Outdoor Furniture

[Steve Hammel]

I've noticed a plethora of after Thanksgiving /pre Christmas sales fliers from numerous local and national camper supply/sports/outdoor stores. All of them offering several types of outdoor furniture in as many price ranges. Over the past two seasons I've went through 3 of those inexpensive collapsible chairs that come in a canvas bag from Walt-mart. Although they don't weigh much or take up much space they have left me wanting at inopportune times. I'm now thinking of purchasing some of those aluminum director style chairs (only short) with little tables built in. Is anyone on here using those? How do they hold up? How about storage options? What else are people using that I might want to look at?

[Donna D.]

When camping, there's nothing more important than having a comfortable place to sleep and a great chair for sitting outside!

I've had back surgery and 99% of chairs are very comfortable for the first five minutes. THEN it feels like a hot poker is jammed into my spine. DANG.

I love, love my Lafuma lounger, but for general sitting, I prefer the simple aluminum web chairs of years ago. Remember when you could buy one at the end of camping season for about $10? No more! Because of the price of aluminum, they're mint on eBay and hard to find at retail stores.

I like these types of chairs because they don't absorb moisture if left out on the patio (a papertowel to dry instead of waiting hours for the "canvas" to dry out), are very lightweight for packing from campsite to campsite at gatherings, if my chair gets dirty I can simply hose it off and more importantly.... no steel to rust! I typically put my chair(s) under the rear of the trailer at night and because it's aluminum.. no powder coating to scrap or chip off. These chairs last for years and the webbing is replaceable.

http://www.lawnchairusa.com/

Good luck on your decision!

[Ron F]

I have to agree with Donna. I'd also like to find a good quality aluminum/web lounger. We have the canvas bag chairs w/foot rests and a pair of aluminum chairs with the side table. The bag chairs are comfy, but as Donna says, canvas collects dew overnight and takes forever to dry. The pair of aluminum chairs w/table are ok for 5 minutes, but soon become unbearable and the table is set too far back to be useful. A nice aluminum/web chair with a separate table would be more useful and comfortable. Just my opinion.

[Steve Hammel]

You're right, I totally forgot about the good old fashioned aluminum web chairs. It seems we get into all the latest "fashionable" camping gear we forget about all the stuff that has worked great for years.

[mary and bob]

We have two of the Coleman chairs with the side tables and like them. We keep them in our screen room at night. We also have a few of the old aluminum web chairs, one of them a rocker, and a couple chaise loungers. Some of them need new webbing. A good winter project if we hadn't decided to go south and sit on the beach all winter!!

[honda03842]

The key in chairs is aluminum, light and rust proof. We carry two web chairs and two tabled captain's chairs. Webs from Lawn Chair USA and webs on sale from CW, about $29 each.

All four chairs ride on a shelf in the back of the CRV. The shelf is situated above the rear deck where four plastic bins sit, golf clubs, tennis racket, compressor and bottle jack.

[Steve Hammel]

Norm you carry your golf clubs? I did that once and decided to buy another set and leave one in Spokane and another set at Ocean Shores. I mostly play a beautiful little public course in Spokane for $12. Don't even bother to try and play in Vegas it's in the $100's, ridicules!!!!!!!

[honda03842]

Steve,

First time for golf clubs in 5 years. We plan to sped a couple of months in one place and a bunch of friends play. It'll be interesting to see if I can still hit the ball.

I like the tennis better. People gather at a local tennis court every morning and play round robin doubles

Lastly I carry a pickle ball racket, my favorite, more popular in the west.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I have the tabled chairs, and love them, way better for your back than sling chairs and the table is very useful. They store smaller than the old lawn chairs with the webbing and as I've had mine for six years, I'd say they last well.

[Reid Larsen]

another vote for the "director" style chairs w/ the side table. Pretty durable (ours are several years old and have camped alot) and are easier to get my older bones in and out of than some of the sling chairs which tend to cut off circulation on my legs if I sit in one too long. The side tables are handy to hold a plate, drink , or book. Ours also have carry handles which makes them handy to carry about when closed. Do wish they were more compact when closed. Just my humble opinion.

[Francesca Knowles]

I'm a webbed-aluminum chair user...my present chairs are the low, beach-type. I like them because
a) I'm a foot-putter-upper, and when one's already low, that problem's solved!
b)They take up less room than full-sized chairs.
and
c)They keep me in "getting up from low places" shape, which I hope to stay in for the rest of my life.

That having been said:

My husband prefers the director-type chair, the ordinary version of which takes up a lot of space...so this year for his birthday I bought him one of these "Pico" chairs (below). It's pretty expensive, but he says it's very comfortable. (He's 6' tall, 175 lbs.)

The fabric is a mesh-type through which most rain passes...

The Pico is super easy to set up, is really lightweight, and takes up less room than any other outside furniture we carry. It actually fits through the luggage doors I installed in the four corners of my Trillium

Francesca

GCI Outdoor's PICO Chair - YouTube

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

I'm a webbed-aluminum chair user...my present chairs are the low, beach-type.

We have 2 of those, plus a 3rd in yellow canvas. Robert had them from before we met and we've been together for over 24 years... OMG I've got to remember the anniversary coming up!

[theresa p]

we have used our coleman maxx sling-style chairs for over 5 years. they are super-comfy, extremely durable and strong. these chairs have a strap attached, making carrying a snap. (we don't use the carry bags). being "maxx" not only means they support heavier folk, but they also are sturdier.
we've tried our friends' director-style chairs but found them way too rigid
for our liking. plus, for me, the back of coleman maxx is a little bit higher than those on a director chair and i find this supports my head/neck better.

[Gilda]

In addition to the folding director's chairs we carry 3-legged folding stools to use as footstools or extra seating. I also like to carry mine for seating for on-the-trail sketching. Amazon.com: Allen Company Three Legged Folding Stool: Sports & Outdoors

[teri85]

Just got back from a week in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and used one of the Coleman director style chair with side table and liked it. Also have an older canvas bag chair that I've had forever that works well. Had been using the old stand by aluminum web chair and was looking for something a little more compact. The ones we have are pretty old (aluminum tubing arm rests) and could use some new webbing.

Had one of the bag chairs with foot rest and it broke on the third weekend trip. No more of those for me.

[Jim Bennett]

Any chair that offers a firm seat and back support is acceptable. The old web type did work good, albeit a bit big folded.

The worse is those darn cheap sling chairs. The most uncomfortable way to sit, period.

I have gone through quite a few different chairs over the years, and most were not too bad. Lots of different strengths, from compact size, to light weight, to ease of use, and of course comfort.

Our latest chair purchase was based on size, as it stores way easier, and is nice to take along on a canoe trip. What we ended up buying were Kermit Chairs. These chairs are a bit on the pricey side, but if you are a fan of well crafted, quality workmanship, these live up to it. They pack real small (4"x6"x22"), and are very comfortable in use. Their normal height is between a beach chair and a regular chair, and with leg extensions become full height. The optional (though expensive too) drink holders work great, though we do use lightweight aluminum stools as coffee tables most times.

The only real drawback (other than the cost) is that it takes near a minute to set up if packed away. Once set up, it then can be stowed temporarily like any folding chair.

I decided a week before heading out on a 2 1/2 week trip this year that I wanted a couple, and really did not think they would make it to Calgary from Nashville in time. I phoned instead of risking emailing, and got a call back from Tom (the owner) less than an hour later. He was not in the shop, but up at a motorcycle rally in Montreal, but did call his shipping guy to make sure he processed our order ASAP, and we received the chairs 4 days later, in plenty time for our trip. Now, that is good service.

The Kermit Chair was made popular by motorcycle touring folk, primarily the BMW crowd.

How to unpack a Kermit Chair - YouTube

[Steve L.]

My flexibility has suffered some as of late and I find the soft, sling type chairs comfortable but hard to get out of. I tend to roll sideways out of them onto the ground and then get up. A little hard on my sense of decorum.

I've gone the director-chair-with-side-table route. I look for two things in my choice: One is that the back rest slants back some. The vertical backs tend to get uncomfortable for me after sitting in them for a bit but the slanted back chairs are more tolerable.

Secondly, it should have the recess in the table for the pop (soda?) to nestle in. A larger diameter one to accommodate a cozy. Campfires inevitably involve schooching around to let more members into the circle and the recess helps minimize tip-overs of the pop while relocating the chair. If the chair is comfy, you can add a recess with a insert from Walmart, a hole saw/jig saw and some hot melt glue to hold it in place.

The down side of these chairs is that the side tables are usually cheap pressboard and don't like being out in the dew as they'll delaminate over the years.

I was tempted by a chair where the table part could swung around from the side to in front of you for chowing down (Camping World chair) but the mechanism to enable that was too flimsy for my tastes. I hope they improve it since I think it's kinda slick.

[ruscal]

The first two chairs we purchased after getting the Scamp were the Camping world directors chairs with side tray. These proved to be good all around chairs, sight and comfortable for sitting short periods of time. They are not lounging friendly though due to their height. We then wanted some more comfortable lounge friendly type chairs. When I was young I used banana loungers that purpose. I even slept on them on occasion. Recently I saw them at Wal Mart and gave one a test. It was Horribly uncomfortable! Forty five years have changed the way I perceive comfort! Camping World sells many articulated zero gravity type loungers, but while better than the old banana, were all lacking in some way. I then followed Donna's recommendation and checked out a Lafuma lounger. It worked smoothly, was comfortable, and well made. I picked up two of them. The neck pillow was too flat for me, so I made plumper ones filled with a cut down memory foam pillow. I hauled the new super comfy Lafumas on our recent trip to Moab. We camped two nights going, 7 nights there, and 2 nights coming home, and not once did we have enough time to LOUNGE. We were always on the go! The chairs were expensive, and bulky to store. They had to be put in at night to deter theft. Perhaps we should have left them at home on that trip. I'll try them again on a more leisurely trip. Leisure? Whassthat? Someday I'm really gonna retire too.
Russ

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

Over the past two seasons I've went through 3 of those inexpensive collapsible chairs that come in a canvas bag from Walt-mart. Although they don't weigh much or take up much space they have left me wanting at inopportune times... What else are people using that I might want to look at?

Light, inexpensive, and space-saving not working out for you? I went in the opposite direction... Heavy and cumbersome, but oh soooo comfortable. I already had them and just had to figure out how to put them to use. They'd be expensive to replace though...

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...sey-21492.html