Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Evaluation: Helinox Chair Zero LT and Common Helinox Floor Strap


The Helinox Chair Zero LT is the most recent chair within the Chair Zero product line. It weighs a wee bit greater than the authentic Chair Zero and contains the brand new Helinox Floor Strap, which is suitable with all Helinox chairs and tables. The Helinox Floor Strap addresses one of many greatest points with most light-weight backpacking chairs: the legs sink into sand, mud, or grass. Should you already personal a Helinox chair, no matter mannequin, the $25 Floor-strap (0.7 oz) is a pleasant improve. It’s not good, however so long as you retain your chair degree, it limits the quantity of sinkage.

Helinox Chair Zero LT Specs

  • Weight: 17.7 oz (1 lb 1.7 oz)
  • Seat Top: 7 inches
  • Weight Capability: 265 lbs
  • Body: Aluminum
  • Sling Cloth: Monofilament grid ripstop
  • Helinox Floor Strap: 0.7 Included, additionally offered individually
The ground strap is an extra that’s included, but also available for sale separately for older chair models.
The Chair Zero LT has two main parts – a cloth sling that kinds the seat and shock-corded aluminum poles. The bottom strap is an additional that’s included, but additionally obtainable on the market individually to be used with older chair fashions.

I by no means used to assume a backpacking chair was an important, and I suppose it nonetheless isn’t. However in case you’re backpacking a path with out wood lean-tos, picnic benches, bushes, or rocks to take a seat on, it’s fairly good to have a chair to take a seat on within the night as a substitute of sitting within the filth or in tick-infested grass. Plus, with the lighter gear weights we’re all carrying, including a chair to your load is less complicated than ever.

The Ground Strap consistes of two pieces of webbing sewn together to form an X with booties to hold the feet.
The Floor Strap consists of two items of webbing sewn collectively to kind an X with booties to carry the ft.

There are a number of vital variables to think about when selecting a light-weight backpacking chair:

  • Gear weight – the minimal weight of the chair and its parts
  • Weight capability – how a lot load can it deal with
  • Seat peak – how arduous is it to face up from

Decreased Seat Top

The Helinox Chair Zero LT has a minimal path weight of 17.7 oz (minus the carry bag or floor strap), which is a bit more than half an oz greater than the unique Chair Zero. It’s sturdy sufficient to carry people weighing as much as 265 lbs and has a seat peak of seven″, which is 2″ lower than the unique Chair Zero.

I occur to assume that peak discount is an enormous deal, because the authentic chair required a specific amount of agility to face up from. You probably have stability points or discover getting up from the bottom tough in your legs, I’d advocate sticking with the unique Chair Zero or contemplating one of many Chair Zero LT’s closest rivals: the NEMO Moonlight Elite and the REI Flexlite Air, which have a lot increased seat heights.

While the Chair LT comes with a stuff sack, you can save a little weight by just rolling the shock-corded poles up in the seat for transport.While the Chair LT comes with a stuff sack, you can save a little weight by just rolling the shock-corded poles up in the seat for transport.
Whereas the Chair LT comes with a stuff sack, it can save you a bit weight by simply rolling the shock-corded poles up within the seat for transport.

New Cloth

Apart from the completely different seat heights, the first distinction between the Helinox Chair LT and the unique Chair Zero is the material you sit on. The Chair LT makes use of a really sturdy and abrasion-resistant monofilament grid ripstop that Helinox claims is extra sturdy than the aramid polyester ripstop material used within the authentic Chair Zero. It’s arduous to confirm claims like this, or to find out whether or not they make any distinction to most customers. Whereas monofilament materials are sometimes stronger than multi-filament materials and will even be recyclable (which Helinox doesn’t declare), this strikes me as a function that Helinox product engineers care about greater than finish customers.

The Remaining Phrase

I’m fairly agile, however I nonetheless want the unique Chair Zero for its increased seat peak. From my perspective, the one benefit of the Helinox Chair Zero LT over the unique Chair Zero is that it comes bundled with a $25 Floor Strap, whereas it’s essential purchase one individually for the unique Chair Zero. Provided that Helinox intends to proceed promoting the authentic Chair Zero, I’d advocate shopping for it and the brand new Floor Strap, as a substitute of the Chair Zero LT. The price of the unique Chair Zero and the Group Strap involves $165, in comparison with the Chair Zero LT ($160), which incorporates the Group Strap. Should you ask me, these further two inches of seat peak are positively value the additional $5.

 

Disclosure: Helinox donated a chair for overview.

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