GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker Review (Bought & Tested!)

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Summary: If you’re looking for the best rocking chair, this GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker certainly lives up to its name, and I highly recommend it. It’s comfortable, sits as high as a regular chair, and has a great rocking motion.

GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker V.S. the 20 Other Camp Chairs I Tested

Setup

7.6

Comfort

6.4

Breathability

Features

8.8

Quality

Weight

Overall Score 7.9 / 10

RELATED: The 21 Best Camping Chairs

Pros: Fastest setup possible, decent mesh, tall seat height, comfortable, inexpensive

Cons: Bulky packed size

I’ll link to my YouTube review here when it’s done (TBA)

Check out the GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker:

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Table Of Contents

1. Set Up
2. Pack Away
3. Unfolded Dimensions
4. Seat Size
5. Seat Height
6. Backrest
7. Mesh
8. Armrests
9. Cupholders
10. Rocking Feature
11. Longevity
12. Materials and Quality
13. Portability
14. Pros & Cons
15. Bonus – MUST Read!

1. Set Up

To set up this chair, follow these steps:

Pick it up and locate the two edges of the seat frame.
Put one hand on each side, push them away from each other until it stalls a bit.
Push down on the frame to pop open and snap into place.

Setup time: ~4 seconds

The folded GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *Locate the two edges of the seat frame.*

The author is opening up the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *Pull the opposite ends of the chair*

2. Pack Away

To pack away the chair, follow these steps:

Go to the side with a handle that says ‘lift handle to fold’.
Place your foot at the bottom of the chair frame.
Reach over the armrest, pull up on the handle to snap the frame shut.

Pack away time: ~2 seconds

The author is folding the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *Place your foot at the bottom of the chair frame.*

The folding handle of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *Pull up on the handle to snap the frame shut.*

Tip: Don’t place your hands anywhere else, as it snaps shut quickly.

3. Unfolded Dimensions

As for the unfolded dimensions, here’s what I measured:

Width: 23.8in (60.5cm) from armrest to armrest
Depth: 24.5in (62.2cm) from front to back pole structure
Height: 34.3in (87.1cm) from ground to top of chair

4. Seat Size

Now, if you want more detailed seat measurements, here is everything to know:

Total seat width: 21.25in (54.0cm)
Seat depth: 15.0in (38.1cm)

The seat width of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *This size was very spacious and more than enough for me (**I’m 5’3”/160cm**, **53kg/117lbs**), though I would have liked it to be a few inches deeper.*

5. Seat Height

As for seat height, there is a distinct drop when you sit down:

Front seat height: 18.75in (47.6cm)
Actual seat height: 15.25in (38.7cm)

The author is sitting on the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *This is higher than your average camp chair, which sits at only 11 inches (~28cm), making it easier to get out of low seats.*

6. Backrest

Now, for the backrest height and width:

Backrest height: 18.0in (45.7cm)
Backrest width: 24.0in (61.0cm)
Recline angle: 8 degrees

The author is leaning on the backrest of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *This covers almost my entire back, but not enough to give me a headrest compared to taller models.*

7. Mesh

Here’s the breakdown on ventilation and mesh:

Mesh Portion: Backrest only; about 14.25in width and 12.75in height of the backrest.
Coverage: ~17% of total chair surface area.
Temperature Test: Polyester fabric temp increases by more than 10% after just an hour without mesh backing.

The mesh of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *Only the backrest has mesh and not the seat.*

8. Armrests

Next, we look at armrest features:

Material: Thin fabric with thin Styrofoam-like material over a stiff steel bar.
Adjustability: Padding is adjustable side-to-side; the connection doesn’t budge up or down.
Comfort: Not the most comfortable, but not uncomfortable either for leaning on arms.

The armrests of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *The padding protects your arms slightly from the steel bar below.*

The author is showing the inside of the armrest of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *This is the inside of the armrest’s padding.*

9. Cupholders

For storage options, this chair has specific built-in extras:

Cupholder Count: Single cupholder in front of right armrest.
Dimensions: Measures about 3 x 3.5in (7.6 x 8.9cm).
Capacity: Fits cans and thermoses, but does not fit a 1L Nalgene bottle.

A thermos on the cup holder of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *It fits up to a thermos in the cup holder.*

10. Rocking Feature

One key feature of this chair is the rocking function:

Tech: Patented spring-action rocking tech where tubings slide in pistons at the bottom.
Motion: Half-range motion only (back rocks), front legs for regular chair use.
Squeak: Slightly squeaky now after a few years of use, but not loud.

The author is sitting on the GCI Freestyle Rocker in front of a folding table. — *You can also use it as a regular chair.*

The grooving on the feet of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *The extra grooving at the feet of the chair makes it stable for regular chair use.*

11. Longevity

As for longevity, I borrowed this chair from a friend who’s had it for 2-3 years. It held up great with no issues other than slight squeakiness.

12. Materials and Quality

Here is what I found regarding build quality:

Fabric: Ripstop Polyester, Nylon mesh on backrest
Frame: Powder-coated steel, simple rivets all around (1-inch flat poles)
Warranty: Lifetime warranty

13. Portability

For portability, the packed size dimensions come in at:

Chair weight: 12.2lbs (~5.5kg) (Marketed: 11.8lbs / ~5.4kg)
Packed size: 34.3in x 24.5in x 6.25in (87cm x 62cm x 16cm)

Close up look of the folding handle of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *Carry the handle in the middle, not the top handle, which is for folding.*

The carrying handle of the GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *This is the carry handle in the middle.*

The author is carrying the folded GCI Freestyle Rocker. — *You can carry it around with the built-in easy carry handle.*

This is slightly heavier than marketed, and the packed size is very bulky compared to other GCI rocking chairs (almost 3 times bigger volume).

14. Pros & Cons

Now, what are the pros and cons based on my testing? I compared this chair to other GCI rocking chairs like Kickback and Pod Rockers across all specific metrics found in the table below.

Testing	GCI Freestyle Rocker	GCI Kickback Rocker	GCI Pod Rocker
Setup	4 seconds	4 seconds	23 seconds
Pack Away	2 seconds	5 seconds	45 seconds
Seat Size	21.25 x 15.0in	17.8 x 16.3in	27.3 x 14.5in
Backrest Height	18.0in	22.5in	25.1in
Seat Height	15.25in	11.2in	11.2in
Seat Tautness	Yes	Yes	No
Mesh	17%	0%	2%
Armrests	Yes	Yes	No
Storage	Cupholder x 1 No pockets	Cupholder x 1 Phone Pocket x 1	Cupholder x 1 Phone Pocket x 1
Rocking Function	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fabric	Ripstop Polyester	Ripstop Polyester	Ripstop Polyester
Frame	Powder-Coated Steel	Powder-Coated Steel	Stainless Steel
Packed Size (Volume)	34.3 x 24.5 x 6.25in (5,252)	39.3 x 7.5 x 6.5in (1,916)	41.0 x 8.0 x 5.5in (1,804)
Weight	12.2lbs.	10.4lbs.	12.1lbs.

Set up and pack away

The Freestyle Rocker sets up much more easily, as they do not have carry bags. The Pod Rocker took much longer because you’ve got to squeeze the entire chair back into a not-so-big carry bag before you can carry it away. Setup timing is ~4 seconds for Freestyle vs 23 seconds for Pod. Pack Away is ~2 seconds for Freestyle vs 5 seconds for Kickback and 45 seconds for Pod.

Seat Size and Backrest Height

The Pod Rocker has the biggest seat, and it also has the tallest backrest height, so I could scoot down the seat and lean my head against the back because I’m not very tall. I couldn’t do so with the Freestyle and Kickback Rocker. The Freestyle does have a nice, wide seat (21.25in), but I would have liked it to be a few inches deeper (15.0in).

Seat Height

The only one that’s as tall as a regular chair at home is the Freestyle Rocker, and if you have trouble getting out of low seats, you shouldn’t get the Kickback and the Pod Rocker.

Seat Tautness

I really liked that these 2 chairs have taut seats that don’t sink down so much when you sit on them, giving you much better lumbar support. On the other hand, the Pod Rocker has a bucket shape, so it’s not good for your back if you sit on it for hours at a time.

Mesh

I also really liked how the Freestyle has quite a bit of mesh on its backrest. GCI uses this polyester material that tends to trap quite a bit of heat; the temperature of the fabric goes up by more than 10% after just an hour, so the mesh backing is great for summer. The other 2 chairs don’t have any mesh.

Armrests, Storage

The Freestyle Rocker has armrests, but doesn’t have pockets like the other two.

Rocking, Fabric, Frame

All these chairs have almost the exact same rocking function, and the fabric and frame materials are also almost exactly the same.

Packed Size

The Freestyle packed size is very big and very bulky, as you might have seen. Notice here that the packed volume is almost 3 times that of the other two chairs. That’s because this uses a fold-flat design, where the height is the same as the unfolded dimensions, coming in at 34.3 inches, the depth is also the same at 24 and a half inches, and only the width has shrunk down from 23.8 inches to 6 and a quarter inches.