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PostPosted: September 27th, 2022, 12:16 am 
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Joined: July 17th, 2002, 7:00 pm
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Location: Toronto, Ontario Canada
I use the Big Agnes UL Chair.

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PostPosted: September 27th, 2022, 8:19 am 
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Joined: September 23rd, 2021, 6:56 pm
Posts: 6
I use a couple Trekology chairs from Amazon (Heliox Chair 1 knockoff). Great price and still going strong after several years of service.


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PostPosted: September 27th, 2022, 5:11 pm 
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Joined: December 19th, 2011, 4:44 pm
Posts: 610
Location: Waterloo, ON
Blew the budget and picked up the new Helinox 'Chair Zero Highback' this spring. 680 grams!! I spent 42 days in the backcountry this season, and did a ton of portaging. The chair was great. The best weight-to-comfort ratio I've found in a camp chair, and I've owned many.

According to the specs the chair is rated for 250lbs. I'm fairly slim, and the chair worked well for me. However, I think that people over 180lbs or so might find the chair isn't the right one for them.

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PostPosted: September 27th, 2022, 6:05 pm 
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Joined: July 9th, 2001, 7:00 pm
Posts: 1366
Location: Cambridge, Ontario
I have a Helinox as well that I've used for years with no issues. However, I ordered 2 of these https://a.co/d/h6Fpklp this year and for the price (often on sale) they can't be beat. A little reclined for eating but most comfortable for relaxing.


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PostPosted: September 27th, 2022, 7:47 pm 
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Joined: May 26th, 2022, 12:18 pm
Posts: 23
Location: Orléans, Ontario
Thanks for the replies so far! Interesting to read everyone's thoughts and systems. So far Helinox style (or similar/knockoffs) have the majority of votes with a few other interesting options but most aren't quite suitable/feasible for the trip we're looking at.
I did try the Cascade mountain Ultralight chair that a friend got from Costco for 40$ or so (they don't sell them anymore in Canada) and it was comfortable but the leg arrangement was inverse to helinox and most if not all the others (the support between legs runs front to back instead of side-side) so i'm wondering how big of an impact it has on comfort. In the cascade chair you could rock a bit side to side which was nice to find just the right spot, not sure that works on the others but I guess there's only one way to find out!

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PostPosted: September 30th, 2022, 8:57 am 
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Joined: February 18th, 2021, 9:21 am
Posts: 105
We bring two options.

First we have some roots branded "stadium seats" - those folding chair pads with adjustable straps for diagonal braces. They are covered in a water-resistant nylon, have a aluminum frame inside, and some padding. When folded they are about the size of a pizza box, so I find it easy to slide them in somewhere after the canoe is loaded. My boys actually use theirs when they are paddling, as they find the canoe seats uncomfortable. At the site, we just roll a big log over and use the seats on the log. Other times i'll use one right on a big rock at the water's edge in the morning sun as I drink my tea.

this link is not our chair, but other than being red instead of green, it looks like them:
https://www.llbean.ca/shop/L.L.Bean-Aer ... 19971.html

Next up we bring some "parachute" hammocks. They are made of thin nylon, have a bug net, and fold up into a little bag about the size of a big mac. I got them for $10 each off aliexpress, and I thought they were cheap crap when they arrived, but they've worked fine for about 5 years now. I'll often sit in mine for the whole afternoon reading, and my wife has actually slept in hers. In the spring the bug net is really handy.


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PostPosted: October 3rd, 2022, 8:21 pm 
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Joined: August 16th, 2011, 8:02 pm
Posts: 347
Location: Edmonton area
I've been using a Helinox Chair One since they came out years ago, and it's still going strong and I'm not tempted to change it for anything else.

I put the Helinox/Vibram rubber balls on the feet, and they work wonderfully on rock, don't need to come off for storage, and the sand mat (a knock off of the Helinox) attachment fits over them as well.

I find that the Helinox products are Very durable, likely far more so than the knock-offs. But, they certainly are expensive.

Good luck, cheers.

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PostPosted: October 3rd, 2022, 9:09 pm 
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Joined: August 11th, 2002, 7:00 pm
Posts: 6132
Location: Sunny Wasaga Beach
I have used a Big Agnes Mica Basin for a couple of years now. I was given to me as a gift----wow, I didn't realize how expensive they were until now. I had a cheap knockoff from Mtn Warehouse that broke afrer a season or 2.

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PostPosted: October 12th, 2022, 7:08 am 
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Joined: June 28th, 2001, 7:00 pm
Posts: 2909
Location: Freeland, Maryland USA
Reading through the responses there seem to be two schools of thought, compact “Butterfly” type chair or larger folding “camp” chair.

I think the choice depends on what you are paddling, when and where. On a no-portage lake base camper or easy downriver trip a real chair is paramount equipment for me.

Perhaps because my bulk would hazard skinny aluminum pole butterfly-style chairs. I am not a butterfly. Even if it dependably held me aloft I’d need a block & tackle or multiple helpers to extract myself from a “chair” four inches off the ground.

Perhaps because, on no-portage river and coastal bay trips, friends have brought winky butterfly chairs and boasted about them. But when I would return from taking a walk, or even brief leak, there they would be, happily sitting in my chair.

Yeah, I’m keeping an eye on you this time Willie.

ImageP5111064 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

You too Joel. Although you have never been a chair snatcher.

ImageP5102016 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

So yeah, I’ll take a serious chair when called for, something with a high back extension for wind or sun. Sometimes I just want my own private, sheltered Idaho, away from companions.

ImageP5101056 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Watch that second step out of the vestibule. It’s a long way to the bottom.

I took a second slightly smaller camp chair on one 11 day downriver trip, just so I could kick scofflaws out of my chair. My four companions all brought compact butterfly chairs; guess where they sat when the spare chair was vacant?

A few years ago, on a small group lake camper a companion brought the ultimate in UL chairs, a teeny little thing, WITH ONLY TWO LEGS. A no-portage single lake camper gathering.

Balanced precariously on two legs he occasionally, almost routinely, leaned back to far and ended up with a view of the stars overhead. At least he always went horizontal backwards, not forward into the fire. OK, there may have been libations involved. But no one else fell over while seated.

Finally, while I’m on a near chair rant, in a lot of my favorite places I don’t want my butt that close to the ground. Ankle-biter flies will just as soon nibble my thighs at ground level. Blowing sand and dust on coastal and desert trip. On coastal barrier islands when the tick population booms in the spring it looks like the pine duff is moving.

It is; there are that many ticks afoot. Eh, thanks, can I have a chair tall enough to prop my feet on some gear Ottaman to avoid the ground huggers?

One longish downriver trip out west I got smart, and brought a second, smaller chair. Let’s just say it was in frequent use, and my big wind & sunblock chair was unmolested. We called them the King and Queen chairs.

My Queen must have been an arranged marriage; he wasn’t my type at all.


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PostPosted: October 12th, 2022, 9:53 am 
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Joined: June 3rd, 2004, 10:51 am
Posts: 339
Location: Aurora (Borealis)
Fellow Adventurers,

I have to admit that I never carried ANY camp chair.

I always assumed that I'd find a rock or log to sit on and make do with whatever there was.

That's not an endorsement. I always just thought of wilderness camping as carrying the minimum necessary for survival and letting the experience evolve from there.

But I took note of Bill Mason saying the goal was not "roughing it" but "smoothing it" and in later years kept that in mind while packing, so I wasn't really a minimalist.

Over the years, I encountered the abandoned wreckage of broken camp chairs as well as chairs obviously fabricated on the spot from branches, etc. I was never happy to find such detritus left behind..

When I go to outdoor dog competitions, I use a Bass Pro Shops chair which is not what I'd call suitable for hauling in a canoe. It's a compact folded package and heavy duty but not all that lightweight.

-JF-


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PostPosted: October 12th, 2022, 11:07 am 
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Joined: April 14th, 2018, 7:19 pm
Posts: 599
for 95% of my past tripping, i never took a chair or hammock or anything to sit on.
extra comfort was never on the list. not because it was pushed off, but just it never loitered on.
not a principle i was following. just never that interest or care, about a chair, or hammock.

if anything, i would have been repulsed, as i was all about travelling easy and freely,
sleek and light,
(but not like some campers these days, counting grams with a scale).
more like just, i knew what i needed (regardless of its weight), and knew what i didn't.

only a few years ago did i give any attention to camp chair, and it was Helinox.
the size was was captured my interest. i was really impressed.
not just by the size, but how it was a full standing chair at that size. that's what impressed me.

obviously there were always tripod chairs, and crazy creek,
which never caught on for me, because i felt they change too little to be worth it.
a full chair changes lots, but out of the question until i saw those Helinox chairs.
2lbs, about the size of a few cucumbers stacked. lots of rest days? alright, buying it.

worth stating, if the trip didn't have more rest days, i wouldn't have bought it.
and i won't be taking it on any trip where i'm moving every day
(will take some cut out foam pad though, which serves many functions, not just sitting on).
so, it might have to do with the rest days john. if you're chilling, might as well chill properly.

but i will say this,
after years and years of sitting on pine needles, pointy rocks, wet wood, leaning against the prickly bark of red pine, using your abs slightly while sitting, to keep to your awkward position, re-adjusting every so often as acorns or rock points start to sting under you.

then one day you sit back into a parachute hammock suspended above all those things,
like magic,
that slips and contours to your butt and back, cradling you perfectly, legs dangling over and ready to 'touch' on the ground right when u wish,

it has gotta be like one's first kiss.
i mean i'm not joking. it's unbelievable what it's like, for the first ever time, out there. but only if you're used to the rough.

hammock will come on all my trips
helinox needs to cut the weight and size in half, and still come out as big.


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PostPosted: October 12th, 2022, 9:28 pm 
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Joined: August 11th, 2002, 7:00 pm
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Location: Sunny Wasaga Beach
For quite a while when i was younger I did not take a chair. The first 1 I got was one of those 3-legged 'nut busters". I soon switched to a Coleman camp chair which is prob just as light as a Helinox or similar but more bulky. A couple of years back I was given the big Agnes I mentioned above. The primary purpose for me is to be able to sit while cooking. My legs and back are now too stiff for squatting or kneeling.


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PostPosted: November 21st, 2022, 6:19 pm 
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Joined: June 28th, 2018, 10:51 am
Posts: 18
Location: Toronto - Danforth
Helinox Sunset Chair.

I'm 6'5" and the highback seat is worth every ounce after a long day of tripping.


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PostPosted: November 22nd, 2022, 7:03 pm 
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Joined: January 5th, 2020, 10:11 am
Posts: 236
Comfortable, but hell on portages, as you can see.


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PostPosted: November 22nd, 2022, 7:18 pm 
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...after that happened, I switched to Helinox style. Much easier on the ports. For the size and weight, and the comfort that it brings around camp, it's a no-brainer for me.

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