We hit the road nearly two years ago now, with our two existing camp chairs, both Spinnifex non padded high backed adjustable chairs.  Fine for occasional camping and sitting around the camp fire with your feet up on a milk crate, but after two years of use, working full time on the road we were developing “numb bum” syndrome.

Spending five days per week in front of a laptop, we found the chairs not quite suitable for different reasons.  Either not comfortable enough, or don’t adjust to the perfect position, are not comfortable to sit in at a table because it wasn’t upright enough or too low to work at with laptop, phone, notepad and all the “mobile office” paraphanalia.  Then at meal time the arms are in the way.

It was time for an upgrade. We decided to invest in some new chairs. 
After visiting the local outdoor shop and trying out each chair in the long row of chairs, we decided on the OzTrail Coolum 5-position padded chair. Here’s why:

• In its most upright position, it is upright enough to be used comfortably at a table.
• Relatively easy to collapse and set up.
• Has plastic arm rests and even comes with a drink holder.  The arm rests are not in the way when eating.
• Is padded and comfortable to sit in for hours, without the frame cutting you behind the knees.
• Only weighs 6.5 kgs each
• Come with a 2 year warranty
• Fewer nuts and bolts holding them together means less weekly maintenance in keeping them together

At first, they were rather expensive at $119.95 each, but after some haggling, we handed over $180 for two chairs and now we’re ready to hit the road again and work in comfort.
Let’s see if our research pays off in two years time.