We recommend buying this type only if you intend to carry your chair long distances, whether you’re backpacking or trekking across Central Park. If you do need a fits-in-a-knapsack chair, we recommend the Helinox Chair One. We found this model to be slightly more comfortable and easier to pack than other, similar chairs. Coleman camping chairs are a mainstay on camp grounds, festivals and sporting events.
We found that the cheaply constructed Walmart chair had a cupholder that was too small for a soda can, or any of the hard-plastic or metal water bottles that the kids we know brought on a camping trip. It will fit a Capri Sun pouch or a narrow, rectangular juice box, but that’s about it. Before we tried the Renetto Original Canopy Chair, we had never considered coleman canopy 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. Like most chairs of this type, the Coleman Oversized Quad comes with an over-the-shoulder carry bag. Overwhelmingly, the Coleman came out on top, with campers praising its comfort and stability.
“This is the Platonic ideal of your camp chair,” one of our campers gushed. The Coleman Camping Chair is also incredibly portable and easy to transport. It folds up quickly and compactly, and the included carrying bag allows for hassle-free storage and transportation. You can easily pack it in your car trunk, RV, or backpack and take it with you wherever you go. There are plenty of draws to the Cooler Quad, but by my figuring, none are more compelling than the price tag. But generally speaking, you can have one of our favorite chairs for less than 40 dollars.
There’s no reinventing the wheel here, just a few decades of practice that have culminated in a really good product. 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. Like competing chairs, the Chair One has a nylon and mesh seat and aluminum legs, which are linked with shock cord (the chair legs are made out of the same material as high-end tent poles). Made with durable and sturdy materials, this camping chair is designed to withstand the rigors of outdoor use. The steel frame provides stability and support, while the cushioned seat and backrest offer optimal comfort even during extended periods of sitting.
The cooler itself is an easy-access zippered pouch that hangs from the bottom of the left armrest. This chair had us impressed on all ends, and with its wide availability, the Cooler Quad is a stalwart defender of Coleman’s reputation as a king of camping. Though it’s one of the least expensive chairs we tested, we’re still not sure it’s worth it. Lackluster performance and a cooler that’s only moderately useful but surprisingly in the way make us feel like there are much better options out there, even if the chair and cooler have to be separate. The Ozark Trail Oversized Mesh Chair from Walmart, although similar to our pick in size, was far less comfortable, with rough-feeling material that was obviously of lower quality.
As is the case with any outdoor gear, you want to make sure that you store the chair somewhere dark and dry when not in use. Mold is always a killer when it comes to things like camp chairs, but UV light may be the biggest cause for concern. Tempting as it may be, don’t leave your chair set up on a nice day with the intention of coming coleman camping chair back in a few hours. It takes a couple of minutes to store but will significantly extend the lifetime. A camping chair with such a high-grade integrated cooler wouldn’t be much without a cup holder to match. The 4-pound, steel-construction REI chair has an attached carry strap, rather than a carry bag like the other chairs.
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.
After six months of regularly using the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair, we think it’s the best choice for most people who are seeking an upright chair for car camping, tailgating, and outdoor gatherings. We noticed during the first of our three camping trips—a weekend in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, with a total of seven coleman camping chair 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. If you’re wondering what all goes into the perfect camp chair, our buyer’s guide can answer similar questions and more.