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. We found that the cheaply constructed Walmart chair had a cupholder that was too ozark cooler 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. The Everywhere Chair keeps your bottom about 4 inches off the ground. The strap that supports the back (and doubles as a carry strap) allows adjustments to control your angle of recline, from upright to a stargazing-appropriate angle.
Simply put, it can be notoriously difficult to find furniture that’s big and robust enough to support you properly. That’s as true for camp chairs as it is for recliners and the like. Where camp chairs are concerned, most of them top out at around 300 pounds of supported weight.
We later found, after six months of frequent use, that the stitching along one arm had come unravelled and that the small straps holding up the back of the armrests had both ripped in half. “This is the Platonic ideal of your camp chair,” one of our campers gushed. This low-profile chair is easy to carry, and it adjusts for uneven ground. Select a chair with a built-in canopy, which will give you a little patch of cool at any campsite or cookout. We like almost everything about this sturdy little chair, with its best features, in our view, being the width of the seat, the generous amount of supported weight, and its surprisingly modest price. Aside from the impressive amount of weight the chair can support, the thing we like best about the numbers above is the width of the seat.
Convenient carrying bag makes is easy to keep in the trunk. Made with a steel frame and rated for up to 300 pounds. Capacity XXL Director chair is a bit on the heavy side, it lacks any kind of built-in storage, and it’s only offered in two (bright) colors.
Living in the south, spending time outside is practically second nature. Between barbecues, crawfish boils, and annual family reunions, the great outdoors sort of feels like my second home. After spotting the Ozark Trail Oversized Mesh Cooler Chair on TikTok, I immediately knew I had to get my hands on it.
When you buy through links on our site we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date and time indicated and are subject to change. The cupholders on the L.L.Bean Kids’ Base Camp Chair aren’t as roomy as those on our picks, and they are not as adept at holding stubby water bottles or mugs of hot chocolate. Perfect for cold-weather campers or parents sitting on the sidelines for early-spring and late-fall games. Unbeatable deal if you’re looking to buy several chairs at once. Thrifty Jinxy helps you live a fabulous life on a frugal budget.
The design, size, and weight is nearly identical, but the nylon fabric has been replaced with polyester. Overwhelmingly, the Coleman came out on top, with campers praising its comfort and stability. The Renetto’s big, heavy canopy provides ample sun protection at a campsite or cookout and doubles as a backpack-strap-equipped carrying case. The Ozark Trail XXL Director chair is a good, if somewhat basic director’s style camp chair, offered by a company with a solid reputation in the market. While it does have a few shortcomings, these are generally easy to fix and easy to overlook.
Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). We think the REI chair functions better and will last much longer than the similar 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.
If you’re looking for something a bit more subdued, that might be a little off-putting to you. We don’t regard any of these as outright deal-breakers, and at least where the storage issue is concerned, there’s an easy DIY fix. Call me a hyperbolic drama queen, but if I have to spend another second sitting in a folding chair, I will straight up fly to Hawaii and throw myself into a volcano. This Ozark Trail Steel Folding Hammock Chair, on the other hand, is a portable seat I could really sink my butt into. Like most chairs of this type, the Coleman Oversized Quad comes with an over-the-shoulder carry bag.