By Jeff Glucker
My goal, when I pack my Montero to go camping, has long been to have items that are easily accessible and make sense for where I will be going. When you’re sitting around a campfire, one of the items you’ll need will be a proper camping chair. As someone easily intrigued by new gear, I am on the hunt for things to reduce the size of the stuff I am packing, but also improve my time while off on these mini-adventures. The latest addition I’ll be testing out is from a company called CLIQ, and the chair is called the EpiQ Lounge.
It arrives in its carrying bag, and already I’m impressed by the size. This thing is small and light, and it’s the largest chair CLIQ currently makes. Still, it weighs just 6.5 pounds yet can handle up to 500 pounds. Thankfully, I won’t be testing the upper ends of the quoted weight limit.
CLIQ advertises that you can set this thing up in 15 seconds, and honestly, that seems slow compared to how quickly it actually takes. I’ll post their own instructional video so you can see what I’m talking about.
This one also comes with a cup holder. It fits onto a nub built into the legs and seems like it should hold a beverage pretty well. My plan is to put this chair to a camping test the following month. I will report back on whether it’s actually comfortable, how well it fits into my “packing” regime, and whether that cup holder can handle good beer and/or decent wine.
The one main point I have against the chair, and it’s a pretty big point, is the price. This thing costs $349. If you buy two, they knock $149 off the total price, which is nice. Still, that’s quite a bit of dough compared to what I paid for my current camping chairs, the Darche Firefly.
There’s clearly a difference in chair type between the Darche and the CLIQ, however. I like the functionality of the Darche but it’s a pain in the ass to pack into my truck. Still, having a table when you’re enjoying dinner by the fire is pretty sweet. Especially since the Firefly is about $150. I also have an Expander chair made by FrontRunner. This one was a gift from Toyota during an off-road trip, so it’s branded Toyota, but it folds down perfectly and currently serves as a nice place to sit in my garage. It’s the chair I’ve set the CLIQ on, in these photos.
CLIQ makes another even smaller chair called the ClassiQ 2.0. That could be the smart money in terms of camping chairs from CLIQ. Well, smart… er, money, compared to the EpiQ. Like I said, I’ll report back after a brief camping trip slated for the end of next month.
[Disclaimer: CLIQ reached out and asked if I wanted a chair to review. They sent this one over at no cost.]
Ross Ballot
My go-to compact camping chair is an Alite (no longer in business, but the product line was picked up by Grand Trunk) Mayfly. It is a little bit more involved to set up, but probably still less than 30 seconds. Weighs less than two pounds, and packs into a form factor not much different than a can of tennis balls. It comes with me when my camping involves a backpack, and has flown with me to go camping on the other side of the Atlantic.
When I am going to be staying at a base camp close to the car, I use a no-name recliner that weighs about 11 lbs and cost less than $20 at Walmart circa 2007. Other campers rarely ask about the Mayfly, but often ask about the recliner.
Love it – yeah sometimes the idea of a cheap camp chair sounds appealing. The Mayfly looks comfortable and close to the other Cliq chair I mentioned above.