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After a long day of hiking, climbing, biking, fly fishing or snowshoeing, there’s nothing better than kicking your feet up and relaxing around your campsite and a warm fire to unwind and give your tired and tense muscles a chance to recuperate. In these moments, you don’t want to have to sit on an old stump or bumpy rock—no guarantee either will even be available—or have your back up against an uncomfortable tree. To fully enjoy sitting for hours around the campfire, enjoying a fresh meal, some tasty beverages, and swapping stories, you’ll need to invest in a high-quality camping chair.
Camping chairs come in all variety of sizes, from the classic folding lawn chair to free-swinging loungers with built-in storage pockets. But the best have a few things in common: they're built to withstand the weather, they're portable (some more than others), and they provide the much-needed back support that's often scarce outdoors. We'll let you in on a secret too—camping chairs aren't just for camping; they're beach chairs, backyard chairs, deck chairs, fire pit chairs, tailgating chairs, and, heck, sometimes they're even inside chairs.
Field Mag's guide to camping chairs includes the top chairs you can buy now as tested and reviewed by our editors and contributors, plus all the details you need to know about camping chairs—from design and intended uses to materials and variations.
The Best Camping Chairs of 2023
Best Overall: Nemo Moonlite Reclining Camp Chair
The Moonlite takes the now-standard portable camping chair format that Helinox established years ago and adds in a few key improvements that turn it into a camping chair that balances comfort and portability better than any other we've yet tested. Some of those improvements include a premium collapsible aluminum frame that includes feet for better use on soft ground and a post-consumer recycled mesh seat that's somehow sturdy and comfy. Best of all, the adjustable side straps provide some bouncy recline so you can dial in your position around the fire and adjust as necessary. It's all super-packable too—if you have space in your pack, you might even count it as a backpacking chair.
Weight: 1 lb 14 oz
Weight Capacity: 300 lbs
Price: $160
Best Ultralight Chair: Helinox Chair Zero
For anyone who counts ounces when packing for camping, a chair will always be excess. But Helinox makes a good case for bringing along seating with the ultralight Chair Zero, which weighs in at a pound. It's remarkably easy to set up with a frame made of the same high-quality DAC aluminum poles that many tents use and a ripstop polyester seat that attaches to it. Despite its low weight, the Chair Zero is rated to hold 265 pounds.
Weight: 1 lb
Weight Capacity: 265 lbs
Price: $150
Most Durable Chair: Yeti Trailhead Camp Chair
Leave it to Yeti to make the most heavy-duty camping chair imaginable—the Trailhead might look like a lawn chair, but it has a weight capacity of 500 pounds, a dual lock system that keeps it sturdy, and isn't even affected by UV rays (which can lead to material breakdown over time). Yeti made its own fabric material, called FlexGrid, which is strong, supportive, and slightly bouncy, making this one of the comfiest mesh chairs you'll sit in. The high-back Trailhead has sturdy armrests and a cup holder, and the whole thing accordions up so you can stash it in the included storage bag, which is equipped with backpack straps for easy transport to and from your campsite.
Weight: 13 lbs 5 oz
Weight Capacity: 500 lbs
Price: $300
Best Beach Chair: ITA Leisure Chair
Sure you could pick up something from the beach store at your ocean destination, chances are it won't last to see another vacation. On the other hand, ITA makes its Leisure Chair with powder-coated aluminum and a PVC cord seat for long-lasting comfort in a classic beach chair folding design. The chair was designed and made in Mexico City.
Weight: 13 lbs
Weight Capacity: 250 lbs
Price: $281
Best Director's Chair: Snow Peak Folding Chair
Another classic camping chair format is the director's chair. Here, Snow Peak built it with a folding aluminum frame and a canvas seat and backrest. There aren't many other frills here—you're probably buying this chair because you like the look of it—but it does have padded armrests and a slightly reclining backrest.
Weight: 7 lb 11 oz
Weight Capacity: unspecified
Price: $120
Most Comfortable Camp Chair: Nemo Stargaze Reclining Camp Chair
First thing's first: the Stargaze Reclining Camp Chair is pricey at $300. It's also too heavy, at a smidge over seven pounds, for camping trips that require a big hike in (like backpacking). But everything else about this chair is awesome, starting with a design that suspends the seat on an aircraft-grade aluminum frame like a hammock to create the most comfortable seat you'll get outside. The Stargaze also includes a pillow headrest for leaning back and looking up and there are even two cup holders that keep drinks secure when you're swinging. Side pockets for your phone or other small items round out the features, and it all packs down easily into an included carry bag, too.
Weight: 7 lbs 15 oz
Weight Capacity: 300 lbs
Price: $300
Best Double Chair: Kelty Low Loveseat
For two-person seating around the fire, Kelty has what you need in the Low Loveseat. It's just like a traditional collapsible camp chair but for two, with cup holders in the armrests that can fit various sized water bottles on either side and a padded seat that gives it the feel of an outdoor lounge chair. And just like other camp chairs here, the Loveseat comes with a carrying case that it packs down into so you can bring it to wherever camp is. (Check out our guide to camping couches for more two-person seating.)
Weight: 15 lbs 6 oz
Weight Capacity: 400 lbs
Price: $140
Best Rocking Chair: Coleman Cross Rocker
Most campers won't jot down "rocking chair" on their camping gear checklist, but Coleman's Cross Rocker makes a good argument for doing so. The chair folds up sideways like a director chair, but its supportive steel frame is curved on the bottom so that once deployed, you can rock gently back and forth to your heart's desire. The polyester sea can support up to 300 pounds and has a PU coating for weather protection, plus a built-in cup holder. It's not the most packable camping chair here, so this is a better option for car camping or just general outdoor hanging.
Weight: 10 lbs 13 oz
Weight Capacity: 300 lbs
Price: $120 $91
Best Lawn Chair: REI Co-op Classic Lawn Chair
It doesn't get more old school than a lawn chair, which might be the original camping chair. The simple folding seat still has a place at camp, and REI has kept the design up to date with a powdered aluminum frame and a polyester webbing material that's a lot more comfortable than the plastic-y stuff you might remember from your grandparents' front porch. This chair also has wooden armrests, a clip to keep it all folded up nicely, and backpack straps for easy transport.
Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz
Weight Capacity: 250 lbs
Price: $90
Best Ground Chair: Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 Original Chair
Crazy Creek is the OG when it comes to outdoor seating thanks to its simple folding camp chair design that allows you to lean back for long periods on pretty much any surface you can find in the wilds. The low-profile Hex 2.0 includes some new upgrades, like high-density EVA closed-cell foam that provides comfort and a little bit of insulation, reinforcement where the straps that support your weight attach to the seat, and carbon fiber stays that are light and strong. This outdoor chair is rated for 250 pounds, and rolls up for easy packing.
Weight: 1 lb 4.8 oz
Weight Capacity: 250 lbs
Price: $65
Best Affordable Camping Chair: Stoic Lightweight Trail Chair
Just like the classic Crazy Creek, Stoic's Trail Chair is a no-frills, foldable ground chair you can plop down in the dirt for some easy back support. It's got light polyester padding and is easy to pack. It's not the most comfortable camping chair, but it's definitely the most comfortable camping chair for less than $20.
Weight: 1 lb 8 oz
Weight Capacity: unspecified
Price: $19
What to Think About When Buying a Camping Chair
Materials
A big price differentiator is the quality of the materials, both for the frame and fabric of the seat and back. If you are strictly using your chair for backpacking, you’ll want the chair to be as light as possible, whereas if you’re just going to be keeping it at your campsite, you can get a heavier and more comfortable camping chair.
Common materials used for the backrest, armrest, and seat are polyester, coated ripstop nylon, and closed-cell foam. Polyester and ripstop nylon are durable, water-resistant, and comfortable. A closed-cell foam padded seat won't absorb water, which is nice for water-based adventures and ground seats. Canvas is another good fabric you might come across, albeit a tad old-school.
Other materials that help camping chairs stand out from your basic lawn chair or plastic beach chair is an aluminum, carbon fiber, or steel frame. The legs of a high-quality camping chair are typically made of these materials due to their phenomenal strength-to-weight ratio. Folding seats (like Crazy Creek's Hex chair) might have removable carbon fiber stays, which improve rigidity in the seatback. In an emergency, you can even use these as splinting materials to stabilize an injury.
Weight
Think about weight in two ways. First, each camping chair should come with a tested weight capacity or weight limit, which will tell you how much it's rated to support. You'll commonly see 300 pounds as a sort of standard, though the figure can be higher or lower. Second, you'll want to think about how much the chair weighs. That'll give you a sense of how easy it is to carry so you can get the right seat for whatever type of camping trips you typically go on.
Packability
Think about how you plan to use the chair and where you'll take it. If you're mostly car camping, you can afford to get a larger chairs that's more comfortable but less packable. If you want something for backpacking or another form of camping that requires some schlepping, you'll probably want to get a lighter, more packable seat. In any case, good camping chairs should either come with an included carry bag or another way to move it, like integrated backpack straps.
Ground-to-Seat Height
Ground-to-seat height is the measurement from the bottom of your seat to the ground. If you go to concerts or sporting events where there are height limits or don’t want to bother the people behind you, you’ll want to get a low seat, only five to nine inches off the ground. The downside to low chairs is that they can be less comfortable for you legs, harder to get in and out of, and colder for your bum over long periods.
Taller chairs offer a more natural seating position, with the most comfortable standard camping chairs having seat heights anywhere from fifteen to eighteen inches. Backpacking chairs tend to be slightly lower to the ground—roughly nine to thirteen inches—since they are smaller and more compact.
Accessories & Alternatives
Beyond included features like armrests, cup holders, and side pockets, there are plenty of ways to complement a camping chair. You might consider a side table like Nemo's excellent Moonlander ($150) or a footrest (our favorite is a conveniently placed rock or log).
Your alternatives extend from the very basic—whatever you can find in nature—to items like a cot that can double as a camp bench, like Helinox's Cot One Convertible ($350) or a hammock, like the Kammok Roo Double.
Published 04-27-2023
