YETI Hondo® "Base Camp Chair" Camping Chair 1 piece

Why you're sitting on the gravel while everyone else stands

The YETI Hondo is YETI's low-slung camping chair: four backrest positions, with a cup holder and shoulder strap in the box, and it stands on two continuous runners instead of four point feet. It isn't a table-height chair, it doesn't come with a carry bag, and it's not one for the spot right next to the barbecue.

The YETI Hondo camping chair is YETI's folding chair for people who spend half the weekend next to their car and don't want to balance on a wobbly frame while they're at it. It weighs just over five kilos, folds flat, takes up to 159 kilos and reclines in four stages from upright to almost flat. Cup holder and shoulder strap are included.

Half six, the car park's still half empty, the windows misted up on the outside. You pull the chair out of the boot, unfold it next to the open passenger door, push the armrests down, done. Two hours later you're still sitting, while everyone else stands in a semicircle round a bonnet, shifting their weight from one foot to the other.

• Four backrest positions, one hand on the lever. From 100 degrees upright for your coffee to 130 degrees, almost flat, for the hour after lunch. The lock sits under the armrests, so you don't reach behind you and you don't stand up. Changing position takes two seconds, not two minutes of faffing about with pins and holes.
• Just over five kilos, just under 17 centimetres thick when folded. It lies flat behind the rear seats or under the boot floor in the spare wheel well and doesn't take up space you need for anything else. The LongHaul shoulder strap is included, so on the way from the car park you've got a hand free for the cooler or the camera.
• 159 kilos capacity and a five-year warranty. The cup holder clips under the armrest on the left or right and takes cans, longnecks and the big 769 millilitre bottle. Nothing extra to buy, no adapter. YETI gives the Hondo a five-year warranty against manufacturing defects.

Day-to-day from Detailing1: The most common mistake is in adjusting it. Almost everyone pulls on the armrest while they're still leaning back into the backrest, then the lock jams and you end up jerking about. Here's how it's done: sit up for a moment, weight forward, lift both armrests, pull back, press down again until it clicks into place. Second point for the boot: a chair that gets folded up and packed away wet or salty will smell by its second season. Let it air out open first, then pack it.

Two runners instead of four feet on gravel

The YETI Hondo camping chair stands on two continuous runners instead of four separate feet. That's why it doesn't sink in on one side on gravel, grass or sand, and doesn't tip over.

You notice it exactly where camping chairs usually drive you mad. On a gravel paddock, a point foot finds a gap between two stones, and from then on half the chair sits crooked. The runners spread the weight along their whole length, you sit level, and when you lean back nothing shifts. Same goes for mown grass after two days of rain.

Setting up is one movement. Unfold, sit down, armrests down. The backrest locks in at four angles, and the waterfall headrest is why you actually nod off in position four instead of just pretending. The mesh in the back dries fast, so even after a night in the dew the chair is dry again after ten minutes of sun.

Where the chair goes isn't left to chance, either. In the shade of the open tailgate you've got the folding table within reach and the car in view without turning round. And because the Hondo sits low, your eye line is roughly level with the sill and wheel arch rather than the roof. That's the angle you can look at a car from for hours without getting bored.

The cup holder hooks on, left or right, depending on where the folding table is. It's deep enough for the big bottles, and that's no small thing: the classic mesh holder on a cheap folding chair tips over precisely when there's an insulated tumbler in it that's heavier than an empty can. If that's ever happened to you over a light-coloured boot lip, you know why this matters.

It sits low, and that's not for everyone

At the back, the seat is about 20 centimetres off the ground. That makes it stable and comfortable, but it also makes it a chair for people who plan on staying put.

If you're up every five minutes at a meet because someone wants to talk engine bays, the YETI Hondo camping chair is the wrong one. Getting up from 20 centimetres is a different story from a seat height of around 42 centimetres. But if your weekend is sitting down, coffee and two hours of watching, that's exactly the point. For the other half there's the camping chair at regular seat height, which also takes 225 kilos and comes with a carry bag.

The 159 kilo capacity is the second number worth thinking about beforehand. It's plenty for the vast majority, but well below the Trailhead's 225 kilos. If you're heavier, or you like to sit with a child on your lap, you're better off with its big brother. Up to that limit, the fabric doesn't lose its tension, according to the manufacturer.

Third honest limit: the Hondo folds flat, but not small. Folded, it's about 67 centimetres wide and 74 centimetres high, and less than 17 centimetres thick. So it won't disappear into a corner of the boot; it needs a flat area. There's no carry bag, just the shoulder strap, and on shorter people that knocks against the legs as they walk.

And it has no flame retardant. YETI leaves it out on purpose, citing the chemicals that would be needed for it. What that means for you: a spark from the barbecue or the fire pit burns a hole in the fabric, and the warranty doesn't cover burn damage. The chair belongs at the tailgate, not downwind next to the embers.

What the Hondo looks like after three seasons in the boot

The real test for a chair in this price bracket isn't the first summer, it's the third. Two things decide it: the frame, and what you do with it after the weekend.

The frame is powder-coated aluminium, the armrests are nylon. There are no steel tubes to rust from the inside and no rivets to fall apart in the salt. The fabric is UV-resistant and keeps its tension instead of sagging in the middle after two seasons. The result is a chair you put away not because it's got tatty, but because autumn's coming.

Looking after it is correspondingly quick. After a dusty day, the garden hose does it; stubborn dirt comes off with mild soap and a soft brush. After salt or sand, make a point of rinsing it off so nothing stays in the joints. Don't store it in constant sun, or the colour fades, and that shows faster on Navy than on Seafoam.

The YETI Hondo camping chair gets bought by people whose weekend happens at a circuit, a meet or a campsite pitch, and who arrive there rather than just drive past. For a hiking trail it's too wide and too heavy, and for a camping weekend with three moves there are lighter options. As a folding chair that stands next to the same car for ten years, it's hard to beat.

The colour choice is more practical than it sounds. Navy swallows dust, handprints and the grey film a gravel car park leaves on everything. Seafoam looks better next to a dark car but shows every mark. If you mostly use the chair, take Navy. If you set it out because it's meant to match everything else, take Seafoam. You'll find the same thinking across the whole YETI range.

The trick no manufacturer writes down is about loading up. People tend to lay the folded Hondo across the painted boot lip and slide it in, and that's exactly when the two aluminium runners drag two fine scratches into the clear coat, which you only spot in the evening under raking light. Lay an outdoor blanket over the edge, or genuinely lift the chair for the last 20 centimetres. It's the same reflex that stops you resting your camera on the wing.

Using and caring for the YETI Hondo camping chair

Unfold, adjust, load up

Unfold the chair and stand it on the ground, then sit down in it and press both armrests down until they click into place. On soft ground there's nothing else to do: the two continuous runners spread the weight and don't go hunting for a gap the way a single foot does.

To adjust the backrest, sit up for a moment and take the pressure off your back. Then lift both armrests, which unlocks them, pull back into whichever of the four positions you want and press down again until it clicks into place. Adjust while you're still leaning back and you jam the lock.

The cup holder hooks on under the armrest or onto the frame, left or right. It takes cans, longnecks and the big YETI bottles. For the walk from the car park, clip on the included shoulder strap and you keep a hand free for the cooler or the folding table.

At the end of the day, hose the chair down; stubborn dirt on the frame or fabric comes off with mild soap, water and a soft brush. After contact with salt or sand, rinsing is a must, or both stay in the joints. Then let it air-dry open, and only then fold it up.

Good to know: Weight capacity 159 kg. The fabric has no flame retardant; a spark from the barbecue or fire pit burns a hole in it, and burn damage isn't covered by the warranty. Folded up and stored wet or salty, the chair will smell by its second season. For long-term storage YETI recommends a sheltered spot rather than constant sun, or the colour fades. Folded, it measures about 67 × 17 × 74 centimetres, and no carry bag is included. YETI gives a five-year warranty against manufacturing defects.