For today's #whatsinyourpack:
Camp chairs. Yay! Or nay?
I've tried all the ultralight camp chairs at REI. The Nemo moonlight was the most comfortable by far for my big frame but heavy at 2lbs. They just came out with the elite version that is 1 lb 2 oz (without the foot pad).
I'm seriously considering getting this but it's definitely a luxury item and adds weight to my pack.
Do you bring a camp chair backpacking? I would love to hear from any #thruhiker's!
Thank you everyone who responded. I love this community!
I was just reading the latest thru-hiker survey from The trek. Only 3% of thru-hikers carried a chair last year on the AT.
I think I'll leave the chair at home (or at REI in this case). :)
ach year here at The Trek, we ask long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) about the stoves and water filters they used on their 2023 thru-hike. This year we added a ton of new questions about gear hikers used, including rain jackets, trekking poles, GPS devices, menstruation products, and even more! In this final post of the series, we’ll cover the most popular cooking systems, resupply strategies, water filters, power banks, and plenty more gear choices, ...
@freeder23 A camp chair is primary luxury item on nearly every backpacking trip. It just makes so much difference for me, personally, that it’s well worth the weight.
But…my trips are always with friends and involve a lot of campfire time, and I’m also not thru-hiking so much shorter trips.
There are times when I camp with other people, like my family, where we just hike into a nice site with heavy packs and enjoy a luxury camp.
I'll let them chime in but I am pretty sure this is not a thru hike item. Just to give you an idea how you start to think about what you carry I had a small aluminum pot grabber and ended up sending it home because I could use my bandana.
@freeder23 I didn't carry one, but when I saw an AT hopeful thru hiker sitting in one, I felt jealous.
I also did not see anyone carrying or using a camp chair anywhere north of the Smokies.
@andrewbriscoe same here. I've usually had a picnic bench at my camp sites as well. I could see having a chair being nice early on in my AT thru-hike when I am hiking shorter days and spending more time in camp. Later on, when I'm doing high mileage days, I probably wouldn't use it much. I imagine I will be hiking, eating, and sleeping.
The $179.99 price tag kept me from making an impulse buy. Lol
@elperronegro @freeder23 From where I stand, the "backpacking chair" seems to be an American thing.
Not something I see people carry around on multi-day trips. Maybe just walking to a lake for the day to have a picnic.
Having said that, we did pick up a lost little tripod chair at 3000m last year. Why anyone thought is was sane to carry it into such remote wilderness area, is beyond me.
@freeder23 I bought an expensive Big Agnes hiking chair a couple years ago, bit ended up using it only a few times. On pretty much every trip I would prefer to have a lighter backpack than a little bit of comfort the chair brings.
Now its main use case is chilling on the balcony when the weather is sunny.
@freeder23 I see Dan Becker released a video just some hours ago on the Moonlight.
https://youtu.be/7DNf3lf7dfY?si=3yBQ_GZXWIa4P7is
@ysb33r thanks for sharing the video.
I've tried them all out in store. For a big guy like me, the Moonlight Elite is the GOAT. It's way more comfortable than any of the others.
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