My New Chair: Rockwater Design (Nano Ultra-Lite Chair)

Last year I managed with a tripod stool from Eureka!.  It was just okay.  The quality of the product is good, it was very light, it was easy to pack, it fit nicely into my backpack.  But, but, but.....it wasn't all that comfortable.  It might be more comfy under different circumstance, but it wasn't a good fit for me.

I was like Goldilocks when we would go to MEC or Sail.  I would sit in each chair out on the floor and the comfort level was in inverse proportion to either the weight or the price.  I tried the Helinox every time but cringed at the cost.

At the Outdoor Show Eureka! handed out a pamphlet showing all of its camping equipment and there was a new chair that looked suspiciously like the Helinox chair.  I went into my favourite Eureka! provider, the Boy Scout Store and asked about it in late April.  Hmmmmmm, they weren't familiar with such a product made by Eureka! and they didn't have their new summer stock in yet, but if I went to MEC I would find the Helinox chair there.  Yeah, I know.

I swung by LeBaron on Merivale Road.  It's very close to the Boy Scout Store anyways.  They had a chair and it was on sale!

This chair is by Rockwater Design.  The sale price was $49.00.  The Helinox chair is currently $102 at MEC.  The chairs came with either blue or orange trim.  I picked macho blue.  It weighs 930 grams including the handy carrying bag.

It packs pretty good.  It's easy to open, all the legs are permanently connected to the chair "body" like elasticized tent poles.  The fabric seat is one piece that fits onto the pole body.  It has hard plastic corners to fit onto the pole body, which should make it durable. And it even has a handy-dandy net pocket dangling off the front!

I am very happy after using it on Trip #1 this year.  It was a bit bulkier than the long, slender tripod chair, but it was much more comfortable.  LT has the Larry chair from MEC and I had the sneaky habit of claiming it every time he got up to do something.  So I'm sure he's glad I have this chair.  I even used the handy-dandy net pocket.

My only issue was trying to sit on it facing a slight downhill slope towards the firepit.  It wasn't as sturdy as Larry in that circumstance.  But I'm sure the Helinox would have the same issue.

When I peeled off the sale price tag from the regular price tag, it revealed that I had saved THREE WHOLE DOLLARS!

And for comparison here are the other two chairs mentioned above:

Campsite: Cedar Lake and it was a gorgeous site!  There is a stream that runs along the other side of the tent so when the waves on the sandy beach stopped we could listen to the creek gurgle.  But at Cedar Lake the waves are pretty consistent, unless they're trying to tempt you to launch your canoe.

Okay a better picture of the Eureka! chair with Larry watching over it:

BTW the Larry chair is very stable and somewhat heavier.  It weighs in at 2.5 kg.  But LT is happy to carry it for the comfort it provides at the end of the day. He straps it onto the back of his backpack.  It comes with its own carrying bag, which I think we're going to tweak a bit to allow him to fasten it to his backpack better.