Camping chairs come in every form and size you can imagine from monopod stools to inflatables and heavy steel frames to ultralight alloy chairs for when you do want to carry them to more remote camps. The Coleman Kickback Breeze Chair sits at the affordable end of the market with a street price between £25 and £30, but has enough in its favour to make it a contender for camp site use.
What the manufacturers say:
Sit back and take a moment to unwind in a Coleman Kickback chair. Compact and convenient, Kickback chairs feature a strong and sturdy powder-coated steel frame. Ideal for the beach or relaxing at a campsite or festival their compact size also makes them easy to transport and store. Supplied with a handy carry bag, the colourful chairs offer effortless storage and transportation.
Features:
Built in carry handle for convenience
- Mesh back
- Seatback pocket
- Carry bag with shoulder strap
- Fabric: 600D polyester
- Frame: Steel
- Size open (W x D x H): 66 x 52 x 66cm
- Size folded (W x D x H): 14 x 13 x 68cm
- Capacity: 115kg
- Weight: 2.5kg
Coleman Kickback Breeze Chair on test:
"A chair is a chair", I hear you say, "and even more so if you've got a car to carry it in." Well there's an element of truth in that statement but if that was the case we'd all be carrying sofas to the campsite. Even if you're car-carrying the load to site the chances are you're still going to have to carry it from car to pitch along with a pile of other gear. Once at the pitch you want something you can assemble and collapse quickly and easily depending on the weather and something that's both stable and doesn't sink into the ground at the slightest hint of moisture.
The Kickback breeze uses the common folding square of crossed poles seen in the majority of budget camping chairs for the base; a tried and tested system that provides good stability and square corners that spread the weight just enough to prevent the legs sinking into damp ground.
The Kickback Breeze is a simple, bucket, design without any of the extras like arms with cupholders and sits quite low to the ground with a low back. What you get for not having arms and cupholders, though, is a much smaller unit to carry; shorter, lighter and much less bulky. The low seating position adds stability and surprisingly because you're lower to the ground those drinks holders become less useful anyway.
What Coleman have picked up on with the Breeze is that prolonged periods sat a bucket chair can get a little warm, so they've put a mesh panel in that sits at lower back height for ventilation. In practcal use it can be a nice addition in ideal circumstances where there's a breeze in the right direction but to be honest most of the time the benefit is the weight saving.
Likewise, the rear-mounted pocket has its uses but most of the time will go unused. Being on the rear of the chair it means getting up to access it while the low seat position makes it easier to just reach down to put things on the ground - without the concern of anything digging in your back.
So after dismissing the rear pocket and, to a large extent, the mesh panel what did we make of the Coleman Kickback Breeze? Well surprisingly we like it. Whether its space in the car or carrying to site the small carrying size is good. The construction is solid and stable and the seating position is very comfortable. The mesh and pocket don't take anything away from these features and the price is right. Yes you can get lighter weight chairs and you can get high back chairs with cupholders for around the same price but Coleman have got the balance just right if you're looking for that extra bit of comfort without filling the car boot.
