You’re going to need to pack some folding camping chairs when you head off on your caravan holidays, so Practical Caravan has done all the leg work for you and put a range to the test.

When testing lightweight camping chairs, unsurprisingly, the weight of the chair is something you must take into consideration, not to mention how much space it will take up when folded – if you need to carry several, they could eat up a lot of precious storage space in even the most spacious of tourers.

How easy are they to carry? This is another question we considered, as often on tour you’ll want to move your folding chair from place to place – you might even want to fit it into your backpack like the most innovative examples, to take with you on a ramble or a hike. Therefore weight is also a crucial factor, and not just the weight of the chair, also how much weight the chair can support – for the purposes of our test, the benchmark is 100kg, which is roughly 15.5 stone. This Kampa Tub Chair has indeed got a 100kg maximum loading capacity, but it is worth checking as some are less robust and you don’t want to find you, a family member, friend or guest on the floor.

Of course, comfort is another factor with chairs. Partly this depends upon what the chair is meant for – is it for resting at the beach, eating at table or lounging? And how far off the ground do you want to be? Most people would rather not be too low down. And, naturally, this relates to how easy it is to get out of your folding camping chair – are you folding yourself out of it, or is getting up a cinch? A firm seat base, a high seat and strong handles will make a camping chair easier to get out of.

All of which is quite a lot to take into account for a mere chair, but all are important considerations. And that’s not all. Ease of use and value for money have both been taken into account in this group product test. So, how does this Tub Chair by Kampa, which retails at a very affordable £20, fare in the Practical Caravan test?

Unique to Kampa, 
a tub chair may appear to be a cheap, less-cosy version of a moon chair, but in fact it isn’t. The Kampa Tub Chair represents great value for money and, we believe, is more comfortable than a moon chair. It has a strong yet lightweight steel frame and a polyester seat, plus it can be opened or folded away in seconds.

We felt that the heavy padding of this chair makes it ideal for sitting upright or lounging – and it also prevents the chair from compacting down. However, despite having a seat height of 40cm, rising from the fabric base can be hard, while the tub chair’s tiny feet may sink into the ground, which is a shame.

In the Practical Caravan lightweight folding camping chair group test, to find out which product you should buy for your caravan holidays, the Outwell Spring Hills camping chair came out on top, rated the best camping chair and receiving five out of five – it retails at £36.99. We also tested two chairs from Gelert. One, the Milldale Executive Chair (£35) also was awarded a five-star rating, however the Caldera Moon Chair (£40) got two out of five. The Coleman Sling Chair, which costs £44, received a four-star rating, as did the Easy Camp Director’s Chair (£24), while the Alite Mayfly (£60) scored three out of five.