This Little REI Chair Is My Must-Pack Item of the Summer
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One of the great ironies of the great outdoors is that you can sit anywhere but need to bring your own seat to be comfortable. Finding the perfect camp chair is easier said than done. Some want heavy and obscenely comfortable. I was looking for a small, travel-ready chair that's comfortable, sturdy, and easy to pack up and rebuild, time after time. It's a laundry list, but there's one chair that does it. That's the REI Flexite Camp Chair.
It's the ideal companion for weenie roasting and s'mores over the fire. It's versatile, best for use on the deck when the sun's out, around the fire in the woods, or on a weekend trip to the park. Best of all, packing it up and throwing it in the back of the van is no biggie; that's what the Flexlite chair is made for. It's all there in the name. This chair is flexible and light, and for me it just became this summer's must-pack item.
The Flexlite Camp Chair supports more than 100 times its own weight. There is something to be said for a chair that can hold up to 250 pounds while itself weighing less than two pounds in total. That weight-to-capacity ratio is due to a clever aluminum frame with plastic feet to keep it sturdy without adding weight. It has a small footprint but folds out into a decent-sized seat that'll fit everyone from big kids to lanky teens to adults. It may not look like a lot, but that simplicity is part of the beauty. It's not overly complicated; like so much camping gear, it's ingeniously simple.
Set it up on a flat surface and you'll find you have a portable, well-built, bare-bones seat. It's not a classic Coleman armchair; it won't contain a floundering child or bigger adults. But for those who want a nice relaxing sit, bereft of leaning, and a lighter pack heading into camp, it's perfect. Dig it into the dirt, sand, or snow (come winter) and you'll find the stability you're looking for in this low-riding chair that gets you close to the action but prevents you from toppling over.
I'm no expert outdoorsman, nor am I a handyman. Building furniture (or TV mounts) is generally a process I dread. But when I took the Flexlite chair on my family vacation this summer, I didn't need to ask my in-laws for help. Not once. Putting together the plastic-plated aluminum poles that make up the chair's frame is intuitive; it just about snaps into shape on its own. From there, all you need to do is pull the polyester seat—that's 300-denier ripstop polyester; it'll last a long, long time—over and attach each corner to the corresponding pole rods. It's more or less a two-step process. The whole thing takes two minutes to put together and less than three to break back down. And each time you do it, it gets a little faster and a lot easier.
When you finally pack it all up in the bag, the Flexlite becomes a light and durable package. We're talking just shy of two pounds. So long as you're not an ultralight backpacker, you could take this on a thru-hike. If you're headed to the beach or campsite for the weekend, you can throw as many of them as you own into the trunk or bed. You won't run out of space, and they won't dent or get damaged. Take one for every member of the family—and two extra for friends you meet.
This camp chair doesn't have to be just for camping. For me, it's an everywhere chair in the summer. From the beach to the mountains, the park or somebody's rooftop, if there's somewhere you want to sit this summer, this REI packable camp chair is the throne you need.
Photographs by Florence Sullivan
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