Camping Chairs in the Boundary Waters

Do you consider a camping chair in the Boundary Waters a necessity or a luxury? For me it depends upon the type of trip I am taking and how much portaging I’ll be doing. When we plan to set up a base camp it’s nice to bring along a lightweight camp chair.

Now days there are a large variety of camp chairs to choose from. When we started outfitting canoe trips into the BWCA over 20 years ago the two options were the big sling type camp chairs by Coleman or a Crazy Creek chair. While the big chairs are comfortable they are far from lightweight and Crazy Creek chairs are nice but they don’t get you off of the ground.

The ground is great when it’s dry, level and insect free. Many campsites have logs to sit on, nice rocks to stretch out on and comfortable places to sit. However it’s nice to have a chair that gets you off of the ground and away from biting ants, crawling insects and a wet bottom.

I have two camp chairs I really like, one is the Alite Monarch Butterfly and the other a Big Agnes Helinox.  The Helinox Camp One Chair is the most comfortable but weighs 2 pounds while the Alite only weighs a little over 1 pound. The Alite is about $30 less expensive at $69 and the Helinox at $99.

Other companies make camp chairs including Therm-a-Rest, Alps Mountaineering and of course Coleman. Do you have a favorite camping chair? Is it a necessity in the BWCA or a luxury? Let me know.