Tommy Bahama Deluxe Backpack Beach Chair
Summary
Price At Time Of Writing | £149.99
Our Overall Rating | 86 out of 100
Pros - High quality, good-looking and lightweight
Cons - Flimsy carrying straps, low back
Overall - A great beach chair for lounging with everything to hand
Technical Specifications
Open Size - 58.4D x 36.6W x 9.1H centimetres
Weight - 3.33 kg
Load Capacity - 300 lbs
Materials - Aluminium frame, polyester seat
Our Analysis & Ratings
From the world of beach fashion comes the Tommy Bahama Deluxe Backpack Beach Chair. As you'd expect with a reputable global brand, the chair is generally well-made and definitely one of the nicer-looking options out there. We liked its five positions, and found it generally comfortable - but we were suprised at how small it is, with a relatively low back for a chair of this style.
Construction and Design - There's a lot to like about this chair - it adjusts to five positions, including laying flat, has a convenient array of pockets and is definitely of a high construction quality. We thought the chair itself was well-made and the location of the pockets, towel rack/lay flat rest well thought out. We also liked how the fabric of the seat continued right around the frame on this chair, rather than being attached to the frame with rope as on other chairs. What we weren't sold on was the backpack straps themselves - in comparison with the rest of the chair they felt a little flimsy and the plastic buckles felt quite easily breakable to us.
Setup/Packdown - Beach chairs are generally pretty easy to set up and pack down, but this one felt just ever so slightly more complicated to us. There were a couple of different stages to unclipping and opening that aren't present on other chairs. However, in general, nothing particularly onerous - especially if you're not comparing it side by side with other chairs.
Portability - At a bit over 3kg, the lightweight aluminium frame makes this chair a very easy carry on your back. We had no particular issues carrying it to and from the beach, and were grateful for its hands-free carrying capability when going down a particularly steep set of stairs.
Comfort - In general, we found this a comfortable chair, particularly when laying flat. For some reason the bar along the front of the frame didn't bother us as much as it did when testing some other similar designs, and the pockets made everything conveniently within reach. However, we weren't as impressed with the chair when sitting more upright - the back is quite low, and the pillow therefore rests somewhere in your upper back. If you're spending all your time at the beach lounging - and let's face it, you probably are - then you'll be fine, but if you need to sit up properly to eat your lunch you'll notice the low back as we did.
Durability - Because of its quality construction, we feel this seat is durable and will last a while. Aluminium frames are always more susceptible to damage than steel if misused, but for the weight tradeoff we'd take it.
Summary - We'd happily laze about in the Tommy Bahama beach chair for hours. Extra back height would be nice and sturdier carrying straps, but really, once you get it to the beach, you'll be nice and comfortable.
