Camping Chair With Canopy

What a camping chair with canopy actually is

Take a regular folding camp chair. Add two thin arms that rise from the back or the sides, and stretch a piece of fabric across them over your head. That's a camping chair with canopy. Some come that way from the maker. Others are a plain chair with a canopy clamped on afterward.

What makes it different from every other camp chair is that it brings its own shade. A regular chair needs you to find a tree, carry a canopy tent or move with the shadow all afternoon. This one shades one person, wherever that person sat down.

The rest is a normal camp chair: frame, seat fabric, capacity, cup holder, carry bag. Those basics are on the main camping chair page. This page sticks to the roof.

Who's it for? Anybody whose sitting spot doesn't come with shade. A campsite in an open field. The sideline at a ballgame. A fishing bank with the trees on the wrong side. An early-season archery camp in September, when lunch is hot and the cabin porch is full.

How the table picks canopy chairs

The table under this text lists camping chairs whose maker or listing says they have a built-in shade canopy. It shows the camp-chair fields where the maker or the listing gives them: weight, weight capacity, seat height, seat width, back height, frame, style and packed size. The table marks values read from the Amazon listing; an empty cell is a value neither the maker nor the listing states. Weight is always the maker's own figure.

Makers rarely put the canopy's own details (fabric rating, size, tilt range) in a spec table, so you'll find those in the maker's description, not in a column. The list changes as models come and go, so read the table, then check the canopy details on each maker's page.

Built-in canopy or clip-on umbrella

That's the first decision, and it's mostly about whether you already own a chair you like.

Built-in canopy

The canopy arms are part of the chair frame. The fabric usually folds down with the chair and goes into the same bag. One trip from the truck, one thing to set up.

The trade-off is that the canopy only works on that chair, and the chair is a little heavier and bulkier than the same chair without one. If the canopy arm breaks, you're shopping for a part from that maker.

Clip-on canopy (the "camping chair with umbrella")

This is a separate canopy that clamps onto a chair you already own. One maker's clip-on canopy attaches with two side clips, has UPF 50 fabric and fits chairs from 17 to 28 inches wide. It weighs 2.31 lb and folds to about 19.3 inches long.

That makes it a good answer for a family with a pile of mismatched chairs. Buy one or two canopies, move them to whoever needs shade. The catch is fit. A clip that doesn't match your chair's frame will slip or twist.

What to look at when you pick a camping chair with canopy

Measure your chair before you buy a clip-on

Measure your chair's width across the frame where the clips will go, not the seat fabric. Then check that number against the maker's stated range. If your chair sits right at the edge of the range, the clamp will be at the end of its travel. Measure twice, buy once.

Built-in canopies skip this step. That's half of their appeal.

UPF rates the fabric, not the shade

UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) tells you how much UV gets through a fabric. The Skin Cancer Foundation says UPF measures both UVA and UVB, unlike SPF, which measures only UVB. Its scale:

• UPF 30 to 49: very good protection
• UPF 50 and up: excellent; UPF 50 fabric blocks 98 percent of the sun's rays
• Shade structures: the Foundation says any fabric used in one should be UPF 30 or higher

Look for a stated rating from the maker. If a maker only says "sun protection" without a number, you don't know what the fabric does.

Here's the thing, though. The rating is for the fabric. A canopy the size of a big umbrella shades your head and shoulders, and the sun gets at your legs and lap from the sides. The Foundation also notes that wetting or stretching fabric reduces its protection.

Tilt decides whether the shade follows you

The sun doesn't stay put. The Skin Cancer Foundation points out that an umbrella's coverage shrinks as the sun moves across the sky, so you have to reposition it. A canopy that tilts lets you chase the shadow without moving the chair.

One maker's clip-on canopy rotates forward and backward to follow the sun. Built-in canopies vary: some tilt on a hinge, some lift and lower, some stay put. Check the maker's description for the word "adjustable" and for which direction it moves.

A fixed canopy is fine for an hour at noon. For a whole afternoon, you want tilt. Otherwise you end up dragging the chair around the field all afternoon, which looks like you're trying to sneak up on somebody.

Canopy height and size set how much of you is covered

One maker's clip-on canopy stands about 24 inches open, with about 24 by 26 inches of fabric. That's a hat-sized-plus piece of shade, not a porch. Bigger fabric shades more, catches more wind and weighs more.

Seat height changes the math too. A taller seat puts you higher under the canopy and your legs farther out from under it. Check the seat-height column for that.

Carry weight goes up with the roof

A canopy adds arms, joints and fabric. Weight shows in the table for each chair where the maker states it; a clip-on adds its own weight to whatever chair you already carry. For a short walk from the truck, nobody cares. For a long carry to a far pond, the ultralight camping chair page is the other end of the trade, and some of those chairs take a separate shade.

Frame and capacity are the same story as any camp chair

The frame and the stated weight capacity show in the table. Compare capacity with what you weigh dressed for the day, not with the bathroom scale. Remember that a canopy arm sticking up behind you changes how the chair feels when you lean back or reach for something; sit square in it.

Shade is one layer, not the whole plan

The Skin Cancer Foundation's advice on shade is plain: shade alone isn't enough. It lists daily broad-spectrum sunscreen, UV-protective clothing, a wide-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses alongside it. It also says UV bounces off water, sand, concrete and snow, and no shade structure fully blocks that.

That matters at a pond or a lake. The water is a mirror for UV, and your canopy only covers the top. The American Academy of Pediatrics adds that UV is strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and it recommends a hat with an all-around 3-inch brim. For babies under 6 months, the AAP says to keep them out of direct sunlight.

My one opinion on this page: a chair canopy is shade for your head, not sunscreen for the rest of you. The reason is the Foundation's own point that small shade covers little and no structure blocks reflected UV. Buy the canopy for comfort and put the sunscreen on anyway. (My hat has been to camp since 1994. It has a brim. It is the only part of my outfit nobody at camp argues with.)

Wind and the canopy

A canopy is a hat that's easier for the wind to grab. The chair is light, the canopy sits high, and a gust gets a good grip on both.

• Fold the canopy down before you walk away, even for a minute
• Anchor the chair on windy days; one maker sells a separate anchor for its chairs and recommends it for windy conditions
• Close it immediately if it starts to rock; CPSC gives that advice for beach umbrellas, and it applies to any canopy on a pole

CPSC's alert says airborne beach umbrellas have killed people and caused serious injuries. A chair canopy is smaller, but it's the same idea: fabric on a frame, caught by a gust. Danny once asked whether he could put a canopy on the cooler so the ice stays in the shade. He was serious. I told him the cooler has a lid for that.

Keep the canopy away from the fire

A canopy is fabric held up over your head, which is the last place you want sparks. One chair maker's guide says to keep its chair away from excessive heat and open flames. Smokey Bear's campfire guidance is to keep at least 15 feet between the fire and tents, vegetation and low-hanging branches, and to clear an area at least 10 feet across around the fire. NFPA's campfire sheet adds: avoid burning on windy, dry days, and keep the fire attended at all times.

Fold the canopy down when you pull up to the fire after dark. You don't need shade from the moon.

Setup and care for a canopy chair

Setting it up

1. Open the chair fully and lock the frame before you touch the canopy.
2. Raise the canopy arms and seat every joint; a half-seated joint is how canopies collapse onto your hat.
3. For a clip-on, clamp both clips on the frame at matching heights, then tilt the shade toward the sun.
4. Sit down, check that the canopy clears your head, and adjust once more.

Care

• Dry it before you fold it: a damp canopy folded into a bag grows things
• Clean it gently: spot-clean with warm water; one chair maker says its seat fabric isn't machine washable
• Check the arms and hinges every spring for bends and cracks
• Store it out of the sun when you're not using it; a canopy that bakes on the porch all summer fades and weakens

Who should skip a camping chair with canopy

Skip it if your camp already has shade. Ours does. Hemlock Run has more trees than flat ground, and in November the problem is staying warm, not staying cool.

Skip it if you sit as a group. One shade canopy over a table and four chairs beats four little ones; the canopy tent page covers those.

Skip it if you mostly sit on sand. The beach version is built for that; see the beach chair with canopy page.

Skip it if you carry your chair a long way. The roof adds weight and bulk you'll feel on every trip.

If none of that is you, a canopy chair turns an open field into a place you can sit at 2 p.m. in August. Just fold the roof before the wind does it for you.