Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 Original Backpacking Chair Review

Bottom Line

An alternative to a traditional backpacking chair, the Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 Original Chair is a roll-up seat with a backrest that won’t break your back or your budget compared to our other favorite backpacking camp chairs.

For better or worse, this chair falls halfway in between the sit pads we recommend and the classic, tent-style backpacking chairs with scoop seats. You’re still sitting on the ground (but with some padding), and it’s got a little back support (better than a log or a rock).

Optimistically, it’s a foam pad with a backrest, making it more supportive than a sit pad and cheaper than a classic backpacking chair. Pessimistically, it’s not nearly as light or packable as a sit pad and not nearly as comfortable or supportive as a classic backpacking chair. 

In other words, this in-betweener may or may not be worth it, depending on what’s most important to you. If you’re more concerned about price than comfort, weight, and packability, the Hex 2.0 gives you a basic backrest while leaving a few bucks in your bank account. However, it wouldn’t be a great buy if comfort, weight, and packability are your priorities. 

Personally, we prefer this chair for in-town use, such as a bleacher backrest for ballgames or a portable lawn chair for concerts at the park. However, we can also see budget-oriented backpackers choosing the Hex 2.0 as a basic backrest. 

Other CleverHiker staff members like to keep one on hand to add an extra buffer under their sleeping pad when car camping. It has also saved one from a bad sleep when their popped inflatable sleeping pad was beyond repair. Oh, and it was also used as a makeshift seat in an inflatable kayak after a thwart popped. Honestly, one of these is just good to have on hand.

How We Tested

For two months, CleverHiker editor and gear analyst Jory Brass just sat around his living room in camp chairs. And by living room, we mean the New Mexico wilderness. He compared their comfort, packability, stability, and ease of use against the best of the best. While CleverHiker gear analysts are no strangers to crazy creeks, we tested the latest Hex 2.0 for this review.

Comfort

The Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 turns rocks, logs, and the bare ground into more tolerable camp chairs while giving backpackers a little back support. Overall, though, we found this roll-up chair less comfortable than the competition. 

The best we can say is that the original Hex Chair cushions both our butt and our back, which isn’t true of sit pads, such as the Therm-a-Rest Z-Seat. If you’re used to stumps as seats and rocks or tree trunks as backrests, the Hex 2.0 can be a slight uptick in comfort. Our tester found it comfortable enough for short snack breaks and summit views. However, the chair’s padding is thin and firm with limited cushioning. Plus, sitting on the ground isn’t the most comfortable seating position, especially for extended periods of time.

The backrest is a potential plus, especially for campers with bad backs, such as our gear analyst, Jory Brass. However, he didn’t find the backrest as supportive or as comfortable as the classic backpacking chairs he tested. The Hex Chair doesn’t encourage an ergonomic seating position. The straps place all the pressure on the top edge and bottom edge of the chair – that’s not only uncomfortable but also leaves the lower back unsupported. 

Compared to a backless bleacher seat or a canoe bench, the Hex 2.0 Original Chair adds just enough comfort and back support.   

Weight & Packability

Likewise, the Crazy Creek roll-up chair isn’t exceptionally light or packable. At 1 pound 4 ounces, the Hex 2.0 Original weighs as much as the average backpacking chair – despite its minimalist design and lack of an aluminum frame. Thus, this chair doesn’t have a weight advantage (or comfort advantage) over classic backpacking chairs. Plus, this foam seat is more than a pound heavier than the other foam chairs we recommend as minimalist options, the Therm-a-Rest Z-Seat and Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad. 

The Hex Chair’s packed size is also the bulkiest of the 11 backpacking chairs we tested and reviewed for this year’s guide. Rolled up and strapped tight, the chair’s diameter is more than 4 inches, and its length is 16 inches. That size is fine for strapping the seat to the bottom of our pack. However, that’s too bulky to stuff into the expandable side pockets of most packs. It’s also extra volume if you need to store this seat inside your backpack, if, for example, you need to strap your sleeping pad to the bottom of your pack.

Cheaper gear generally comes at a cost in terms of weight and packability. That’s the case with the Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 Original Chair. Given its packability constraints, the Hex is a better fit for car camping, kayak camping, and canoe trips – where you have a little more storage space.

Stability

The chair’s stability is also a mixed bag. On one hand, sitting directly on the ground eliminates the accidental tipping over that we’ve all experienced in wobbly backpacking camp chairs. This seat’s cushioning is so thin that your center of gravity is as low as it can go in this chair. 

At the same time, the strapped seatback gives this Crazy Creek Chair the mechanics of a rocking chair. As we leaned back into the backrest, the front of the Hex 2.0 Chair lifted easily. That rocking sensation limits front-to-back stability. Unlike traditional backpacking chairs with aluminum frames, the Hex Chair’s strapped suspension didn’t inhibit our side-to-side movements, either. When seated in this ground chair, your body provides most of your stability. The chair itself only supplies limited cushioning and a basic backrest.

Ease of Use

If the Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 has an advantage over other backpacking chairs we reviewed, it’s in this category. As a roll-up chair, the Hex only takes a few seconds to set up and break down. You simply unstrap it, unroll it, take a seat, and adjust the side straps to your desired tension. You don’t need to worry about aluminum pole segments connected by shock cords or stretching a seat fabric over a frame. It doesn’t deploy as quickly as a sit pad, but it may save you 30 seconds of setup time compared to a classic backpacking chair. 

Plus, you can use this roll-up chair in several places beyond the campsite. We’re more inclined to choose an ultralight sit pad or backpacking chair for the backcountry. However, in the frontcountry, the Hex 2.0 can be a welcome backrest for bleachers, picnic tables, and the beach. Plus, many outdoor concert venues prohibit framed camping and backpacking chairs; however, many would allow you to carry in a roll-up ground chair, which would be a nice backrest for an outdoor bluegrass show or summer Shakespeare in the park.

Should You Buy the Crazy Creek Hex 2.0 Backpacking Camp Chair?

Based on our side-by-side tests, the Hex 2.0’s best qualities are its price point and versatility. If you prioritize price over comfort, weight, and packability, the Crazy Creek Hex Chair costs half as much as a premium backpacking chair. 

However, we prefer sit pads as cheap, ultralight seats for the backcountry and would rather sit in a traditional backpacking chair if we’re hauling more than a pound on our back. 

That being said, we also recognize the Hex Chair’s versatility as a plus – we see some promise in using this chair for paddle trips, ball games, picnics, the beach, and outdoor concerts.

What Other Backpacking Chairs Should You Consider?

For alternatives to the Crazy Creek Hex 2.0, please browse our full guide to the best backpacking chairs.

Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad Review: This extended foam pad can do all the Hex Chair can do, but it’s 5 times lighter and half the price. 

Trekology Yizi-Lite Review: A CleverHiker Budget Buy, the Yizi-Lite weighs 6 ounces more than the Hex but costs less and provides better comfort and back support.

REI Flexlite Air Chair Review: The best value on our list, the Flexlite is an ultralight backpacking chair that’s affordable and strong across the board in our test metrics.