REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Boss Chair Review
The REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Boss ($120) takes the typical lightweight scoop-style chair and enlarges it, resulting in a roomier seat with slightly better comfort and stability. It also packs down decently small, making it easy to toss into a tote bag or backpack for beach trips, festivals, and other day adventures away from the car. Even so, a lot about the chair still feels fairly middle-of-the-road for car camping, including its ergonomics and overall support.
Comfort
Stability
Durability
Ease of Use
Portability
Sustainability
Weight
2 lb. 14 oz.
Dimensions (W/D/H)
24 x 24 x 29.5 in.
Seat Height
14 in.
Weight Capacity
300 lb.
Pros
Cons
REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Boss
For this season's top models, see our guide to the Best Camping Chairs.
The REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Boss is mostly comfortable to sit in, though it’s not without a few ergonomic quirks. Its scoop-style design naturally puts you in a relaxed lounging position, and the mostly solid fabric includes small cutouts where the seat meets the backrest that add a touch of ventilation while helping the chair conform slightly to your body. There’s also a nice balance between support and give, along with a backrest that accommodates my torso reasonably well (I’m 5’10”), stopping about an inch below my shoulders. The wider seat also helped keep me from feeling the frame underneath, something I’ve experienced with narrower chairs.
Where comfort starts to fall off a bit is at the front edge of the seat. When lounging with my legs stretched out, I noticed pressure underneath my hamstrings, and at times, the fabric would bunch slightly under my legs, which became annoying. Other scoop-style chairs I’ve used, including the Helinox Chair One (re) and Nemo Satellite Reclining Camp Chair, do a better job with tensioning and overall body conformity, avoiding that edge pressure altogether.
That said, the Flexlite Camp Boss offers more room to move around than those narrower designs, and its 24-inch-wide seat gives my arms more space to rest naturally in the chair rather than hanging awkwardly at my sides or sitting in my lap. And even with its drawbacks, I still found it mostly comfortable for extended use. I’ve sat in it for hours around the campfire, during a two-day Wilderness First Aid class in the Eastern Sierra, and at the beach without any true sore spots.
For a chair designed to be light and packable, the Flexlite Camp Boss surprised me with its decent stability. Like most scoop-style chairs, its legs angle outward from a central support hub, and thanks to its expanded size, it creates a fairly wide footprint. Combined with its relatively low 14-inch seat height, it has a reasonably stable feel overall. I never worried about it suddenly dumping me out, and I could comfortably twist around to talk to someone behind me or reach for something on the ground without feeling like I was about to tip over.
That said, there’s still a natural sway to the suspended seat design that keeps it from feeling truly locked in. If I rocked too aggressively or made a sudden jerky movement, the chair started to feel a bit tippy. Compared to more traditional camp chairs like my Alps Mountaineering King Kong, which has broader feet and a more rigid frame, it definitely requires a bit more body awareness—especially on uneven terrain.
Over the course of testing, I used it across a wide range of California landscapes, including sandy beaches, rocky campgrounds in the San Gabriel and Sierra Nevada mountains, the Mojave Desert, and even on my apartment balcony. On flat ground and mildly uneven terrain, it performed well. In softer sand, though, the relatively small feet tended to sink a bit, and on slopes I found myself needing to keep my feet firmly planted to feel secure.
The Flexlite Camp Boss has proven to be a reasonably durable chair, even if it doesn’t feel especially premium. Nothing about the build feels cheap, but it also lacks some of the more robust touches found on harder-wearing designs. For example, the aluminum frame is strong, but the hubs are plastic rather than metal like those on the Nemo Satellite. The 300-denier ripstop polyester seat with a PU coating is decently hearty and resists water, though it’s noticeably thinner than the burlier 600-denier fabrics on my Kelty Low Loveseat. Its 300-pound weight capacity is also fairly average. Overall, the chair lands squarely in the middle: sturdy enough that nothing feels flimsy, but not especially overbuilt either.
Still, it’s proven more durable over time than my initial impressions suggested. I’ve used the Flexlite Camp Boss somewhere around 15 times over the past two years, and it’s still going strong. The seat picked up a few small ember holes from sitting too close to the fire, but the fabric hasn’t torn further, and the frame still feels solid. So while it may not be the most premium or bombproof chair I’ve tested, it’s proven hearty enough to handle regular camping use without much concern.
Like most backpacking-inspired chairs, the Flexlite Camp Boss takes a bit more effort to set up than a traditional folding camp chair. Setup follows the usual sequence: pull everything out of the stuff sack, assemble the frame, then attach the seat. Overall, building the frame takes around thirty seconds, and clipping on the seat brings the total setup time closer to a minute.
There aren’t really any frustrating quirks to the process, but I found it easiest to attach the top two corners of the seat before securing the bottom corners. Doing it the other way around made the final upper corner noticeably harder to stretch into place. Otherwise, setup effort feels pretty much in line with other similarly designed chairs, including my Flexlite and Chair One (re). Of course, none of these scoop-style chairs can match the simplicity of a classic camp chair, where setup is basically just unfold and sit. You also won’t find convenience-focused extras like a cup holder or a storage pocket.
Packing it away takes a little more finesse. You can’t just shove everything into the stuff sack and cinch it shut. What worked best for me was breaking down the frame, wrapping the seat fabric around the poles, and then sliding the bundle into the case. Even then, it’s slightly more tedious to pack than my Chair One (re), which has a wider-opening zippered storage case.
The Flexlite Camp Boss sits in an interesting middle ground when it comes to portability. At 2 pounds 14 ounces and with a packed size of 18 by 6 inches, it’s compact enough to toss into a large tote bag, a roomy beach bag, or a mostly empty backpack. Packed down, it’s roughly the size of a campfire log and stores inside a simple stuff sack with a cinch closure. Compared to classic camp chairs like my Alps Mountaineering King Kong or the bulkier REI Co-op Campwell Padded, it’s dramatically easier to stash and haul.
That said, I still think it’s too large and heavy for most backpacking trips. If I’m bringing a chair into the backcountry, I’d rather carry something smaller, like my Flexlite (1 lb. 11 oz.), or the Nemo Moonlite Elite (1 lb. 2 oz.). So while the Flexlite Camp Boss is undeniably portable for a camping chair, it still lands more in the “compact car camping” category than true backpacking territory.
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Armrests, Cupholders, and Pockets
The Flexlite Camp Boss is extremely minimal when it comes to features. There are no armrests, cupholders, storage pockets, or recline functions, which feels limiting compared to chairs like my Chair One (re), which includes a side pocket, or the Moonlite and Satellite, both of which offer recline systems. That said, the chair’s wider seat does at least give my arms more room to rest naturally inside the chair instead of dangling off the sides like they sometimes do on narrower scoop-style designs.
Simple Sway
The suspended seat design gives the Flexlite Camp Boss a bit of natural sway and bounce. It’s not a true rocking chair, but there’s enough movement to gently shift and rock around while sitting, which can feel relaxing around camp.
REI Co-op Flexlite ($90): Stick With the Boss
It’s easy to assume that the REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Chair is simply a more compact version of its larger sibling—they share essentially the same frame and seat design, after all. But take a closer look, and the Flexlite starts to lag noticeably behind. Its weight capacity is 50 pounds lower than the Flexlite Camp Boss’s, while its smaller base and thinner poles make it less stable and durable. We also experienced more pressure points: in addition to discomfort from the front edge, we could feel the top of the frame pressing into our backs as well. The Flexlite’s only major advantage is its improved packability, but unless you plan to use it primarily for backpacking, the $30 savings don’t feel worth it. To learn more, see our review of the Flexlite.
Helinox Chair One (re) ($140): The Gold Standard
Though the Helinox Chair One (re) doesn’t have as spacious a seat as the Flexlite Camp Boss, it’s a superior chair in almost every other way. It has a 20-pound-higher weight capacity and a more premium build, while still weighing 6.6 ounces less and packing down smaller. It also feels much more planted, especially on uneven surfaces, and cradles your body better without awkward pressure points. Plus, it features a built-in pocket that’s perfect for storing your phone or a book. If you can spare the extra $20, there really isn’t much reason (aside from seat size) not to choose the Chair One (re). For more, read our Chair One (re) review.
The Flexlite Camp Boss’s standout attributes are its generously sized seat and small packed size. Otherwise, we think it’s a fairly mediocre camp chair, with so-so comfort, sturdiness, and features.
Comfort
Stability
Durability
Ease of Use
Portability
Sustainability
The Flexlite is a hybrid backpacking and camping chair, with its greatest strengths being its low weight and packable size. Otherwise, we were let down by its tippy construction and mediocre comfort and support.
Comfort
Stability
Durability
Ease of Use
Portability
Sustainability
The Chair One (re) improves on its predecessor in several ways, particularly in the comfort department. It still lacks nice-to-have features like armrests, but campers who prioritize a lightweight option that fits easily inside a daypack or a tote bag will love its portability.
Comfort
Stability
Durability
Ease of Use
Portability
Sustainability
Is the Flexlite Camp Boss for You?
If you like the compact nature of scoop-style chairs but want something roomier, the REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Boss fills that niche. Compared to the standard Flexlite, its wider seat improves both comfort and stability, while still packing down small enough to stash in a larger backpack or tote. That said, it can’t match the comfort, stability, features (such as a cup holder), and user-friendliness of a traditional camp chair. Unless portability is a top priority, we’d look elsewhere.
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