Skills Camo Chair Review (Lightweight & Affordable)

On this weeks tried and tested, we’re checking out the Skills Camo Chair.

If you’ve read our recent reviews, you’ll notice that there’s a theme; budget products.

Our friends at The Tackle Warehouse highlighted to us the increase in anglers wanting more bang for their buck. As a result, we’re on a mission to see if some budget products can stand up to the demands of modern day carp fishing. 

The Skills Camo Chair fits in the budget bracket, as a lightweight, more cost effective alternative to the many £100+ chairs on the market, such as the Nash Indulgence.

Quite how chairs have crept up to over £150 I do not know. But with the Skills Camo Chair retailing at just over £50, we had to see whether this chair from a relatively unknown brand could stand up the the task.

Let’s get started!

Weight

Rating: 5/5

Size and weight and undoubtedly this chairs best feature. It was designed specifically as a lightweight chair for the roving or mobile angler.

To be honest, it fits that mould well. I was instantly surprised by just how light the Skills chair is. 

Coming in at just 3.9Kg, it’s around half the weight of my previous chair. On my first couple of sessions using this chair I’ve noticed a big difference in the weight of the carp barrow.

Whilst I’m not someone who roves long distances down rivers, it’s nice to keep what I would consider a non-essential item as light as possible.

The Skills chair has allowed me to do that and ultimately made moving onto fish easier. 

The best thing though? It’s £70 less than the Nash Ultralight Indulgence chair!

Size 

Rating: 4/5

Again, being a roving chair you’d expect this chair to me small in size, and it is.

Like all lightweight chairs, most of the weight saving is achieved by making the frame smaller.

The Skills Chair is indeed a small frame, and this needs to be taken into account if you’re on the larger side. 

I’m average build and 5 foot 11 so this chair works for me.

However, with chairs of this size, you can’t expect the comfiest seating position. Their just isn’t the height required in the legs or back to support the best posture.

If you’re someone like me and might just use it whilst you’re not lounging on the bedchair, then I’m sure it will suffice. 

On a positive note, having such a small chair makes transporting it a breeze. It takes up hardly any room on the barrow or in the boot of the car.

As a roving chair I was a little surprised to see this chair missing a transportation strap or something to keep it from opening up in transit. This seems to be a common feature on rival chairs for the mobile angler.

Comfort 

Rating: 3/5

Comfort is not always the main aim for lightweight chairs, but I’ve been surprised by the Skills Camo Chair. 

The seat features ample padding, and as you can see from the photos, there’s a really soft fleece lined upper layer. 

The non-adjustable frame means there’s less movement in the back of the chair compared to my old cam-wheel Venture Carp chair too. (I’m giving away how old my previous chair was there!).

If I was to nit pick I would say that the base of the seat could be improved with even more padding around the edges. 

At the minute the padding is evenly spread across the base of the chair. It’s made from a wipe clean Camo material which is great for keeping the chair clean. However, wipe clean material like this makes it easy for you to slide down the chair when sitting back a bit. 

It’s not a major negative, but something that clearly separates this from the much higher priced Nash Indulgence Ultralite or Trakker Levelite.

If padding around the base/edging is more of a priority for you, you can take a look at the Skills Camo Carp Arm Chair which is the upgrade from the chair that we’re reviewing here. 

Durability

Rating: 5/5

I think it’s fair to say that when you buy a carp chair like this, you expect it to last some time.

Whilst I have only used the Skills Camo Chair for a few months, I’m sure this will withstand weekly use for many years. 

After all, it’s a fairly simple design.

The frame seems really sturdy, with a black matte powder coating that’s already withstood plenty of knocks.

Four large mud feet on the base stop the chair from sinking into deep mud and keep it sturdy in solid ground. A common feature on  all chairs but an important one nonetheless.

Other chairs to consider if the Skills Camo Chair is not for you

If you’re reading this, you might start to think that this chair is not the one for you. 

You don’t like camo

The clue is in the name. This is indeed a camo chair, so if you prefer olive material on your carp gear, you might want to look at alternatives. 

The Fox Duralite low chair is a good alternative that comes in a dark green colour. Although it does retail around £20 higher.

Funnily enough the Skills Camo pattern is not far off the Fox Camolite, so that’s an added plus for Camolite fans!

You suffer from back problems

This chair was designed to cater for transportability over comfort.

With that in mind, it’s small size doesn’t offer the best seating position. 

If you’re someone who suffers from a bad back or poor posture, you might want to consider something more comfortable.

The Trakker Levelite Longback fishing chair is well recommended as the best fishing chair for bad back. 

Just understand that typically the more comfortable a chair or bedchair is, the heaviest it’s going to be. That’s the trade off unfortunately. 

Pros & Cons

You can buy your Skills Camo Chair from The Tackle Warehouse

Our friends at The Tackle Warehouse are stockists of the entire Skills Tackle Range, including the chair featured in this review.

Conclusion – Skills Camo Carp Chair Review

Overall, I’ve been impressed by the Skills Camo Chair.

As someone who just does overnight sessions and sits on the chair every so often, I was hesitant to purchase a chair that runs into the £100s.

Thanks fully, Skills have shown that decent quality products can exist in the lower price bracket. 

Yes, they might not be the established brand that everyone desires.

But in a time where we’re all feeling the pinch, some anglers are unable to spend that extra ‘carp tax’ on brand names.

If you’re looking for a small, lightweight chair that won’t bog you down, check out the Skills Camo Carp Chair.