Coleman’s take on the pocket is in line with the quality we see in the rest of their chair. The pocket is backed with the same high-tensile fabric that makes up the rest of the seat, and the mesh is divided into three separate compartments. Comfort is often something that gets overlooked at the behest of cool features. Thankfully the Cooler Quad does a great job balancing robust construction with add-ons such as the titular 4-can cooler on the left armrest. You know you’re getting a quality chair with an integrated cooler rather than a carry cooler with a seat.
The Coleman name has withstood the test of time, much in the same way that their products weather yearly camping trips season after season. After so many decades of outdoor excellence, they’ve brought their A-game to this affordable and feature-rich piece of folding furniture. We also let two boys, ages 1 and 5, play with them and sit on them in the backyard for six months. After all that, we concluded that the REI Co-op Camp Chair – Kids’ is the best choice for anyone who wants to buy a practical, portable outdoor chair for a small child.
After a couple of camping trips, we concluded that a strap is more convenient than a bag—quicker and easier for a kid to grab the chair and go, without parental help. The REI chair is rated to hold up to 150 pounds, the same as the L.L.Bean and Walmart chairs. We think the REI chair is most appropriate for toddlers and kids up to about 7 or 8 years old, though reviews reveal that some small adults have found this to be their favorite seat.
After six months of sitting mostly outside in the Southern California sun, our gray Coleman chair was noticeably less faded than our Walmart and Renetto chairs, the latter of which had bleached from bright red to pink. You can stow this featherlight, compressible chair in a backpack or even a work bag. Are you a car camper or do you plan on socializing in friends’ backyards?
The inner pocket, in particular, could hold a surprising amount- books, frisbees, sandals, and even my comically oversized water bottle. The outer two pockets are perfect for keeping things like keys, sunglasses, and phones safe and accessible. The mesh cup holder has a soft plastic grommet stitched into the coleman cooler armrest fabric, reinforcing the mesh and helping the cup holder retain its shape so you have effortless access to your beverage of choice. The GCI Outdoor chair also has a pocket built into the back that can hold a phone or a book. This chair comes in green or blue and is rated to hold up to 250 pounds.
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 coleman cooler packing up fast to try to get ahead of crowds or traffic. So you can easily misplace a carry sack on a dark night in a crowded field, especially if you’re in a large group or have a lot of stuff.