In Cram’s patent filing, he mentions an earlier patent by one J. Middleton, though we couldn’t find any patent predating 1855 from an inventor by that name, or any patent related to folding chairs. If you’re looking for highly specialized or ultra-lightweight chairs for backpacking, our recommendations are probably not for you. We also don’t have suggestions for couch-style or loveseat chairs (we’d like to look at those someday, though). Closed sides keep the wind from blowing through. Each arm rest has a built-in insulated hand rest.
Kalee Thompson is the senior editor heading up Wirecutter’s kid coverage. When she wrote the first version of this guide, Kalee lived in Southern California, where she tested chairs on three group camping trips. These portable chairs are great for camping, sporting events, and backyard BBQs.
Most of our testers found the REI Co-op Skyward Chair to be one of the least comfortable chairs in our testing pool. People who did like it tended to have smaller body types, so if you find that other camping chairs are too big for you, the Skyward might be a good fit. At a little over 7 pounds, it’s also the lightest traditional chair we tested—but it had the lowest weight capacity (250 pounds). It’s currently low in stock, but REI tells us this chair will be widely available again over the summer. It’s durable and comfortable for a range of campers. The Coleman Cooler Quad has been our pick since 2016, through numerous camping trips and several testing sessions.
Double cup holders are also extra large to hold bigger drinks. John Dann patented a camping folding chair in 1862. Nathaniel Alexander patented a folding chair in 1911 featuring a book rest. It can hold a lot of supplies, and it’s easy to carry and set up. The King Kong chair has two cupholders and intuitively placed storage pouches under each armrest; unlike the Coleman chair, though, this one doesn’t have a cooler pouch.
This pouch is big enough to stow gear like a phone, book, or tablet. Of the chairs we tested, the Coleman chair was the only one that came with a built-in ozark trail chair cooler bag, which can hold four standard-size beer or soda cans. The chair also has the round mesh cupholder found on most chairs of this type.
But if you want to kick back and stay comfy, the right camping chair can make all the difference. Someone out there in history—perhaps multiple people, even—deserve(s) credit for such a popular product, right? So let’s find out who invented the folding chair and dish up some kudos. The top plate of the camping stove is made of steel plate enamel, which has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and wind resistance. The furnace body is shock-resistant and drop-resistant, more durable.
Similar to the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair in size, the Ozark Trail Oversized Mesh Camp Chair with Cooler was far less comfortable, with rough-feeling polyester that was obviously of lower quality. After six months of frequent use, the stitching along one arm had come unraveled, and the small straps holding up the back of the armrests had both ripped in half. After new testing, we still love the Coleman Cooler Quad Chair for most outdoors situations.