Along with their table, Mission Mountain recently sent me their S4 camping chair to test out. Yes, free camping gear is nice but won’t sway my opinion.:) After testing it out, here’s my review of the chair.
Also Read: Best Camping Chairs
Quick Verdict:
The Mission Mountain S4 lounge-style camp chair is sturdy, easy to assemble and feels very durable. The main reason to get this chair is because of the adjustable height feature, especially because you can “hack” it to change the sitting angle. It’s also lightweight and I like how it packs down. I just wish they made a tall-back version of the chair so I could lean my head back in it.
Lounging in the S4 chair
Specs:
- Weight: 4.4lbs
- Dimensions (WxDxH): 21.6” x 23.6” x 29.5/31.5”
- Seat Height (At Lowest Part): 5.1”, 12.5”, 14.5”
- Buy Here
Assembly
The Mission Mountain S4 is a lounge style camp chair. Like most lounge-style chairs, it has multiple pieces which need to be assembled (as opposed to upright camp chairs which usually are just one piece).
There are six pieces in total:
- 1 x seat
- 1x frame
- 4x legs
The frame section has four poles which are connected via cords. You just pop them into the frame. Assembly is stupidly easy and takes about 2 minutes.
The S4 frame before putting on the seat fabric
Note: Like most camping chairs, the seat fabric is very hard to put on the first time. After that, the fabric stretches a bit and it’s easier to get on. There are pull tabs to help you get the fabric onto the poles.
Pull tabs make it easy to get the fabric on the frame
Adjustable Seat Height
Mission Mountain advertises this camp chair as having two height settings: you simply push the little button on the legs to change the height. This gives you a seat height of either 12.5” or 14.5”. There are guidelines in the legs so getting the button in the right spot is easy.
There is also an option to leave the legs off the chair completely. This gives you low height of about 5” (great for extending your legs in front!). The only downside of doing this is that some dirt might end up in the holes where the legs are supposed to go.
The chair without legs. Not my picture.
Hack: I realized that you can put the back legs in the high position and the front legs in the low position. This allows you to adjust the seat position so its more upright. Since I prefer an upright chair (my kids and husband prefer loungers though), this is an awesome hack!
Sturdiness
Mission Mountain uses H-style frames on their S4 chair (as well as their table). They call this a “unique” feature and are not lying: I cannot find a single other brand which uses H-frames for their camp furniture.
Most folding camp chairs use X frames, which are not nearly as the H frame. Some camp chairs do have square frames. Those types of frames are sturdy, but mean you have extra pieces to assemble.
The fabric on the S4 chair feels durable and there are reinforced areas where it attaches to the frame. Surprisingly though, the weight limit is only 265lbs. This is less than the 300lb limit you’ll find on mos camp chairs.
The Moon Lence chair (shown above) looks similar to the Mission Mountain chair but has a square frame. A square frame is also sturdy but has more parts to put together.
Comfort
In terms of comfort, the Mission Mountain S4 chair is on par with other lounge-style chairs I’ve tested out. The adjustable height does give it a slight advantage though: both short and tall people will be able to nicely extend their legs.
My husband is a larger guy and he didn’t have any issues with the fabric digging into his legs. It was wide enough to accommodate him.
The biggest complaint I have is that the back is low. You can’t lean your head back. I wish Mission Mountain made a high-back version of the chair too.
Weight Packability
The S4 chair weighs 4.4lbs (I put it on a scale). This is far from ultralight, but light enough that you won’t mind carrying it from your car to camp. It packs down compact enough, so no complaints there.
A nice perk is that it’s actually easy to get the chair back into its bag. It’s definitely easier than folding chairs which go in those long-but-narrow carrying cases!
