REI Co-op  Flexlite Camp Chair

*** This is my original review *** At 6', 200lbs, and 84yo I don't do backing anymore, but did want to find a chair for day hikes and just sitting in the woods. Stumps, rocks, and logs are not as comfortable as they used to be. I first set the chair up in the house. It works best if the seat is attached at the front first. The longer back tubes flex a little more and the last corner requires less strain to get hooked. Sitting in it on the hard floor took a little care. It would easily tip backwards if my weight was too far aft. I seems sturdy enough as there was no damage to the legs after carrying my full weight on the back legs alone. With proper weight distribution it was stable and comfortable. Field testing, unfortunately, didn't go so well. It was hard to find a place near but off the trail that was firm enough to prevent the feet from sinking. When I found such a spot I carefully sat down trying to keep weight balanced on all four legs. Success! After several minutes of enjoying this new found comfort I leaned forward to get up and one of the front legs abruptly sank, tossing me unceremoniously off on the ground. Not pleasant, but no real damage to either me or the chair. The next test was on an old hard-packed logging road. No problems there. It was one of those perfect PNW days with clear blue skies, a few puffy fair-weather cumulus clouds being pushed along by a gentle breeze, birds singing, including a grosbeak with its multi-phrased song. I spent a good long time just sitting there and enjoying comfort of a real chair out in the forest. The chair was so comfortable I almost dozed off a time or two. So I give it four stars with the caveat that it needs to be set on solid ground. I'll be working on the sinking problem. *** End of original review *** OK. First I tried four Sched 40 3/4" PVC "Ts" (plumbing), one for each foot, with each foot in the side opening of a "T". Still not enough surface area to prevent sinking. Added short pieces (about 11") 3/4" pipe between front and back leg "Ts" on each side of the chair. So far that has been successful in preventing that sinking feeling. It does require the area under the lengths of pipe to be clear of limbs and rocks, and be relatively level, but with a little practice it works pretty well. The Ts and pipes do fit in the carrying bag with the chair - tightly, and do add about 12 oz. For my purposes, short day hikes, that is acceptable, considering the added comfort of having a real chair along. YMMV.

I have had an REI Co-op Flexlite chair for a year and a half. I've only used it, at best, ten times. I typically keep it in the back of my car, and on a few occasions have ate lunch outside of my car sitting in it. It has never been wet. I'm only 145 lbs, well below the weight rating. With less than ten total hours of actual use, I was sitting in room taking accounting exam and the leg punched right through the fabric and gave way. (excuse the loose-leaf accounting papers all over the place). Most definitely wont last long term for someone actually taking these out in the elements even more than a handful of times. As part of this review REI asks what I use it for. It doesn't give the option to select "take up space in my garbage can"