ActiveOutdoorsCampingHelinox Chair Two review: are you sitting comfortably?A chair that thinks it’s a tent, the Helinox Chair Two is astonishingly portable and comfy to bootWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Mark Mayne)T3 VerdictThe Helinox Chair Two offers an impressive combination of seating comfort, light weight and packability in a quality package that’s hard to beat. It does take a few seconds to erect, but otherwise is one of the best camping chairs on the market.Reasons to buy+Light weight+Highly packable+Top-notch comfortReasons to avoid-Does take time to put togetherWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
ActiveOutdoorsCampingHelinox Chair Two review: are you sitting comfortably?A chair that thinks it’s a tent, the Helinox Chair Two is astonishingly portable and comfy to bootWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Mark Mayne)T3 VerdictThe Helinox Chair Two offers an impressive combination of seating comfort, light weight and packability in a quality package that’s hard to beat. It does take a few seconds to erect, but otherwise is one of the best camping chairs on the market.Reasons to buy+Light weight+Highly packable+Top-notch comfortReasons to avoid-Does take time to put togetherWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
A chair that thinks it’s a tent, the Helinox Chair Two is astonishingly portable and comfy to boot
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)T3 VerdictThe Helinox Chair Two offers an impressive combination of seating comfort, light weight and packability in a quality package that’s hard to beat. It does take a few seconds to erect, but otherwise is one of the best camping chairs on the market.Reasons to buy+Light weight+Highly packable+Top-notch comfortReasons to avoid-Does take time to put together
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
T3 VerdictThe Helinox Chair Two offers an impressive combination of seating comfort, light weight and packability in a quality package that’s hard to beat. It does take a few seconds to erect, but otherwise is one of the best camping chairs on the market.Reasons to buy+Light weight+Highly packable+Top-notch comfortReasons to avoid-Does take time to put together
T3 VerdictThe Helinox Chair Two offers an impressive combination of seating comfort, light weight and packability in a quality package that’s hard to beat. It does take a few seconds to erect, but otherwise is one of the best camping chairs on the market.
T3 Verdict
The Helinox Chair Two offers an impressive combination of seating comfort, light weight and packability in a quality package that’s hard to beat. It does take a few seconds to erect, but otherwise is one of the best camping chairs on the market.
Reasons to buy+Light weight+Highly packable+Top-notch comfortReasons to avoid-Does take time to put together
Reasons to buy+Light weight+Highly packable+Top-notch comfort
Light weight
Highly packable
Top-notch comfort
Reasons to avoid-Does take time to put together
Does take time to put together
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
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The Helinox Chair Two is a worthy successor to the Chair one, a highly packable, lightweight chair that claims to offer support, comfort and portability all in one. Available in a wide range of colourways, the Helinox Chair Two has an RRP of £129.95 / $139.95, and is available now. To see how it compares to thebest camping chairsout there, I took it out and about for a test.
Helinox Chair Two review: design and build
The simplest way to think about the Helinox Chair Two is as a chair crossed with a tent, or maybe a chair that thinks it’s a tent. A lightweight alloy pole set clips together to support a hammock-style chair, a scenario that sounds like it might be overly fragile, but in reality that’s not an issue to worry about. It’s an ideal companion product for theHelinox Table One Hardtop.
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
The poles are shock-corded just like a tent, slotting into hub units made from high-strength, fibre-reinforced Nylon 66. Some slot into place automatically under tension, while the longer backrest poles usually need a bit of a hand to seat correctly. The fabric cover slots into the two longer backrest poles, then hooks over the two front poles, creating a bucket-style seat.
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
A further ingenious addition is the headrest wrap, a full-width velcro sleeve affair, which means you can create a pillow from anything that’s to hand, or even the chair’s bag itself. The downside to using larger items is that the extra weight makes the chair top-heavy and thus it overbalances easily, but this is easily avoided. Helinox say that the high-back on Chair Two works best for people standing 5 foot 7 inches (170cm) and under, although testers taller than this didn’t report major issues.
The main claim to fame of the Helinox Chair Two is the packsize, an impressive 12 x 46 x 61cm, combined with the weight, a mere 1.18kg, including the bag.
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
Helinox Chair Two review: comfort and performance
Performance-wise there are two factors here - firstly that the pitch time of the Helinox Chair Two is slightly longer than your standard camping chair. Not very much, to be fair, but there is a certain amount of fiddling around required. Unrolling the fabric, removing the tangle of poles, clicking them into place, then hooking the fabric on takes a few seconds - like 30 of them or so. This isn’t much of an issue if you’re using the chair in one spot - like camping for the evening, or at an event of some kind, but if you’re moving around it’s certainly a potential time overhead.
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
However, the flip side of that is the weight and size, which is quite a revelation to be fair. It’s so portable you end up taking it to places just in case you fancy a comfortable seat, and as a handy thing to keep in a car boot it’s right up there. The 1.18kg weight is arguably a bit of a chore for longer backpacking trips, but for anything short and sweet its entirely doable. The really nice thing though is that it’s basically half the size of a normal camping chair, so even for car-camping trips it really drops the overall amount of ‘stuff’ right down.
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
(Image credit: Mark Mayne)
Not only is it comfortable to sit in, but the maximum capacity is a generous 145kg, which should be sufficient for most standard humans, and an impressive feat given the complex construction. The only caveat is that there’s little weight in the chair itself, and the base is a relatively compact area, so on slick surfaces it’ll often slide as you stand up - a good core strength test.
Helinox Chair Two review: verdict
Even for car campers with smaller vehicles it offers extra boot space for that new pizza oven, making the Helinox Chair Two a bit of a winner for every type and style of camper.
As mentioned, the ‘pitch’ time is the only real downside here, as it does take a short period of faffing to put up a Helinox Chair Two, as opposed to the handful of seconds it takes to unfold a standard-umbrella style camping chair.
The question is, do you want to swap a few seconds faff for a super-portable camping chair? If the answer is yes, or even maybe, the Helinox Chair Two is a smashing choice, and a decision you won’t regret - especially for those moments when you suddenly remember you’ve got a chair in your rucksack and can just…sit down in comfort. Marvellous.
Helinox Chair Two: Price Comparison
$59.95View$97.97View$129.95View$129.95View$129.95View
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