My wife Terri and I wore out a pair of cheap bag chairs last summer. The seams let go on both of them by August. She came home from the store with two GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rockers, and I figured we would see how long they lasted. That was a full season ago. They are still in the back of my truck, and I am still glad she bought them. Here are ten reasons a rocking camp chair is worth it.
I frame houses for a living, so I spend my work week on my feet and my weekends trying to sit down. A camp chair has one job: hold me up when I finally stop moving. The rocking part sounded like a gimmick. It is not. It is the reason I reach for this chair instead of the old ones.
A chair that survived a season in a truck bed
The GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker has held up through a full season of camping and fishing trips. See today's price on Amazon.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →It rocks without moving the chair
The rockers are built into the base of the chair, so the whole seat moves and the legs stay put. On a grassy campsite that means you can lean back and forth without digging the legs into the ground or tipping over. I use it by the fire and on the shore of the lake. The motion is smooth and easy to control, which is more than I can say for the old chairs. Those things would slide out from under me on any sort of slope. This one settles in and stays.
It sets up faster than the old chairs
The cheap chairs needed a minute of fiddling to get the arms locked into place. This one opens and it is ready to sit in. After a long week of framing, I do not want to fight a chair. I want to put it down, sit down, and not think about it again until I stand up. That is exactly what this chair does. Terri can set hers up one-handed while she is carrying the cooler. That alone would be enough to keep it in the truck.
The armrests are solid
The armrests are flat and wide enough to take a coffee mug or a fishing rod. They also give me something solid to push against when I stand up. My knees are not what they were at thirty, and a chair that helps me get out of it is worth something. I have also used the armrest to hold a lantern and a plate at the same time. The surface does not flex the way the tube arms on the old chairs did. It feels like a piece of furniture, not a toy.
It holds up in a truck bed
My truck bed carries lumber, tools, and whatever else the week left behind. The chairs ride back there all season, usually with a tackle box and a bag of tent stakes on top of them. The fabric has no rips and the frame has no bent pieces. That is the test that matters to me. I have had chairs last one trip. These have taken a full season of being thrown around and they still look like they did the day Terri brought them home.
The rocking motion is easy on the back
After a day of standing on concrete and bending over studs, a gentle rock feels better than sitting still. It keeps my back from locking up. I did not expect that. I just know that by Sunday night I am less stiff than I used to be. The movement is small, just enough to take the pressure off. It is not like a rocking chair on a porch. It is more like sitting on the edge of a dock with your feet in the water. You do not notice it until you stand up and realize you are not sore.
It works on uneven ground
Campgrounds are never flat. The rockers let the chair settle into the slope instead of fighting it. I have set it up on gravel, pine needles, and packed dirt. It stays put and does not wobble. With the old chairs I was always looking for a flat spot or shoving a rock under one leg. With this one I just put it down and sit. The rockers seem to find their own level, which sounds like a small thing until you have spent an evening tilted sideways.
The drink holder is where it should be
The drink holder sits on the armrest, close enough that I do not have to lean or reach. That sounds like a small thing. It is not. When you are sitting by a fire for three hours, you notice every reach. The holder is also deep enough that a can does not tip over when I rock the chair. I have knocked over more drinks in the old chairs than I can count. I have not lost one in this chair yet.
It is quiet enough for fishing
The chair does not squeak when I rock. That matters when I am waiting for walleye on a quiet shore. I have sat in this chair for an evening and heard nothing but the water. The old chairs had a habit of groaning every time I shifted my weight. This one is quiet, and the rocking motion is smooth enough that I can move without scaring off the fish. It is the difference between being part of the shore and being a noise in it.
It is comfortable for a full day
The seat is high enough that my knees do not complain, and the backrest comes up higher than the bag chairs did. I have spent a whole day at the lake in this chair, from first coffee to last light, and I was not sore the next morning. The seat depth is right for me too. I am six feet tall and I do not feel like I am sitting in a bucket. Terri is shorter and she says the same thing, which is not always easy to find in one chair.
It makes sitting still feel less like sitting still
There is something about a gentle rock that keeps me from getting restless. I read, I watch the fire, I nap. The chair lets me move a little without going anywhere. That is a good thing to have at the end of a long week. I have also noticed that I stay outside longer in this chair. The old chairs made my back ache and I would end up inside. This one does not push me back into the camper. It is the difference between sitting and actually resting.
What I'd Skip
If you want a chair that packs down to the size of a water bottle, the GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker is not it. It takes up more room in the truck bed than a bag chair, and it costs more than the cheap ones. For me that trade is worth it. For someone who hikes a mile into a site, it might not be. I would also skip it if you need a chair that fits in a kayak or a backpack. This is a truck chair, not a backpacking chair.
A full season in the back of my truck and the seams still look like new.
Ready to sit down after a long week?
The GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker is the chair I reach for every trip. Check today's price on Amazon.
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