Founded in 2019 in Seattle, Hest has built a reputation for crafting some of the camping market's comfiest mattresses and sleep systems. Now it unleashes that know-how in memory foam construction into the greater base camp, launching a classic folding camping chair that looks like it might just be one of the most comfortable available. Truth be told, the combination of full-size, multipurpose foam cushioning and heavy-duty frame should bring this chair's comfort level closer to cushioned patio furniture than to the average quad-folding camping chair.
Years back, we had the opportunity to give the Hest Foamy mattress a lie at Overland Expo, and damned if we didn't want to turn spontaneously invisible, take a full day nap, wake up, steal the dual-layer foam mattress and use it again while camping that night ... and every night of the trip. We resisted that temptation but walked away impressed with the quality and comfort, if not the high price for a solo sleeping pad.
Hest has expanded out from mattresses into related products, including sheets, comforters, pillows and dog beds, and now it's stepping out of the tent and RV all together with the Foamy Camp Chair. The Foamy is essentially a solid take on the classic camp chair with one major upgrade: a full memory-foam cushion covering both seat and seat back for melt-in-your-chair comfort.
The Foamy looks to be a decent chair even before topping it with the fit-to-task cushion, combining an aluminum quad-folding frame with a full dirt/water-resistant fabric seat that can be used with or without the cushion. Hest says the lean-back chair geometry was inspired by the classic Adirondack chair for relaxing, familiar comfort and supportive posture. With its heavy-duty construction and reinforced joints, the chair is designed to hold up to 500 lb (i.e. a quarter-ton, 227 kg).
The Foamy base chair also includes solid arms covered in fabric for a softer, warmer touch and a cupholder near the end of each one. Hest says the curvy "EarlyRise" arm form is shaped for better ergonomics when sitting back and pulling/pushing oneself forward to get up.
Sounds like a pretty solid, comfortable camp chair even without any cushioning, but the foldable/rollable memory foam steps it up into an exceptionally soft but supportive landing zone for after-adventure recovery. Hest says it's designed to smooth away pressure points and provide all-day levels of support and comfort for the back, butt and upper legs, eliminating the numbness and discomfort you might get in traditional non-cushioned camp chairs. Long story short, it's mean to be more like a cushioned living room armchair, less like an unsupportive cheap-fabric bucket seat.
The cushion can fold in half for separate carry with a sewn-in handle or roll up and store inside the same carry bag as the folded chair. At 14 lb (6.4 kg) and 44-in-long (1.1-m) packed, the full Foamy package is on the larger, heftier side, but it isn't completely outside the range of camping chairs, comparing closely to heavy-duty models like Yeti's 13.3-lb/43-in Trailhead Chair and OzTent's 13.7-lb/39.4-in King Kokoda Chair.
And if you need to go lighter, you can always leave the Foamy cushion behind to bring weight down to 10.5 lb (4.8 kg).
Speaking of splitting up the chair and cushion, the latter is designed as a dual-purpose piece of kit. Hest recommends using it as a stadium/bleacher cushion or a car seat cushion for road trips. We also wonder if it wouldn't work as a makeshift pillow, one piece of sleeping gear we tend to forget on camping trips. It would be nice to have a backup that's more comfortable than a duffel bag half-filled with clothes, and while the thought of summer swamp ass-to-face isn't pleasant, the cushion does fold up to the reverse side. How much worse can it be than a smoke-saturated puffy jacket smooshed into a terrible pillow imitation?
The Foamy Camp Chair will retail for US$329 when it goes full launch in May. That price definitely exudes "glamping" or "home comfort built for the outdoors," as Hest spins it, but if you can see using the Foamy as a cushioned camp chair, regular camp chair and multi-purpose cushion/pillow/mat, then maybe that price gets a little easier to swallow.
And, hey ... it's a far cry from $8.5 million. So there's that.
We're hoping to get our hands and asses on the Foamy this summer to see if it's really as comfortable as it looks, and try the whole backup pillow thing.
Source: Hest
