But with a vintage-style look, it’s not too sporty to serve as full-time backyard seating. 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. 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.
Importantly, the size of the seat tends to correlate with weight capacity, as does overall stability, so we find this spec to be somewhat useful. And it’s worth noting that weight capacities are provided by the manufacturer, and we haven’t had the opportunity to verify each one. In general, we’ve found that manufacturer-proved specs often tend to be generous, so outdoor patio shades we don’t recommend pushing the limits. While few people fret over the weight and packed size of a camping chair (camping gear in general is bulky and comfort-oriented), backpacking-ready chairs are a lesson in creative packaging. For example, Helinox’s 1-pound Chair Zero packs down extremely small, with the disadvantage being you have to reassemble it each time.
There is also an accessory pouch on the right side of the chair for extra storage. The Helinox Chair One is the lightest, most portable lawn chair around and will significantly enhance your next camping trip. It weighs just 2.1 pounds and packs into a compact, 14-inch-long zippered pouch, so you can carry it anywhere, even if you’re hiking for miles before you set up camp.
This article was written by Morgan Goldberg, a contributing writer for Real Simple with seven years of editorial experience in the interior design, food, and travel spaces. To come up with this list, she spent hours researching outdoor patio shades the best lawn chairs and narrowed down the options based on usage, material, portability, and more. She also spoke to Jessica Foster, Home Depot’s online merchant for direct fulfillment for patio furniture.
A close-to-the-ground chair is often the ideal choice for outdoor concerts, movies, theater performances, and other events where you will be concerned about blocking other people’s view. They’re also far more expensive and significantly less comfortable than typical full-size camp chairs. We recommend buying this type only if you intend to carry your chair long distances, whether you’re backpacking or trekking across Central Park.
But if you hate sitting still or just prefer something a little different, there’s no denying the added fun factor. Chairs with a low seat height excel in places where it’s required, like an outdoor concert, or for times when it’s best to be low to the ground, like a beach. Of these chair types, the Alps Mountaineering Rendezvous is a standout in terms of comfort—the chair sits at a recline to stretch out your legs—and material quality. You don’t get the ability to raise the seat like you do with the ENO Lounger DL below, but you’re not paying for it either. The Lawn Chair USA Webbing Chair is our top pick because it’s a universal lawn chair that works for a variety of uses. The rust-free aluminum frame and UV-resistant webbing are incredibly lightweight and easy to fold up, so the chair is portable for camping, tailgating, and hanging in the park.
The easiest way to keep lawn chairs from sinking into the grass is by laying out a tarp, table cloth, or blanket beneath them. If that’s not an option for aesthetic or practical reasons, then try adding furniture sliders or cut tennis balls under the legs of your chair. We’re also fans of this chair’s aesthetic, which seems to simultaneously channel both high-end patio furniture and classic camping chairs to create a luxurious yet athletic vibe. The shades of silvery gray make for a sophisticated color palette that blends seamlessly with its surroundings, whether the chair is situated among nature or on your deck. 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. Businesses often give promotional gifts to their employees and clients, such as pens and notepads with the company logo.
We’ve found that overall build quality correlates with price, but it’s slightly more nuanced than that. A budget camping chair like the Coleman Oversize Quad, which has no business on a backpacking trip, is durable and reliable because Coleman didn’t have to worry about keeping weight down. It can withstand a whole lot more abuse when compared with a lightweight model like the Helinox Chair Zero. Backpacking chairs cost more because they require thin but strong frame materials, like aluminum, which is more expensive than thick steel. That said, the build quality of the Coleman is still lower than the similarly designed but more expensive Alps Mountaineering King Kong. Because people use outdoor chairs for an array of purposes and have different preferences when it comes to comfort, it was almost impossible to choose just one best chair.
A comfy outdoor chair makes a big difference in relaxation levels, and with a variety of affordable patio chair options you can easily find the right combination to suit your space and needs. We look for cup holders, reclining lock-outs, canopies, trays, accessory pouches, and headrests. We like cupholders that fit standard 12-ounce cans securely, adjustments and joints that worked smoothly, and anything else that made our experience with the product more enjoyable. The pistons force the user forward into an upright position, almost tipping forward, and the rocking motion doesn’t feel nearly as natural as a regular rocker.