If you鈥檙e an active, outdoorsy adult with children, there鈥檚 a solid chance you spend a good amount of time as a doting spectator of youth sports. (The offspring of active people tend to be active young people.) And if you鈥檙e an adventurer of any sort, you know that conserving energy is key to success. (If someone in your expedition needs to stop for a bathroom break, for example, you lie down on the ground and put your feet up.) So when you find something that helps maximize both, like the, which I dropped $65 on at my local REI store last summer, you get a bit obsessed.
I鈥檝e been a soccer mom for years. I used to awkwardly lug a heavy but comfortable aluminum-framed camp chair and a large bag of stuff across giant sports complexes to the sidelines of a game. The big seat kept me happy during the games, but I always arrived at the field somewhat exasperated.
As a parent to a new high schooler as of last year, I now find myself sitting in the bleachers of high school track meets, football games, and other sports where kids鈥攎y own or other peoples鈥欌攁re out there giving it their all and becoming young adults in like, a John Hughes-movie sort of way. I鈥檝e realized that I freaking love high school sports鈥攂ut I hate being uncomfortable on bleachers that lack a backrest, are often too cold or too hot and always too hard.
Last summer, I decided it was time to ditch my inconvenient soccer mom chair for a do-it-all seat. I wanted a lightweight, super-portable chair I could throw in my tote bag and easily carry across seven soccer fields. I wanted something incognito that I could take into a stadium and not embarrass my teenager. I craved padding and a backrest while I waited for soccer practices to end so I could 聽sit outside of my car and work comfortably on my laptop. My research led me to the .
I used to think that Crazy Creek chairs were reserved for hippies who insisted on being closer to the earth than those sitting in off-the-ground camp chairs. If you own a Crazy Creek, you鈥檙e also great at hacky sack and wear tie-dye t-shirts. You whip out a foldable Crazy Creek at a group campsite, and you鈥檙e instantly telling stories of rock climbing at Camp 4 in the 鈥70s. Although I have hippie tendencies, I had never owned a Crazy Creek chair myself.
What Crazy Creek chairs have that the majority of other camp chairs don鈥檛 is portability鈥攜ou can鈥檛 put a large aluminum-framed chair in a tote bag or tuck one under your arm. What the Hex 2.0 has over the is the ability to roll up to the size of an extra-long Sunday newspaper instead of simply folding in half.聽 The Hex 2.0 is also lighter than the original, weighing in at 1 lb 4.8 oz (vs. the 1 lb 10 oz of the original). The slight cushioning鈥8mm high-density cored EVA closed-cell foam鈥攊s enough to turn a hard, cold bleacher into a padded seat with a back. An inner surface of breathable coated ripstop nylon stays cool when I鈥檓 hot, and the outer shell of a thicker coated ripstop nylon lets me sit on damp grass and assures me this thing will endure my abuse. (It has so far.)
Since buying this chair, I鈥檝e used it in ways I didn鈥檛 anticipate鈥攁nd love it even more. After a run in a drizzle during one of my son鈥檚 soccer practices, I had work to do. I flattened the seats in my Subaru and crawled into the back with my dog, leaving the hatch open. (I鈥檓 not ashamed to be kind of a dirtbag.) I opened up my Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 Chair and fired up my laptop. An hour later, I had a finished story and a happy dog鈥攂ut not a sore back.
At an ultramarathon where I paced a friend through 14 miles at night, I opened up the chair all the way to lay flat, and used it as a minimalist sleeping pad. The cushioning is slight, but there was no inflating to be done and the chair softened鈥攅ven if just a little bit鈥攖he back of a Chevy Suburban where I took a little catnap.
Having this chair at the ready for spectating sports has made me more comfortable, which puts me in a better mood all-around鈥攁 win for me and everyone in my family. This stealthy, simple piece of gear allows me to conserve my energy anywhere I am, whether I鈥檓 cheering for a goal, comparing the football field to the one in the final scene of “The Breakfast Club,” or resting up before a mountain adventure. It鈥檚 like a secret weapon for life. And by saving time and energy, the chair adds balance to my day-to-day. A little adventure mixed in with a lot of being a doting sporting mom makes me a better version of myself, which, again, is good for everyone around me.