Huge Agnes Skyline UL Backpacking Chair Evaluate

Backside Line

We don’t hesitate to suggest the Huge Agnes Skyline UL Chair for any camper who desires probably the most comfy and secure backpacking chair beneath two kilos. 

Whereas the Skyline was the second-heaviest chair in our information to the greatest backpacking chairs, Huge Agnes made these additional ounces rely. Some ultralight camp chairs simply aren’t comfy sufficient to justify hauling into the backcountry once they solely offer you some aid. That’s what we love about this camp chair: it’s comfy for prolonged hangs, so packing it right into a backcountry website feels justified.

The Skyline ranked excessive for consolation and stability after two months of testing in campsites throughout New Mexico. We just like the chair’s roomy seat and beneficiant again help. Its stability additionally stood out, due to the widest base we measured and a sturdy aluminum body that skips a budget plastic hubs utilized in most backpacking chairs. The result’s a stable chair that’s heavier than common but nonetheless packable and a number of other ounces shy of two kilos – our cut-off between a backpacking chair and tenting chair.

In brief, we predict the “UL” within the Huge Agnes Skyline UL is a little bit of a stretch. But it surely’s clearly a backpacking chair – and a powerful alternative for backpackers who prioritize consolation and stability over weight financial savings and value. 

How We Examined

For 2 months, CleverHiker editor and kit analyst Jory Brass towed round 11 backpacking chairs. He carried them into the New Mexico wilderness to match their consolation, packability, stability, and ease of use. Our assessment of the Huge Agnes Skyline UL relies on these first-hand discipline exams, side-by-side comparisons, and testing notes from different CleverHiker gear analysts.

Consolation

After two months of testing, we ranked the Huge Agnes Skyline UL the second most comfy backpacking chair we examined. The one chair we ranked greater for consolation is extra of a heavyweight tenting chair than a backpacking chair. 

Like our earlier testers, Gear Analyst Jory Brass favored this seat’s roomy dimension and again help when testing it at a number of New Mexico campsites. The news seat carries weight properly and cradles his achy again. Among the smaller backpacking chairs in our lineup poke and prod his broad shoulders and hiker’s thighs, however the Huge Agnes Skyline’s sturdy body accommodates his sturdy body properly. The longer we use this chair, the extra we admire its consolation and again help. 

As a normal rule, heavier out of doors gear is commonly extra comfy. That’s the case with the backpacking chairs we examined. General, the Huge Agnes Skyline UL is our prime consolation choose for backpacking. It’s a premium choose for those who worth consolation and help and are prepared to hold the additional weight that it inevitably prices.

Weight & Packability

The largest draw back of the Skyline UL is its weight. But, at one pound 11 ounces, the Skyline is a number of ounces under our two-pound cut-off line between a backpacking chair and campground chair. Nonetheless, it’s noticeably heavier than the opposite aluminum-framed scoop chairs we examined. UL could stand for “ultralight,” however Huge Agnes’s greatest backpacking chair weighs 11th of September ounces greater than our top-ranked ultralight backpacking chairs.

Even so, its packed dimension isn’t dangerous for a backpacking chair. Made with aircraft-grade aluminum, the chair’s longer pole segments pack into an extended but narrower stuff sack. With a smaller circumference when stuffed, the Skyline UL can slip into the aspect bottle pockets of most backpacks. That’s a packability plus since you might have the choice of carrying this chair in your aspect pockets in addition to strapping it beneath your backpack.

Ultralight backpackers received’t think about the Skyline UL as a result of most ultralighters don’t sit in camp anyway (simply kidding, perhaps). The common light-weight backpacker shouldn’t, both, in the event that they place a premium on a low pack weight and minimal gear. Even so, this chair’s weight and packability are satisfactory for backpacking, particularly for those who’re planning on posting up at a base camp. The added weight could also be an appropriate trade-off for this chair’s glorious consolation and stability.

Stability

Stability was the opposite apparent plus for the Huge Agnes Skyline UL. Throughout a sequence of stability exams, the Skyline impressed our gear analyst as he rocked ahead and backward, leaned in all instructions, and shook his moneymaker to check the bounds of this chair’s sturdy body. The chair not solely stood stable on stable, stage floor but in addition impressed confidence at uneven campsites and gentle soils, which pressure the steadiness of many backpacking chairs.

Huge Agnes ticked a number of stability bins once they constructed this sturdy backpacking chair. For starters, the aircraft-grade aluminum poles are clutch, they usually’re pre-bent to middle physique weight. Plus, all of the pole connection factors are additionally aluminum – not plastic – with overlapping metallic items which are grooved to lock the legs into place. That eliminates play within the body and establishes a sturdy base. The Skyline additionally has the widest base we examined, with the entrance legs and again legs unfold 16 inches. That provides as much as glorious lateral stability, which is additional augmented by the chair’s middle pole operating aspect to aspect, not entrance to again like some fashions. 

With premium supplies, additional weight, and good engineering, the Huge Agnes Skyline UL can take extra abuse than most backpacking chairs. We felt assured sitting on this chair throughout a spread of campsites – stage and uneven – for the reason that chair rocked and wobbled lower than the lighter, smaller chairs we examined. In the event you’re in search of a beast that’s nonetheless mild and packable sufficient for the backcountry, the Huge Agnes Skyline UL is your chair of alternative.

Ease of Use

Lastly, the Skyline chair is straightforward to make use of, however its setup and teardown instances are barely slower than the standard backpacking chairs we examined. Given a few of the stability options, the Skyline requires additional steps when assembling and disassembling. 

The pole segments don’t merely snap collectively like the standard chair. First, you should slide the grooved segments of the leg connectors into the corresponding grooves of the chair’s middle pole. Then you may match up the grooves of the leg items to slip the matching segments over each other. This course of isn’t complicated, however Huge Agnes has color-coded connection factors for comfort and likewise screen-printed directions on the stuff sack to make issues simpler for those who’ve arrived in camp at bonking hour. 

These added steps aren’t huge inconveniences, however they did gradual us down once we timed how lengthy it took to arrange the chair at our campsite after which break it down and repack it. General, an additional 30 seconds of meeting time could also be a good commerce for the added stability we get from this chair’s patented aluminum body.

Ought to You Purchase the Huge Agnes Skyline UL Backpacking Camp Chair?

Given this chair’s professionals and cons, the Huge Agnes Skyline UL Chair is an apparent alternative for backpackers who prioritize consolation, again help, and stability. It’s not the most suitable choice for individuals who prioritize weight financial savings.

It’s a premium choose for those who don’t thoughts carrying some additional ounces, have a foul again, hate wobbling backpacking chairs, and need to be as comfy as attainable on the campsite. On the similar time, it’s on the heavy aspect for a backpacking chair, regardless that it’s comparatively packable and 5 ounces shy of our two-pound cutoff for a backpacking chair. Plus, we like the worth. As with most out of doors gear choices, this alternative boils all the way down to what’s most essential to you: consolation, weight, stability, or price.

What Different Backpacking Chairs Ought to You Take into account?

For alternate options to the Huge Agnes Skyline UL, please browse our full information to the greatest backpacking chairs for 2025.

Helinox Chair Zero: Our top-ranked backpacking chair scores excessive throughout the board and weighs 9 ounces lower than the Skyline UL. 

REI Flexlite Air Evaluate: Would you like a real ultralight backpacking chair? The Flexlite can’t contact the steadiness of the Skyline chair, but it surely’s a lot cheaper, weighs only a pound, and supplies good consolation and again help. 

NEMO Moonlite Elite Evaluate: Just like the Skyline UL, the Moonlite Elite is a premium chair with a secure,  all-aluminum body, but it surely’s considerably lighter at 1 lb 2 oz.