User Review: Alite Monarch Chair

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March 3, 2013

jomebrew
16 reviewer rep

Rating:
Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $55

Summary

Awesome Sauce. No more ants in your pants and hard rocks imprinting contour maps on your glutes. Pops together in seconds with no instructions needed! Super light and worth every bit of these 18oz.

Pros

Comfortable seat in 30 seconds anywhere on the trail
So lightweight almost falls UP
Makes hiking partners jealous
Two modes. Rocker on two legs or on the ground with a back

Cons

Makes hiking partners jealous
In rocker mode, exit maneuver is a challenge

This was my first foray into bringing comfort on the trail. The hike was a strenuous 12 miles in rugged Henry Coe Park in Morgan Hill, CA. 5 miles of single track down hill then a constant 3 mile 1300' climb to the ridge line and it was time for a rest.

Two oddly convenient rocks provided a good resting spot. Legs were burning, breathing was rapid, rocks were hard! Ants were sizing us up and the ticks were migrating in. I pried myself from the jagged rocks feeling every the indentations for dozens of sharp edges. I whipped out my brand new, never used Alite Monarch Butterfly Chair.

Amid curses by my hiking pal, I quickly figured out how to assemble it. The supports practicably snapped themselves in place. A few seconds looking at the nylon material and I figured out it was easily color coded, with well chosen colors for my color blind self, where to put the aluminum rods.

Within a minute, I was resting comfortable in seat back mode. That is, rather than balancing on the two legs, turn it around and place the back on the ground and the seat is a backrest. The trail was much softer then the rocks but still not enough so I switched to chair mode. No special acrobatics needed. I was rewarded with pure bliss. I struggle with lower and mid back pain. When hiking hard hikes like this, I am stuck with hours of pain. This chair gave me 30 minute of pure pain relief!

The Alite Monarch is super comfortable. The 30 minute on the trail were a huge relied on my legs, rear end and back. There was no uncomfortable seam across my quads and nothing me poking me under my arms. Really a delight to have on the trail and so light I forgot I had in in my day pack.

If you are sick of sitting in the dirt, on hard, sharp rocks and tired of being a day trip for ants and other bugs, get yourself an Alite Monarch Chair and enjoy something special on the trail.