Yeti Hondo Beach Chair review: The best camping chair for bigger bodies
If you're serious about sitting outside, this super-sturdy chair is a solid investment. It's built tough and easy to transport. The post Yeti Hondo Beach Chair review: The best camping chair for bigger bodies appeared first on Popular Science.
As a bigger person, I live in fear of folding chairs. Even those rated for higher weights typically creak and groan when anyone bigger than a UFC light heavyweight (that’s 205 pounds for the uninitiated) sits in one. That’s where Yeti’s reputation for overbuilding its outdoor gear comes in handy (you know you covet those coolers; we all do). Despite its relatively light weight and compact design, the new Hondo Beach Chair promises to hold up to 350 pounds comfortably. After a few weeks of testing, I can confidently say that this is the sturdiest folding chair around, and it’s worth the high price point for the comfort, portability, and peace of mind it offers.
Stan Horaczek Yeti Hondo Beach Chair
Pros
Cons
Specs
How we tested the Yeti Hondo Beach Chair
Since work would not approve a one-month sabbatical to sit on the beach with a good book, I have been spending one- to two-hour chunks of my workday sitting in this chair on my patio. To put increased stress on the sitting surface, I have stored roughly 80 pounds of camera bags on the chair when it’s not occupied. I did take a short three-day trip to the beach, during which I transported the chair in a very boring, but reliable Honda Civic.
The Yeti Hondo Beach Chair design
This is a true beach chair, designed to sit low to the ground. The back of the seat sits eight inches off the ground, which makes it very stable. A regular-height chair tips over easily if one or two of the legs sink deeper into the sand than the others. It’s a tried-and-true design that Yeti has refined.
The back and seat surfaces feature a UV-resistant mesh material that dries quickly and allows for airflow while you sit. The edge of the seat curves down to create a smooth surface on which your legs can sit—the sharp hem doesn’t dig into your thighs.
One common flaw with this type of seat is that the mesh often sags from fatigue as you use it. The material stretches out under the butt, which causes the sitter to sink into an unergonomic position. Even after a few weeks of very regular use, the Hondo’s mesh showed virtually no sag.
Yeti also suggests the mesh resists UV and moisture. It spent a weekend outside my house in heavy rain (totally on purpose; I definitely didn’t forget to put it away after a campfire one night). After brushing off some dead bugs, the mesh felt good as new.
The Yeti Hondo Beach Chair’s frame and build
Even the toughest mesh isn’t very useful without a sturdy frame. Fully deployed, the steel bones make the chair roughly 30 inches high. The back offers four levels of reclining, ranging from upright to nearly flat. I found the second most upright setting to be the most comfortable for me. My wife preferred the fully upright and full reclined settings, depending on her mood. It really does depend on your preferences and body composition. As a heavier person, I typically refrain from reclined positions for fear of tipping backwards, but it felt equally sturdy throughout the range.
While the frame is steel, the armrests are nylon plastic. I was slightly concerned that they may be the weak point of the chair, especially if I used the arms to support myself as I got up. Despite their plastic build, they’re very sturdy. They don’t creak or crack when pressure is applied. The attached cup holder had no issue supporting my 40-ounce Hydro Flask travel mug, even when full. The whole package is very sturdy, which is what you want in a chair.
Transporting the Yeti Hondo Beach Chair
While the Hondo folds flat, it’s still more than two feet wide when fully collapsed. A burly shoulder strap with an integrated pad makes it easy to sling across your back or under your arm, but the bulk makes it slightly cumbersome for a person with a smaller frame to carry. My wife stands 5’6”, and it hung down past her waist and occasionally banged against her legs as she was carrying it. A few adjustments landed her in a comfortable spot, but it took a little trial and error.
The collapsed chair fit very easily into the trunk of every car I tried, including a Honda Civic and, of course, my Honda CR-V. I have a simple hook on the wall of my garage, which easily supported the weight of the Hondo chair when it wasn’t in use. I ultimately prefer this fold-flat design to camp-style chairs that collapse into a more rectangular tube.
Despite its price, the Hondo doesn’t include a carrying bag. I understand the reasoning—wrestling a sandy chair into a bag on a windy beach sounds awful. But a bag would be nice for keeping the chair from getting caught on objects as you’re carrying it. It will work with the Base Camp Chair Tote, but that will run you an extra $50 on top of the already substantial price.
So, who should buy the Yeti Hondo Beach Chair?
A $300 beach chair is an investment in any circumstance, but there are some use cases that justify the price. If you spend hours at a time sitting on the sidelines of kids’ sporting events, or you have a bigger body and you want to sit comfortably without running the risk of tipping over and ending up on America’s Funniest Home Videos, then it’s worth the cash. This chair is built extremely tough, and even after weeks of testing, it still looks virtually the same as when it came out of the box. I’ll provide a long-term review down the line if my bosses ever approve that request for a month of testing at the lake.
The post Yeti Hondo Beach Chair review: The best camping chair for bigger bodies appeared first on Popular Science.
