Chair or No Chair? (Section Hiker)

[TNhiker]

I love my chair and it’s been coming along on more and more hikes. My back really loves it. Leaning against a tree or a stump doesn’t compare to the comfort that chair provides after a long, strenuous hike. I have the Alite Mayfly and gladly pay the weight penalty.

likewise....

although i have a different model chair.....

and im only a weekend hiker (maybe 2-3 days tops).......

but, the comfort it gives me to sit around a fire and read a book is far superior to a sit pad and a log........

[Slo-go'en]

Sure, if your only out for a night or two and doing more sitting around then hiking, bring the chair. It's not like your lugging 5 days worth of food and trying to pull 20 mile days.

[peakbagger]

I own one an have used it on winter trips when I pull my gear in on an sled or short base camp hikes where the gear gets hauled in to the same place for a couple of days. I wouldn't consider backpacking a section hike with it.

[Traffic Jam]

Sure, if your only out for a night or two and doing more sitting around then hiking, bring the chair. It's not like your lugging 5 days worth of food and trying to pull 20 mile days.

Hmmm.... I definitely do more hiking than sitting around. My chair was worth it’s weight in gold when I recently finished the BMT. That last day was a killer for me, nearly broke down and cried. Enjoying a cup of wine while relaxed in my chair was an exceptional moment for me.

[Dogwood]

Sure, if your only out for a night or two and doing more sitting around then hiking, bring the chair. It's not like your lugging 5 days worth of food and trying to pull 20 mile days.

Exactly, a chair is a camping - sitting around - luxury piece not a backpacking or hiking absolute essential. Good thing about hammocking is that it also is a chair a damn comfy one at that doing double and triple or even quadruple duty(chair, shelter, part of the sleep system, and possibly some components functioning as toga apparel). One can use a sub 5 oz silk or polyester liner strung between two trees as a comfy sling chair. Again, a piece that functions double and triple duty(chair, liner, toga apparel). Until they invent an UL chair that can be part of a pack's suspension, converts into tent/tarp poles, trekking poles, and/or a fishing pole, has an integrated compassi and, most of all, an at arm's reach cup cozy I'll pass for LD backpacking. A camp chair is one of the first things long section and LD hikers ditch. She's right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvNZKjhS0s4

[poolskaterx]

I love my Crazy Creek chair. At just under a lb; I attach it to the bottom of my zpack-zip and it keeps it from tipping over, it can lay flat to use as additional torso padding to sleep on, can use it as an entry mat for my tent... heck, it even works good as a chair-super comfortable with an adjustable back rest that you can use in the tent to sit up and read or journal,and the list goes on. I don't go on the trail without it.

[scrabbler]

If the weather will be bad, I like to bring a chair/stool. I find it nice to have something to sit on under the hammock's tarp while cooking, eating, talking, etc.
In fair weather, I just us a sitpad on a rock, log, or ground.

[Alligator]

My Thermarest chair weighs 11.1 oz. Been using one for 15 years at least. I average 15-20 miles in the summer, 12-18 in the spring/fall 10-15 in the winter on the AT. My section hikes range from 1 night to a week plus. I spend most of my camp time in the chair: cooking, eating, relaxing, sitting by the fire, filtering water, or reading. I pack lightweight and I don't ever question having it. It forms into a roll which either goes inside my pack (usually) or in a water bottle holder.

Logs are kind of nice to put my feet up on when I'm sitting in my chair, but I often just use my sleeping bag for that.

[blw2]

Camp...chair is umm for umm camping...not an absolutely necessary backpacking or hiking piece. Nice for car camping sitting around long hrs with a cold one watching the World Series on TV powered by a portable generator if tables, stumps, downed trees, trees, or rocks aren't available which isn't often that none of these are available. Most times I cowboy camp at the base of a tree or large boulder or sand dune using it as a backrest,... and wind block, heat sink, privacy/stealth camping screen, etc.

my thoughts exactly. depends on the goal....backpacking to cover miles, or backpacking to get to a nice place where you'll relax and enjoy the place

[kayak karl]

People said "just sit on a rock", but the rock got very heavy. never got a chair.

[Crossup]

With only a few weeks of experience on the trail, I've met several section hikers using chairs who have used them for years. The common thread was back issues and oddly enough, moderate age.

While I agree with the general sentiment of being hard to justify the weight, I do find logs, benches etc to be a poor second to something with some back support- which means for most light weight chairs finding some place next to a wall or tree etc so you get some support above the chair back.

Every shelter I've found that had seating with back rests causes me to immediately ditch my usual arrival routine and take immediate advantage of the seating. So at this juncture in my hiking career, I've decided a chair is in my future, mostly dependent on NOT spending $100.

[Starchild]

My take on it is no way, unless the hike is very short (such as a beginners backpack trip just to get them acclimated, and I want to showboat a bit of luxury) or a base camp setup where one hikes in to a single location staying a few nights then out after.

While I appreciate a chair if provided, the truth is I don't miss it when I don't have it. I like finding a place to sit on the ground (log, rock or shelter), and bring a sitting pad for that. It adds to the experience. Now I understand some hikers actually don't like the ground or leaning up against a tree, I used to be like that as a kid, so if that is a issue yes I can understand. But it was well worth it getting over that and I truly love it. In some ways I would feel more disconnected to the land if I had a chair. Also a sit pad is quicker then unpacking a chair.

I have fond memories of my thru hike (AT) where I would start hiking to warm up in the morning then when hiking generated enough heat I would break out my foam sleeping mat and place in on the side of the trail and make breakfast, talking to passing hikers and sometimes offering them a hot drink - heaven.

[lonehiker]

I knew a guy, now deceased, that thru-hiked the PCT with a beach chair (think lawn chair with short legs) strapped to his pack. I did a portion of my MB100 with him and he actually carried a full sized lawn chair on the trip. As I mentioned in an earlier post I probably wouldn't take a chair on a long trip. But, I feel confident that I would be quite capable of lugging it on any distance hike. Let's see, 12.5 pound base weight plus 1 pound.... Yep, wouldn't be difficult at all.

[Gambit McCrae]

Back in college I had a hillbilly buddy that always found great enjoyment out of doing things the hard way. If I said the sensible way to do something, he was gunna do it the other way. So as I was moving toward the UL realm of things he of course wanted to veer in the opposite direction. So when it came time for us to walk from Fontana to The Dome , and he not having anything whatsoever of his own, I set him up "first class" just as he requested.

-Old REI boy scout external frame backpack
-Arctic sleeping bag
-cast coffee perk
-cast backpacking stove
-foot tall.....glass beaker
-And a 1970's folding camp chair similar to what was mentioned in post #33

He had a great time, but never veered the other way again

[Dogwood]

Do you know what makes good back support?...a backpack. Take it off, lean on it, or sit down with it on. Voila, you have back support. Easy peasy - uncomplicated. Have to have it more complicated pull out a sit pad.

[QiWiz]

For years and years I just used a ccf butt pad, but now take a Helinox Zero chair with me on many weekend trips. Even with a couple mods (insulating Reflectix insert and straps to keep legs from sinking into the ground) it weighs less than 1.5 pounds. It's very comfortable; worth the weight penalty on shorter distance and duration trips. On a longer hike like a significant section of the AT, I would not bring it.

[Signpost]

My take is that the lack of comfortable, ergonomic seating during a through hike is just another thing that makes you appreciate civilization a bit more when you encounter it. That being said, if you can't go without a comfortable seat camp, I would recommend an ultralight hammock. To me, a hammock is more comfortable to sit in than a camp chair, you also have the versatility to be able to lay down, it's less bulky than a chair, and probably lighter to boot.

[JC13]

I don't carry a chair on section hikes, but then again I don't cook or have fires either. I am on the end of the move from dawn to dusk makin' miles spectrum though.

[bad biscuit]

I'm just a weekend hiker but cover 15+ miles a day and i always carry my chair. I'll take the weight penalty. Sitting around the fire in a chair sipping a beverage makes a wonderful experience. My back appreciates it.

It also doubles as a"nightstand" to my hammock. HYOH

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[Puddlefish]

Seats get less important as you get into hiking shape. When I'm fat over the winter, the idea of stooping all the way to the ground to sit, and the stress on the knees to stand back up can be a bit daunting. After a few days, the legs and knees are able to handle a bit more.

In 600 AT miles I wanted a chair just once, but I really wanted it that day. I was hungry and looking for a place to stop, sit down, eat, air out my feet, but I was in the Smokies and every single surface was covered with spongy wet green growth. The ground was soft, the trail itself was narrow, and there was just no place to even put down a sit pad.

Not my picture, but essentially like this.

sm-baxter-creek-trail_wikimiguelv_680.jpg