Helinox Chair Zero

My Price: $129.95

Manufacturer: Helinox

Made In: Korea/Vietnam

Availability: Website and Outdoor Stores (REI etc.)

Weight: 17 ounces

Season use: All

Review:

I was late to the chair game. I bought my first chair from Amazon back in 2017. It weighted over 2lbs but was very comfortable. When I realized I could get a chair that was just over 1lb and just as comfortable, I jumped at the chance despite the high price tag. I have never regretted it. The ability to kick your feet up and sit back after a long day on trail makes the extra pound on your back worth it, usually. On longer hikes where I will likely do more than 15 miles a day, the chair tends to stay at home. Lucky for me, the majority of my hikes are simple 1-2 nighters with fairly short daily miles. This means more time at camp to sit around a fire and enjoy my chair. The chair also has some benefits besides lounging. It makes for an easy way to filter my water through my Cnoc Vecto bag and Sawyer Squeeze as the bottle will sit nicely between my feet. You can also use the chair to put into you tent at night to keep the sagging tent from sitting on the footbox of your sleeping bag and getting you down wet.

There are a couple down sides to this and most backpacking chairs I have tried over the years. The low weight means short poles so you aren’t that far off of the ground. This means getting up often involves noises not typically heard in nature. The seat fabric is very thin which means it does not retain any heat. A simple Z-seat or foam pad can help with that when the temps dip below 50 degrees. Lastly and most annoying for me as I hike mostly in the Pacific Northwest where the ground is almost always wet, the feet like to sink into mud or soft soil. Because of this you will occasionally tip over if you are not paying attention. Those are all small prices to pay to make your butt comfy and your friends jealous when out backpacking. Cheers.

My Rating: Buy it! And if you like your friends buy them one too. It’s that awesome!

May the miles you hike be filled with wonder and the glasses you raise be filled with whiskey.

Cheers!

Rating scale:

-Bypass: This isn’t worth the money.

-Borrow: Handy but may or may not be worth your money.

-Buy: Get one. You’ll love it!