Kelsyus Mesh Backpack Outdoor Chair

This is the third Kelsyus Mesh Backpack chair I have owned. The first two, I purchased from a camping store about 8 years ago and other than some expected wear and tear, they still function perfectly. My son is now a "big kid" so for a recent beach trip, it was time to add a chair. I found what I thought was my old faithful backpack chair on Amazon at a solid price so I ordered it. It arrived quickly and exactly as represented on the site. To my surprise, however, Kelsyus had made some improvements. The chair was just as light and compact as the older version, but better in almost all regards. The frame felt sturdier and the seating height had been increased- one of my annoyances with the older version- TOO LOW for a tall person. They have also done away with an extra set of guide-lines that used to connect the chair arms to the frame's feet. Even though it looks uncomfortably narrow- particularly at the shoulders, this chair was extremely comfortable for me (6'-1", 190 pounds with broad shoulders). The fabric -especially the mesh portions- are of very high quality as is the stitching and the hardware. The pillow is small, but relatively effective. The gray mesh and medium-blue panels do not get hot in the direct sun. I have only two complaints- 1. the new model has done away with the mesh "sling" that used to reside under the chair when it was expanded. You could store sunscreen, a hat, towel, a book, whatever under the seat. It was small, but it worked. 2. The mesh in the cup holder is fairly thin/cheap so it may not hold up, and it is a wide-mesh so sunglasses and things with pointy pieces and parts easily snag. It is also too small to accommodate even medium-sized refillable bottles. Aside from that- really nice, comfortable, portable, well-designed chair. I can throw three of these on one shoulder and still have a free arm for bags/coolers and then sit all day without any discomfort.

This chair is extremely comfortable. I just used it on a 5 day camping trip, at the pond when swimming and around the campfire at night. It is well constructed, and I hope to use at the outdoor concerts I attend. I wouuld like to highlight others complaints about the chair. 1); they say the arms rip. How about using the bar the rests attach to to INSTEAD of the cloth armrests when picking yourself up out of the chair. Never did I hear a rip.2); Yeah, the pillow slides around. It's not really an issue unless you move around a lot.. 3); Sometimes it does feel like a little kids chair, but for an average sized person it shouldnt be a problem. As stated earlier, really comfortable. 4); Chair is low to the ground, so if you have bad knees, or like to get drunk, dont buy this chair. For me , it lends to its strength, portability, and stability. Thats it. So in a nutshell,This chair is comfy, light , and very portable. Very cool looking and well made too. I ezpect 3 or 4 seasons use out of it.

When I sat on this chair for the first time, I became a man who is very comfortable outside his house. First thing that I loved about this chair was the way it carries in backpack mode. It's a very comfortable carry. All the weight (heh this chair weighs a feather) is on your back and straight down. It is symmetrical so it does not affect the way you move. I hate, hate, hate, hate the burden of carrying an oddly-weighted whatever labeled portable. This is the opposite of that. The people who designed this chair hate those things as much as I do. This chair is low and leans back maybe 30 degrees. It's comfortable enough. I could probably take a bit of a nap between lunch and afternoon work on it. The one thing I don't like about it is the quality of the materials. It's serious sad. Like I could have bought this on Alibaba for better material quality. The chair arms have this rubber nub (arm feet?) at the end so that it's not just bare metal getting sleeved in to the arm rest. One of those just came broken. Just split. One arm had a broken nub so I zip tied it down. Seriously you guys, fix that s***. It's a great chair otherwise.

I don't get the negative reviews this chair has. It's an awesome chair - comfortable, folds up small and can be carried like a backpack, mesh material is cool and easy to clean. And as far as durability goes, the chair I recently purchased seem just as tough as one I've had for years. The only differences I can see is that the new version sits a little higher than the old, they added a wrap-around to keep the poles off your back when carrying like a backpack, and that the backpack straps are a little wider. The material, stitching, poles, plastic, etc all seem about the same as the original chair. I've attached pics for reference. The only reason I purchased a second is the original chair has been sitting outside for a couple years and looks pretty ratty. It's now the backup/second chair (I put the new one away when not in use and expect it to least many years). The new version is a little easier to get in and out of but it does sit low. I love the way it works as you can just stick your feet out in front of you on the ground and it's like having a foot rest, very comfortable for me at least. All-in-all I like the newer version better and I would HIGHLY recommend this chair to anyone looking for a comfy super portable beach chair.

My old Kelsyus festival chair survived over a decade of bluegrass festivals and car camping weekends, but when I took it sailing and camping in Baja this summer, it finally bit the dust (one metal side bar broke, and the top seam was coming apart). I was happy with how long it lasted given how much use and abuse it took. This one seems as sturdy and is definitely as comfortable. The neck support makes all the difference. I've fallen asleep in this chair, it's so comfortable and supportive. That's the problem with it. When your friends come back to the tarp, if you're up dancing or getting a beer, people choose your luxurious Kelsyus rather than their own chairs, so it sees more butts than the stiff upright chairs. Be sure to write your name on it, because it might "accidentally" get mistaken for someone else's chair who takes it home. That has saved my chair from walking away several times. One drawback, however, is the difficulty getting in and out of it, since the triangular design means it can tip sideways if you just use one arm rest to support yourself getting in/out. Plus being so low to the ground, older bodies struggle getting in and especially out. Not a problem for younger folks, but my 80+-year-old family members stay away from it. I bought two this time -- great price for a quality product, assuming this one stands the test of time like the last one did.

I bought this chair for the beach. I reached over to get my book and the chair fell over and I was laying on the ground like an upside-down turtle. After everyone stopped laughing, they helped me up. Then, a week later, my husband did the same thing. I may be a bit clumsy, but he is not. So the problem was with the chair, not with me (which is good news for me but the chair was a waste of money). The chair is ridiculous. It's not particularly comfortable and it's obviously poorly designed and doesn't balance properly. Folding it up into its "backpack" form is like doing a puzzle. The time it takes to get it right, you might as well just carry it under your arm. The concept is good - the design is bad. I don't recommend this chair.

These chairs replaced a set I bought about 7 years ago that I stored outside and the nylon webbing rotted on the armrests. The old chairs are more comfortable than the new ones. The new chairs seem more confined and not as ergonomical. Looking at the two chairs, they appear very similar but you feel the difference as soon as you sit in them. My girlfriend wants me to figure out how to replace the arm straps on the old ones because she does not like the new chairs. The second issue I have with these chairs is the materials build quality. The first time I got out of the chair, I leaned on the arm rests with my elbows and heard a rip. Upon examination, the nylon webbing is only attached at the front and the back of the blue armrest panel. It would be much better if the strong webbing was one continuous piece, supported the bottom of the armrest and prevented stretching and ripping out of the stitching. On my old chairs, I plan to buy some 2" nylon webbing and make new heavy duty armrests out of them. I bet I will need to do this on the new chairs soon too. The metal frames appear to be OK and my old chairs work fine without the armrests- but I still prefer having the armrests there. The adjustable back is a bit of a gimmick. The chair is only marginally comfortable in the upright position and you have to contort and really push to get it to lay back. I played with the bungee cord that controls this function so that the chair would more easily tilt back. As soon as I sit down, I push it in the tilted back position and the loosened bungees do not try to automatically make it return to the upright position anymore. Finally, price was clearly a factor in the design and construction of these chairs. I suspect they were trying to keep these in a specific price range to remain competitive with other beach chair designs. I must admit, these are very cool chairs for the price and I did want to replace the old chairs with the same product. Since I bought them on Amazon, I did not get to sit in them first though. I would rather pay more and have them be sturdier. The design will surely limit the useful life to 2-3 years. I plan to redesign my new chairs' armrests when they tear and become unusable, which could easily happen in the first season of use. As far as beach chairs go, I still think these are the nicest chairs out there and love the mesh material that keeps you cool and lets your bathing suit dry. It also prevents sand and water from building up in the bottom of the chair. I gave these chairs 3 stars because of the comfort, quality and design issues. I would give the older chairs 4 stars because they are more comfortable and I got a reasonable amount of use out of them and I still will be able to use them after I fix the arm rests. If the nylon did not rot on the old chairs, they would be good for 5 stars. The design clearly has a finite life. If you can find some of the older design chairs out there somewhere, buy those over the new ones. I recommend you find some of these in a local store and sit in them to make sure they fit you OK before buying them on Amazon.

This chair is very comfortable, light weight, and folds up easily for carrying. The arm rests come off and buckle to the back when folded up to be used as a carry strap. I like that so that I don't have to worry about keeping track of a separate storage bag for carrying or have extra straps hanging around theback that someone could trip on around a campsite. The chair sits pretty low to the ground, more like a lounge chair (your butt is probably no more than 6" off the ground), which I like but thought I would mention in case someone was looking for a regular sized chair that sits higher up. This is definitely better for smaller people. I am 5'2" and it is wonderful. My husband is 5'11" and it is not as comfortable for him because of being so low to the ground. I like it though because in regular chairs my feet cannot sit flat on the ground. Comfortable, convenient, and under $20.

Good Chair, now lets see the performance.

These are great chairs and very comfortable at this price point. The mesh construction keeps them cool for extended sitting on the beach and the cup holder is a nice feature. I ordered 2 for a vacation. Somehow the order got spilt up and one shipped and I had to wait about 10 days for the second to arrive. Needless to say my wife got the chair and I sat on the ground. ;-)

trés confortable, léger, facilement transportable, l'astuce des sangles de portage se transformant en accoudoir est formidable. Un produit que je possède depuis de nombreuses années et que j’apprécie toujours autant. Le seul défaut : un vieillissement assez rapide si vous laissez la chaise au soleil. les accoudoirs et l'assise se détériorent et cassent. Mais seulement au bout de quelques saisons. Je conseille ce produit malheureusement difficilement trouvable en france. (et donc relativement cher chez nous, au US il est vendu seuleument 25 $ !!!!)

Muy útil y super cómodo

I’ve had the original versions since early 2004 and now my young girls use them for camping, parades etc. The newer ones ordered here are even stronger and more comfy for taller adults (I’m 6’ 1”). Love the tripod style so you don’t need flat ground to sit comfortably.