I am a huge lover of camping, beach dwelling, and attending festivals. When spending time outdoors, second to a comfy bed, what I also really cherish is a decent comfortable chair. Perhaps it is my age showing now, but just sitting on the floor no longer does the trick! I have used many different chairs over the years, and I have a few firm favorites. In this blog, I have put together a list of the best camping chairs I have found for every different outdoor occasion.
Traditional Folding Camping Chairs
Best For: Campsites and on the beach
The bonus of this style of chair is that they can be picked up rather cheaply. The downside of this is that they break easily which means that at the end of festivals they often litter the fields like casualties of war. For this reason, and a few more I mention further on, I don’t recommend these for festivals
The basic style of this chair is fairly portable, and most types come with a carry bag. I have never taken one to a festival, mainly because I travel by public transport and these are too bulky when added to an already heavy festival backpack. These are also not my favorite style of chair because I find that the back of my legs and hips get bruised when I sit on them for extended periods.
The more expensive folding camping chairs are more comfortable because they are far more sturdy and padded. However, the extra comfort makes them heavier and therefore completely unsuitable for lugging around a festival
Saying all that though, these style of chairs, budget and luxury, are still a great option to keep in the car for days on the beach, and to use for sitting around at a campsite.
Low Rise Camping Chairs
Best For: Festivals and on the beach
The low-rise chair is very similar style to the traditional camping chair, but lower in height. I find these sturdier than the traditional chair, likely because they are low, and therefore don’t break as easily. Losing the leg height, makes these chairs so much lighter and portable.
I think these are a great option for festivals. As they are lower in height, they are friendlier to use as you aren’t blocking anyone’s view who might be sat behind you. They are also much easier to carry around than the traditional style, without compromising on comfort. In fact, I find these more comfortable than the traditional style as most of them seem to be wider and not dig into my hips.
They might not be the best for campsites, especially if you are using tables and so forth because they are low. However, for just sitting around a campsite they are just as ideal as the traditional style.
Inflatable Wedge Lounger
Best For: On the beach
As I use public transport and carry a huge rucksack, lightweight chairs are always my main focus. I also get very excited if I see a chair could double up as another use! I discovered the wedge lounger a few years ago and decided to give one a try at a festival. It is incredibly light and when deflated packed easily into my backpack.
I was surprised at how comfortable the wedge lounger was. You can change the angle by moving the wedge onto one of the shorter sides, so you can switch between sitting more upright and being more laid back. This also means it is great to use inside a tent as it can double up as a pillow for your sleeping mat. This meant it was easier for me to sit up in bed and read. A joy!
However, what the wedge isn’t good at, is portability. It gets annoying having to deflate and inflate every time you move. This makes it pretty useless at big festivals for example, like Glastonbury Festival. For large festivals, you need a chair that’s easy to carry and to set up. The wedge is light, but having to inflate and deflate gets pretty old!
The wedge is great for lounging around a campsite though and particularly excels on the beach for laying back and catching some rays.
Folding Seat/Sit Mat
Best for : Festivals
These folding seats are my festival favorites. I discovered these many years ago and now its all I ever take to a festival. They are incredibly light and easy to use in an instant. It means you sit directly on the floor, but the important thing is that they support your back so they allow you to sit and rest comfortably.
The budget-friendly version of the folding chair is perfectly adequate and I used this style for years. Even in the muddy field of Glastonbury, and a few heavy festival uses, they keep on going which gives great value for money. However, a couple of years ago, I found an incredibly compact version of this style of seat made by Crazy Creek.
The Crazy Creek version of this folding chair is even lighter, and amazingly, it rolls up! This makes it incredibly portable and is now always attached to my rucksack when I go walking or to festivals. I did worry, as its thin, that it wouldn’t be padded enough. However, because of the way it’s designed the padding is more than adequate. It isn’t cheap, but it’s been worth the money as it’s still going strong at 5 years old.
Thermarest Chair kit
Best For: Lightweight camping
The Thermarest chair kit turns your sleeping mat into a mini chair. These are great for lightweight camping as the kit is super light and packs easily. Of course, the downside to this char is that it requires you to first own a Thermarest sleeping mat. I would highly recommend them though. I love my Thermarest mat.
Because Thermarest sleeping mats are not cheap, I would not use this for a festival as I would fear it getting trashed. I wouldn’t use it on the beach for the same reason. However, I love my chair kit for use when I am walking and solo camping as it means I can easily have a chair to use, without adding any weight to my backpack.
Inflatable Lounger
Best For : On the beach
When inflatable loungers first came onto the market, suddenly festival fields were full of people madly running around trying to get air into these things. I honestly thought they were bonkers until I did some research.
To explain, inflatable loungers are made of two thick air pockets, a little like a giant windsock. To inflate, you use the air around you. This is easier said than done, but, with the right technique, (thank you YouTube) they can be inflated really quickly.
I had to give one a try, and after a little practice, I mastered the art pretty well. The trouble with them is, that you do need a bit of space around you to move to get the air in. This makes them less than ideal for festivals for me. Plus, although they pack down small, having to inflate and deflate doesn’t make them quick to use.
They would work for around a campsite, or if you plan to spend a chunk of time in one festival field. I prefer to use mine for the beach. Inflatable loungers are perfect for beach dwelling as you can lay full out in them and they are so comfortable.
Reclining Beach Chairs
Best for : On The beach
I wanted a better chair for the beach, one that would allow me to be able to recline comfortably. I found this wonderful chair made by Coleman and I love it. It is so comfortable, and it lies back almost flat, making it perfect for the beach.
Where this particular chair fails is in its portability. It’s light, but it only folds flat, so its not that easy to carry, or even put in the boot of a car, compared to one of the traditional camping chairs. However, I only use it to take to my local beach, so it not being compact isn’t an issue.
My Top Three Camping Chair Winners
The Beach
For Festivals
For Camping
So there you have it, all the various camping chairs I have used over the years and the best use I have found for each. To see them all you can find them on my Amazon recommends page, along with all my other favorite camping kit.
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Yes, I love camping and have been missing it a lot this year with many of our campgrounds still closed due to covid-19 precautions. Those camping bench seats look pretty neat! I’ve also seen a lot about those inflatable lounger things and would like to give them a try. I didn’t realize that they were self inflating – the picture your words painted for me on that one made me laugh. 😂😂
Yes I am missing it too, especially festivals! Honestly, the bench seats are amaxing! Glad to be informative and give you a giggle too!
Such an informative post, thank you for sharing! I’m planning on going on some camping trips once this whole pandemic calms down, so thank you for the recommendations 🙂
Thank you for reading! Very glad it was helpful.
This post is so timely – we recently spent a week in Devon and found the Jurassic coast beaches incredibly uncomfortable to sit/lie on so we really wished we’d had some camping chairs. We will be going back because it’s a gorgeous part of the country, but now I know what to look for and where to get it – brilliant, Finn, thank you so much! Lisa
Oh I am so pleased to be well timed for you! I love the Jurassic coast! I lived in Dawlish for a while. Many a foilk have seen me inflating my beach lounger on those beaches! Thanks for your comment 🙂