Before we tried the Renetto Original Canopy Chair, we had never considered 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 folding lawn chairs Oversized Quad comes with an over-the-shoulder carry bag. Overwhelmingly, the Coleman came out on top, with campers praising its comfort and stability. If you have a smaller garden or a balcony, it can sometimes feel like a challenge to make effective use of what you have.
Those looking for additional room in the seat can opt for the Magnum version, while picnickers might prefer the equally tall, yet more compact, Picnic style chair. Those concerned with aesthetics will also be pleased to know that the Lawn Chair USA Webbing Chair is available in a ton of colors and can be re-webbed with a replacement lawn chair webbing kit if you want an update. The kit is also useful to restore well-worn chairs, but buyers needn’t worry about excessive wear any time soon—though the webbing will slightly stretch, the seat won’t sag and the fabric is fade-resistant. 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 packing up fast to try to get ahead of crowds or traffic.
This is further exacerbated by the strict ninety-degree angle of the chair, which doesn’t allow the user to recline at all without pushing their legs into the pistons. While we appreciate GCI trying new things in the camp chair world, we wouldn’t really recommend this chair. Fredric Arnold might not be a name that rings a bell for most Southerners, yet you would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t recognize the inventor’s most memorable creation. It was 1956 when Arnold first patented his aluminum folding seat—aka the lawn chair—and it didn’t take long for its appeal to grow. If you meandered down any suburban side street in the early sixties, you’d find a couple clinking cocktail glasses on their front lawn, perched in Arnold originals. (In its prime, his company churned out around 14,000 of them a day.) It wasn’t until the casual-furniture market usurped the practical but not plush folding seat that these picnic staples got relegated to the garage.
The more popular style folds inwards and ends up a torpedo shape that you can slide into a carry bag. The smaller, more manageable dimensions make these chairs easier to carry. Eagles Nest Outfitters, better known as ENO, is a hammock company first, but that expertise has translated nicely with their Lounger DL Chair.
Because weight isn’t a major factor, you can get a well-made and comfortable camping chair at a reasonable price—starting at around $50 and reaching as much as $300 for the YETI Trailhead. Top choices from this category include the REI Co-op Skyward Chair, Alps Mountaineering King Kong, and GCI Outdoor Kickback Rocker. This review represents a combined effort of two of our senior review editors, Ethan Newman and Maggie Nichols. Not only that, but he’s folding lawn chairs spent years of his life car camping, and that means spending a ton of time in camp chairs. He has gotten even pickier over the past few years as chronic spine issues have surfaced, so he’s always on the lookout for a quality, comfortable, and supportive sitting surface. Maggie is a seasoned multi-sport athlete who’s spent years guiding folks both young and old in the great outdoors — and requires a comfortable seat from which to write about it all.
And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. While the portability makes it extra convenient, it’s the chic patterns that’ll have all your neighbors swooning (and asking where you got it). There’s nothing old-fashioned about this scalloped-edge metal armchair which, despite its midcentury inspiration, looks sleek and modern on a front porch. Available in red and navy, it’s also a great way to add a punch of color outdoors. Whether you’re having coffee on the front porch or toasting the end of the workweek on the front lawn, this weather-resistant steel rocker makes for the perfect landing spot to sip and sway.