Why Not Take It With You?
Chairs for here and there, but more specifically for the beach 🏖️
One of the things I love best about June’s Slat-Seat project is how incredibly packable it is. Not like those super popular beach chairs that require backpack straps they’re so bulky (albeit, undeniably comfortable!), the Slat Seat can be tossed in your beach bag with the rest of your oceanside essentials. I based it off a picture I saw of a 1930s design called the Re-Lax, which was up on 1st Dibs.
Our seat got me thinking, broadly, about older-fashioned beach and adjacent seats—wood, sure; probably bulky, yes. There are some real classics—Kermit! Cape Cod! Gold Medal!—in the mix, but also some newer, or new-to-me, models as well. So here, behold, a special “impractically heavy” beach chair edition of The Source. If they don’t make it out onto the sand, they might also be pretty nice and comfortable on a porch or on a lawn or by a pool, I’d imagine.
Umbrella Source Oak Beach Chair | You know you can trust a place called Umbrella Source. It’s just got a good feeling. These seats are super customizable (so, note, 1-2 week lead time!): You choose color combinations; you can add a footrest; you can add a name or a phrase or some sort of moniker of your choosing!
Snow Peak Take! Chair | One of the more reasonably schlep-able options here, the Snow Peak Take! Chair is constructed of bamboo, aluminum, and canvas.
Cape Cod Beach Chair Company | Only the good people of Massachusetts could conceive of this heavy of a chair for beach use. They don’t shy away from a challenge, even when they already have to mount enormous dunes to get to the beach in the first place.
Gold Medal Director’s Chair | This is the original director’s chair, folks! Choose a bunch of options, color, type of wood, height—and then start calling the shots. Notable, in case this seems wildly impractical, that there is also a 30” carry bag available here—so the folks at Gold Medal do encourage you taking your director’s chair to go!
Wren Butterfly Chair | More of a camp chair, admittedly, like the Snow Peak option—but this one is, again, similarly, very packable, more lightweight and good-looking to boot.
Pangean Lounger | Maine-based Byer makes all manner of outdoor accessories and this one—the foldable, tote-able, reasonably sized Pangean Lounger—is the one to take along to the beach, I’d wager. At first I thought the seat part looked to small for a human to sit in, but after watching the video, I stand (sit?) corrected and see it is physically possible.
Kermit Chair | Crafted in Tennessee, the Kermit has a fun history. It was originally designed in 1984 by a motorcycle enthusiast for bringing along on trips and rallies.
Mini Sand Chair | This is one you’ll have to plan ahead to use next summer because each of these mini chairs by Anywhere Chair are made to order and take 3-6 weeks to finish!
Relax Folding Deck Chair | Incidentally named “Relax” this take on a classic sling chair, made in Italy, comes in really a sweet colorblock in breezy mesh fabric.
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we love our byer chairs so much!
Can vouch for the Maine loungers: We've had some for more than a decade and they're still going strong, but TBH we often grab our REI backpacking chairs for most beach outings because they're so lightweight.