The Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair is a heated camp chair powered by a removable and rechargeable battery. On the surface, it looks like any other well-made camp chair, but inside the seat and back heat elements deliver a boost of warmth.
To get us a closer look, Gobi Heat sent Man Makes Fire a review unit. After testing the Terrain Heated Camping Chair while camping and on ski trips, this what we learned:
Terrain Heated Camping Chair Review
The Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair is everyone’s first choice when the weather turns a bit windy and chilly. In the photo above, I found it perfect for drinking an early morning cup of coffee with a beautiful-but-chilly view.There are many competitive camp chairs available these days, but few deliver heat to your backside. The Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair has built-in heating elements in both the seat and the back. But how well does the chair work? Is it comfortable? And is the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair worth the premium price point?
When it’s chilly out, everyone wants to sit in the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair!
First, you should know that the Terrain Heated Camping Chair is comfortable. The seat is slightly padded, roomy, and has a usable angle. The built-in arm bars are sturdy, which is nice if you’re considering the Terrain Heated Camping Chair as one of your gift ideas for outdoors lovers who might also be old enough to appreciate chair arms for sitting and rising.
Second, you’ve got to be wondering about the build quality. Is it sturdy and well-made? The Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair build quality is very good. It’s not as rugged as the industry-leading YETI Trailhead Camp Chair, but it’s surprisingly solid in design. The multiple support bars for the angled legs deliver a sturdy feel while keeping weight relatively low. The frame is steel and the chair weighs just 11 pounds.
The frame is make from steel and delivers plenty of sturdy support for up to 325 pounds.In addition, the padded fabric seat and back have good stitching. I’m not sure what the denier level on the fabric is, but it’s clearly thicker and more rugged than what you get out of typical cheaper department-store camp chairs.
And what about that heat?
Terrain Camp Chair Heat Delivery
The included battery fits into a protected pocket. A single button lets you activate three heat choice levels.As you might expect, the Terrain Heated Camping Chair has multiple heat settings: Low, Medium, and High. According to Gobi Heat, the low setting heats up to 113° Fahrenheit, the medium to 122° F, and the high to 131° F.
Gobi says you get 9-10 hours on low, 6 hours on medium, and 4.5 hours on high. In my testing, which was almost exclusively on high, the battery life typically lasted close to four hours. In cold winter situations — for instance, hanging out for lunch and a beer on the edge of the parking lot on my favorite local ski hill — the battery seems to last a bit under four hours. In cool situations maybe a bit longer. (Most batteries are less efficient in cold weather.)
The included 6500 mAh Gobi Heat battery doubles as a USB power bank. If you use it as a portable charger for your cell phone, you can use the USB connectors. When you’re using it to heat the chair, however, you use a different plug that can pull out 7.4 volts to heat the elements. Gobi Heat says its multi-functional battery has a patent-pending design.
Either way, all this begs a question about which battery sources you can use:
Can you use a different USB power bank?
No. Typical USB power banks don’t have the correct connection to fit the Gobi Heat Terrain Chair. However, you can charge the Gobi Heat battery with a USB battery charger or plug it into a typical USB charger at home or in your car.
If you want extra hours of heat, Gobi offers extra batteries for about $59~, which is competitive compared to quality rechargeable battery banks of this size.
Shop multiple Terrain Chair colors at Gobi Heat and get FREE Shipping!
How Does the Heated Gobi Chair Feel?
This illustration shows the placement of the dual-heating zones in the Terrain chair. While the heat might technically radiate out through conductive threads, you mostly only feel the heat directly over the primary heating elements.But how does the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair feel in use in the real world? It provides pleasant warmth, but not butt-scorching heat. Because the whole point of using the heat is when you’re already in a relatively cool or cold environment, the heat is welcome but not powerful enough to make you want to turn it down.
At least, for myself and other gear testers, we almost always used the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair on its high setting. Because some of our women friends and family tend to run a bit cold in cool temperatures, the Terrain Heated Camping Chair is in our guide to the best gifts for outdoorsy women.
On the other hand, because everyone who tested this heated camp chair very much enjoyed sitting in it with the heat on, you’ll soon find it in our guide to the best gifts for outdoor lovers this year, too.
Size of the Heating Elements
Compared to the size of the chair, the heating elements don’t seem to give you full backside coverage. The Gobi illustration seems accurate to the relative size of the heating elements, but the illustration of the heat radiating out in a way that you can feel through your clothes seems a bit exaggerated. I’m not a temperature dynamics expert, and I’m sure the heat moves through the seat, maybe through some conductive threads, but you’re mostly only going to feel the heat directly over the elements. At least that has been our experience while testing the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair during the review process.
Waterproof?
The polyester fabric is water resistant and the battery and connection is somewhat protected by a built-in pocket.The Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair uses a wind and water-resistant polyester fabric — but it’s not technically waterproof. The battery fits into a side pocket bag that holds the power connection cord, which offers some protection, but not enough protection to leave the chair out in the rain at your camp site. I have used it in the winter. If you get some snow melted onto the seat, I’d recommend paying attention and just wiping it off now and then.
The Bottom Line
All-in-all, the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair is sturdy, well-built and delivers heat to your backside. If you’re an outdoor lover who’s often chilled, the extra boost of warmth could be just what you’re looking for. As for everyone else, everybody who sits in the Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair turns on the heat — and enjoys it, too. In use, the heat isn’t as powerful as typical heated seats in vehicles, but hey, who wants to sit in their car while camping? You can place Gobi Heat Terrain Heated Camping Chair in front of a camp fire and use the heated elements for your rear. Highly recommended.
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