Rothco Folding Lightweight Portable Unique Camp Stool Support 225 Lbs

Reviewed: 2/11/2021: JC – Small + Convenient + SpaceSaver

I bought this stool as a weekend hiker because sometimes there’s no place to sit when you reach a nice lookout point. The stool was smaller than I thought with the seat about a foot off the ground, so it’s fairly low (I’m 5′-10″) but not where I have to strain (ie, 6 inches) to get up again. My natural position with this stool is to sit forward with my elbows on my knees. My favorite thing about it is that it folds & stores flat, and it hardly takes up space in my backpack. It’s like putting a spiral notebook in your backpack. It even has a zipper pouch to keep it from snagging on anything else. Setting it up is fairly straight forward, but you do need to place the stool on its side and put firm/strong pressure gently until the clasps connect. It seems the reason for such a tight connection (at first glance the clasps seems to be too short) is so that the seat is firm and the clasp has enough tension. The steel construction seems pretty solid, which I like. That said, I can see how someone could become frustrated by the tight setup. But do it a few times and you won’t think twice about it.

Once the stool is set up, the canvas seat becomes very taut, so much so that I wondered if sitting on it might cause it to tear or rip. The canvas is pretty thin but has a thin coating underneath, and the seams are double sewn. I admit that I sat down slowly and carefully, and I’m only about 160lbs. I’m pretty sure that if someone tried to plop themselves down on this quickly, that it would likely rip apart, especially heavier folks. I would have preferred a thicker, more durable canvas or doubled up canvas. You just have to sit down gently on the stool. So far I haven’t had any issues, but I’ll report back if I do.

I had considered getting a tripod stool with the three bars that spread open and then tucks away like a cylinder, but I do like the flat storage of this particular stool.
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