Without a doubt, this is the year of outdoor-focused travel. Whether you’re car camping, #vanlife-ing it, road tripping, or just enjoying day trips to outdoor areas near your home, the GCI Outdoor Pod Rocker chair is the perfect accessory.
Packable yet substantial, this folding camp chair will have you relaxing in luxury, especially if you’re used to those cheap collapsible chairs you can pick up at any drug store. The Pod Rocker features spring-action rocking technology, which utilizes spring-loaded shocks for a smooth rocking motion. You get a phone pocket and a beverage pocket on the side, and it comes with a carrying bag for easy transport and storage.
The Pod Rocker isn’t lightweight at 11 pounds, but it does support people up to 250 pounds, and has a roomy seat. There are no arm rests, so most of the weight seems to be in the legs and spring-loaded shocks. The back legs are on a sort of glider plane, and the front are more standard chair legs, so that you can rock the chair on most surfaces. I found that the Pod Rocker is harder to use and less comfortable on sloped terrain, but as long as the ground is relatively flat, it works well in grass, dirt, sand, and rocks. We’ve even plopped our chairs into shallow creeks and lakesides so we can dip bare toes into the water.
We store our Pod Rockers in the back of our camper van, but we periodically retrieve them for backyard stargazing and campfires, and pre-pandemic, they worked great at outdoor concerts (that don’t have a height limit on chairs) and at winery events.
Pick up a Pod Rocker for $65 on the GCI Outdoor site, in one of two colors. They’re also available at big box stores such as REI. You can also opt to get a Rod Rocker with a built-in sun shade.