YETI Trailhead Camp Chair Review (Bought & Tested!)

I bought this chair with my own money and put it through 11 measured tests.

Setup ~22 sec
Seat size 19.5 x 16.5 in
Seat height 16.0 in
Weight 14.7 lbs

YETI Trailhead Camp Chair Review — *My YETI Trailhead Camp Chair.*

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Test scorecard

8.4out of 10

Breathability10

Quality9.5

Comfort9.2

Features8

Setup7.5

Weight3

Of the 21 chairs I’ve tested, the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair beat out all the rest in comfort, breathability, and quality. I’d highly recommend it, especially for the lumbar support. No other chair compares.

What won me over

Heavy-duty build
Great lumbar support
Tall seat height
Loads of mesh

What let me down

Expensive
Heavy
Bulky

Check price on Amazon Check price on REI Co-Op Check price on YETI

Video review thumbnail for the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair

If you prefer watching to reading, check out my video here instead.

See the 11 tests

Set Up
Pack Away
Unfolded Dimensions
Seat Size
Seat Height
Backrest
Breathability
Armrests
Storage
Materials & Quality
Portability
Pros, cons, recommendations
Bonus – MUST read!

Set Up

1) Stand it upright and locate the four corners (two back corners, two armrests). Grab one back corner and one armrest, and pull them apart.

The folded YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *Pull opposite ends of the chair apart to set up.*

2) Press both armrests down until each clicks into place. After doing so, the seat will become taut.

The author locking the armrests of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *If you’re not strong like me, lock each armrest one at a time, and use your body weight to press down. It helps a lot.*

3) Push down on the handle at the back, and the backrest will become taut. That’s your chair fully set up.

Setup time ~22 seconds

Pack Away

The pack-away is the reverse, and takes just 36 seconds.

The author zipping up the carry bag of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *The carry bag was the perfect size for the YETI – no huffing and puffing to get it back in.*

Unfolded Dimensions

Width 27.0incupholder to armrest
Length 30.5inback to front
Height 35.7inground to top

Seat Size

Seat width 19.5in
Seat depth 16.5in

The seat width of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *It’s quite a roomy seat for me and I felt like I had plenty of space.*

Seat Height

Front seat height 17.5in
Actual seat height 16.0in

Backrest

Backrest height 24.0in
Backrest width 19.25in
Recline angle 25.0 degrees

Breathability

100% of the chair is a breathable, mesh-like fabric.

The mesh of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *When I conducted a 1-hour sit test, the temperature barely rose at all. (**77°F → 79°F** (up just **2.5%**)). It never runs warm.*

Armrests

Material Hard, high-grade plastic
Padding None
Adjustability Non-adjustable

Storage

There’s just 1 removable cupholder, on the right, measuring ~4.0in diameter x ~4.75in depth:

A 1-Liter Nalgene bottle in the cupholder of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *It fits a 1-Liter Nalgene bottle.*

The removable cupholder of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *It is removable via this plastic insert at the back.*

Materials & Quality

Fabric Polyester (69%) + polypropylene (31%)
Stitching None, because it’s a single piece of FlexGrid Fabric
Poles 1.14in thick, heavy and beefy
Zipper Unbranded, but big and beefy
Warranty 5 years
Weight limit 500lbs.

Portability

Packed size 43.0in x 9.5in x 10.5in
Total weight 14.7lbs
- Chair 13.6lbs
- Carry bag 1.1lbs
Ease of carry Backpack straps

A close up look of the adjustable backpack straps of the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *The backpack straps are fully adjustable using buckles.*

The author carrying the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair. — *The straps are also thickly padded and really comfortable, making it easy to carry around despite the weight and bulk.*

Pros & Cons

Now, what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair?

Extremely heavy-duty

The YETI is easily the heaviest-duty camp chair I’ve got:

High weight capacity of 500lbs.
UV-resistant additives across the entire chair
Thickest poles on a camp chair ever (1.14in)
Thickest pole joints on a camp chair too

Camp Chair	Weight Capacity (lbs.)	Pole Thickness (in)
YETI Trailhead	500	1.14
Average Camp Chair	300	0.6-0.7

Great lumbar support

The YETI also has locking mechanisms to make the seat and backrest completely taut, plus it also conforms to my body shape, giving me the best lumbar support of any camp chair I’ve ever tested.

Tall seat height

At 16.0in, the seat sits about as high as a regular dining chair.

The author sitting on the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair at a table. — *This is also my tallest camp chair.*

Generous seat size

At 19.5 x 16.5in wide, it’s one of the roomier seats I’ve tested, and comparable with any chair you have at home.

Camp Chair	Seat Width (in)	Seat Depth (in)
YETI Trailhead	19.5	16.5
Average Camp Chair	17.0	15.0

Very breathable

It’s also made of 100% mesh – this is the most breathable chair I’ve tested:

Camp Chair	Mesh
YETI Trailhead	100%
Average Camp Chair	10%

Very expensive

At an MSRP of $300, it’s over 3x the price of other heavy-duty chairs:

Heavy-Duty Camp Chair	MSRP
YETI Trailhead	$300
ALPS King Kong	$80
Coleman Big N Tall	$70

Very heavy and bulky

At 14.7 lbs, it’s also my heaviest and bulkiest chair.

Packed size comparison between the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair and the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent. — *It is about 80% longer than the Coleman Sundome 2-Person Tent.*

Overall recommendation

Despite its price and weight, the YETI Trailhead is a great chair if you have trouble getting out of low seats, if you need a heavy-duty and high-quality chair, and especially if you need lumbar support. I highly recommend it.

Bonus – MUST Read!

I know this because I tested the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair against 20 other camping chairs. Check out my Best Camping Chairs article here.

Or, check out the YETI Trailhead Camp Chair: