves a reduced overall weight as well as a more compact packed unit, but unfortunately leads to a slightly top heavy and tippy chair when unweighted.
Fortunately, the chair offers a comfortable and stable platform when sat in. The Stowaway Chair scores well for comfort, design and ‘fun’, but loses a few points for lack of features.
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MOUNTAIN DESIGNS HIGH BACK ADJUSTABLE
- SCORE 44/60
- RRP $149.99
At 1.74kg the Mountain Designs High Back Adjustable Chair slots somewhere in the middle of our test fleet for weight, but scores bonus points for its compact 48cm H x 14cm W x 13cm D size when packed.
A hook-and-loop tab holds the poles together in a compact bundle when packed, and the chair can be built in either an upright or reclined position. The chair does not offer sleeve-tabs to aid assembly, but the oversized pole-pockets allow for easy set up. Three tension-straps allow tweaking of both the seat height and rigidity, a feature that became relevant when a certain tester’s backside sank to rest on the cross-pole.
Expanding to 102cm H x 58cm W x 69cm D when assembled, the chair delivers a unique front-to-rear cross-pole that appears neither superior or inferior to the side-to-side design of the rest of our test chairs.
The High Back Adjustable Chair provides oversized mesh panels and a small accessory pocket, but no drink holder. The maximum 120kg weight capacity is less than other chairs we tested, but irrelevant to many users.
The Mountain Designs High Back Adjustable Chair doesn't excel nor disappoint dramatically in any area, but rather delivers quality and consistency at a reasonable price point.
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NEMO STARGAZE RECLINER LUXURY CHAIR
- SCORE 46/60
- RRP $299.95
The Nemo Stargaze Recliner Luxury Chair is just that ... luxury. Carrying a price point of $290, it was the most expensive chair on our test but also proved to be the highest scoring of all full-sized chairs.
The Stargaze isn't lightweight and weighs a hefty 3.9kg with packed dimensions of 60cm H x 17cm W x 17cm D. As such, the Nemo is predominantly a camping and picnicking chair that is unlikely to ever be stowed in your pack for a lengthy hike to a remote beach.
The Stargaze features oversized aircraft-grade aluminium poles with colour-coded joints and markers for ease of set up. Importantly, the design allows the frame to be set up independent of the non-absorbent monofilament-mesh chair body. Once the frame is assembled, the unfolding of two rear support poles establishes chair rigidity and the chair-unit clips easily to the frame with climbing-grade hardware. The result is a spacious 112cm H x 92cm W x 68cm D auto-reclining hammock-like structure, designed to flex while you swing.
Oversized rubber feet ensure the unit doesn’t sink in to the ground, and the chair features niceties such as an easily accessible accessory pocket, cupholder (that fits a full-sized water bottle), padded armrest and an adjustable, padded pillow.
We just loved the Stargazer. It is simple to use, easy to set up and stash, and super comfortable. We did have a few small gripes with the chair: one being its tendency to pitch forward as soon as you unweight your feet; secondly, the difficulty squeezing the unit back in the bag; and thirdly, the hefty price tag.
At nearly five times the cost of the Risepro and three times the cost of the Mountain Designs, many users will likely find it hard to justify such an expense for a camp chair. However, there is no doubt those willing to spend the dollars will not be disappointed.
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NEMO MOONLITE RECLINING CHAIR
- SCORE 48/60
- RRP $199.95
The Nemo Moonlite Reclining Chair was the odd one of the test, but unexpectedly scored highest of all chairs. The Nemo moonlight is a super-light, super-compact low-back camp chair. Weighing in at a feather-light 950 grams, it has cast aluminium joints and packs down to 35cm H x 10cm W x 10cm D size.
The Moonlite was the only sub-1kg chair on test, and as such places the chair in a category alongside others like the 510-gram Helinox Chair Zero (RRP $179) or the 860-gram Mountain Designs Lightweight Chair (RRP $69). Realistically, these chairs are more hiking chairs rather than car camping chairs, but if you prefer a Suzuki Jimny to 300 Series Cruiser, then maybe the Moonlite is for you.
What blew our mind most was its comfort. As a low-back, compact chair, we expected a severe compromise on comfort, but the Moonlight rivalled some of the high-back chairs, and even exceeded some, with a reclining feature that works.
The frame set-up is a similar pole design to many others, but the 65cm H x 51cm W x 52cm D mesh-seat locks to the frame via ball and socket joints rather than fabric sleeves. 100-per-cent post-consumer recycled materials are used for the webbing, and triple stitching is implemented to attain strength and allow for a 136kg max occupant capacity.
As a super-compact chair, there’s a noticeable lack of pockets or drink holders, and the seat-height which sits at 27cm off the ground is much lower than the high-backs on test. As such, the Moonlite has minimal use as a dining chair at a table but will work fine by the fireplace or sitting back in the sun.
It scores best for packability, design and quality of workmanship, but achieves its light weight by compromising on features - it's certainly not a chair for those on a slim budget.
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HELINOX SUNSET CHAIR
The Helinox Savanna Chair on test lost points for value, weight and packability, but the Helinox Sunset Chair offers a more affordable, packable and lightweight unit. While still rather expensive, the Sunset excels in nearly all other areas, scoring 45/60 - as such, it jumps to the top of our leaderboard for standard-design high-back chairs.
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