The BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is a lightweight beach, boat, camping and outdoor chair shaped like a classic Adirondack wood chair.
To get us a closer look, BOTE sent Man Makes Fire a review unit for in-person testing. Man Makes Fire gear reviewer Chris Maxcer took it camping and to the beach to experience its real-world performance. To help you determine if the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is right for you, here is what he learned and his buying recommendations:
Review: BOTE Inflatable ‘AeroRondak’ Chair
The BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is a full-size portable beach and outdoor chair that delivers the comfort of a classic wood Adirondack-style chair.The BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is obviously full of air, but it’s surprisingly durable. Not only is it strong and rigid enough to sit on, you can plop it down on a beach and not worry about popping it. The exterior uses a rugged military-grade PVC and the same kind of drop-stitch construction that BOTE uses in its highly regarded inflatable stand-up paddle boards (iSUPs).
What is drop-stitch construction? Drop-stitches are basically tens of thousands of strong threads of the same length attached to the inside of an inflatable. When inflated, the interior threads only let the exterior material expand to a certain point, which gives you a rigid flat shape that doesn’t balloon. For example, without a drop stitch interior, an inflatable paddle board would inflate into something like a banana. With the drop-stitch interior, it remains flat when inflated.
BOTE uses its ‘AeroTech’ drop-stitch construction in its Inflatable AeroRondak Chair. The result holds its shape remarkably well.
Is It Comfortable?
The AeroRondak Chair is large and comfy — even for a relatively big guy like the author, who is 6’3″ and about 220 pounds.As you consider buying the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair, the biggest question you might have is if it’s comfortable? There are actually two answers to this question: Yes and sort of. How is that possible?
First, the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is just as comfortable as a classic wood Adirondack chair, if not more so. Of course, wood chairs are not cushy, but they can still be comfortable. The BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is inflatable, so it’s cushy, right? Yes, but not as much as you might think.
The BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is ridiculously awesome.
In order to make the AeroRondak Chair rigid, its needs to be inflated to an interior pressure of 7-10 PSI. At 10 PSI, it’s pretty darn stiff. Softer than wood, but pretty stiff. Psychologically you’ll want the AeroRondak Chair to feel cushier.
If you inflate the AeroRondak Chair to 7 PSI, it’ll have a slight give to it and feel a bit softer. I recommend that you start at 7 PSI and if you want more pressure, you can add more. Multiple testers all thought 7 PSI was most comfortable.
That said, the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is comfortable. What I personally like about it is that it’s roomy and solid. Most camp chairs sort of slouch or sag in some way, and the AeroRondak holds its shape, letting you move your body around in it however you want — more like a classic wood Adirondack chair.
The arm rests feature a EVA foam, which is cushy and feels great on bare skin.
Shop the entire inflatable ‘Aero Lounge Suite’ at BOTE for more style and color options!
Everyone Loves the AeroRondak Chair!
The AeroRondak Chair isn’t exactly cushy, but it’s surprisingly comfortable — similar to a classic wood Adirondack chair.I tested the BOTE AeroRondak Chair personally, on the beach and at the campsite, and I like sitting it in it. Great comfort. Stellar armrests. Love how easy it is to move around with its built-in grab handle.
But it’s not just me: If you buy the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair, be prepared to deal with your friends and family wanting to sit in it, too. If you’re out having fun in a group and you get up from your AeroRondak Chair, someone will be sitting in it when you return.
In addition, when you’re siting on the beach enjoying the waves, water and sun, maybe with your feet in the water, people are going to walk by and ask you about the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair. Just smile, answer their questions, and get used it.
When I was getting ready to take a photo of the chair on the beach over Labor Day weekend during the review process, a man and woman were walking along the shoreline and stopped to marvel at it.
“It’s inflatable?” the man asked?
“Yes — just like a stand-up paddled board,” I said.
“It doesn’t pop?” the woman asked.
“Nope — it’s surprisingly strong,” I said.
The man and woman walked around the chair, looking at it, clearly wanting to try it out, but their sense of social decorum seemed to keep them from asking outright.
“What’s it called?” the man asked.
“It’s a BOTE AeroRondak Chair. B – O – T – E,” I said. “Go ahead, try it out.”
The guy didn’t need a second prompt — he sat right down and looked out over the lake, his eyes sparkling. Then his partner tried it. Same result. I couldn’t help but smile.
And so here’s some advice: If you are the kind of person can not find a bit of joy for a fellow human expressing interest and delight in something new — your cool chair — you probably shouldn’t choose something as interesting as the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair. People are going to ask you about it.
Easy Inflation
Weighing just 16 pounds, it’s easy to use the built-in grab handle to move the AeroRondak Chair around.The BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair comes with a high-pressure BOTE Nano Hand Pump. To set up the chair, you simply inflate both chambers. It takes a few minutes and is a bit faster and easier than inflating a typical iSUP.
If you have an electric iSUP pump, you can use that — or a larger volume pump if you have one from an iSUP paddleboard kit.
What’s great about the Nano pump is that it’s small enough to stow with the chair in the included mesh carry bag. The pump also lets you suck the last bit of air out of the chair when it’s time to deflate it, which makes it easier to fold and roll.
Not Meant as a Water Toy, But . . .
If you have a floating swim dock, it doesn’t take a genius to think about putting the AeroRondak Chair on it. Add in a tranquil morning, a mug of coffee and a dog, and it’s all just fantastic.You might be wondering if you can sit in the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair in the water. You can definitely sit in the chair on the edge of the water on a beach — with your feet in the water, for example — but it will float away if you get up.
As for sitting in it as a float toy, it’s not constructed for that purpose, so the balance is off.
Still, as it turns out, I really appreciated the AeroRondak Chair as a floating dock chair. I had no idea how much I enjoyed sitting on the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair while it floated on a semi-rigid inflatable dock.
In fact, on one morning, it became clear that best early-morning use was to fill a mug full of coffee, grab the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair, place the chair on a floating dock, call the family dog, and push off into the lake.
If you can’t afford your own lakeside cabin with your own private dock (I can’t) drinking early morning coffee on a floating dock while sitting in the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair might be the next best thing.
Need a floating dock? Check out the BOTE Inflatable Dock 10 and build out your own private space!
Better Buy Two
BOTE makes a smaller, simpler version, the BOTE Inflatable Aero Chair.It’s not often I recommend this when it comes to outdoor gear, but if you have a partner or friends and family you enjoy being with, you should buy two BOTE inflatable chairs.
Fortunately, BOTE makes a smaller inflatable chair option, so you don’t necessarily have to have two chairs that are so large.
Shop the entire inflatable ‘Aero Lounge Suite’ at BOTE for more style and color options!
MAGNEPOD Accessories
BOTE makes magnetic accessories that attach to the built-in MAGNEPOD cup holder.Instead a traditional cupholder, the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair has two ‘MAGNEPOD’ magnets positioned on the armrests. To use them, you need BOTE’s MAGNETumblers or MAGNEKoozies, which are basically insulated tumblers or can koozies that have magnets on the bottom.
I haven’t tried out any of the MAGNEPOD accessories yet, but I can tell you this, I wanted to. If you get the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair, spring a bit more for one of the BOTE magnetic drink accessories — especially if you think you might end up on a floating dock!
AeroRondak Chair Specs
Inflated Dimensions: 42″ L × 42″ W × 38″ D
Capacity: 350 lbs
Weight: 16 lbs
Optimal Inflation: 7-10 PSI
Camping Drawbacks
There are two drawbacks to the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair if your first priority use is for camping. Compared to common camp chairs, the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is more expensive. The second drawback is that it’s inflatable, so it could be at greater risk around campfire embers. While I did sit in the AeroRondak Chair near a campfire, I kept it farther back than usual and paid close attention to sparks. I can’t recommend leaving it unattended near a campfire for long. The PVC material is tough, but a hot ember is a hot ember.
Alternative Options
The BOTE Aero Couch is part of BOTE’s ‘Aero Lounge’ line of outdoor furniture.As near as I can tell, there aren’t any rugged, drop-stitch camping chair competitors readily available these days. BOTE, however, makes a suite of related inftatable furniture in its AeroLounge line, including smaller chairs, a couch, and a table. If you’re considering buying the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair, these additional AeroLounge options might also be right for you:
Inflatable Aero Chair XL — The Aero Chair XL is a bit smaller and more compact than the AeroRondak Chair. The key difference is that the Aero Chair does not have the larger wrap-around arm rest like the AeroRondak Chair. If you like the chair-on-a-floating-dock idea, we’d nab two of these for optimal spacing.
Inflatable Aero Couch — The Inflatable Aero Couch is large enough for two adults to share without needing to be particularly cozy — so, it’s slightly larger than a typical folding loveseat-style camp chair.
Inflatable Aero Table — The Inflatable Aero Table gives you a great place for serving food. It’s a fairly low table, so it’s not the kind of camp table you would pull up a chair and eat under. But it’s quite handy. The main drawback for camping is that you can’t put a hot pot or pan on it (because it’s inflatable). It’s a good size and shape for playing games on while camping — and you could easily take it into a camp tent on a rainy day.
The Verdict
All-in-all, the BOTE Inflatable AeroRondak Chair is ridiculously awesome. It’s particularly great for the beach, but it’s also comfortable for camping and in the backyard. Because it’s such a winner with so many people outside on the beach, campsite or park, we think the AeroRondak Chair and Aero Lounge inflatables are great gift ideas for outdoor lovers. Overall build quality is excellent. Very highly recommended.
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Our Gear Review and Tester’s Specific Related Experience:
Chris Maxcer has tested and reviewed dozens of inflatables that use PVC and drop-stitch designs, including inflatable stand-up paddle boards, floating swim docks, kayaks, and rafts. In addition, he’s used and reviewed dozens of camp and beach chairs in the field to understand how well they perform in real-world usage, including assembly, stability, durability, and portability. Of course, Maxcer has also written hundreds of in-depth outdoor gear reviews, including independent, first-hand reviews of fly fishing gear, camping gear, hunting gear, backpacking gear, and beach and water play gear. He believes the best way to understand a product is to use it in the real world for the kind of activity it was designed for.
Man Makes Fire publishes independent gear reviews, unencumbered by any requirements from any gear brand or manufacturer.
