The Decathlon MH500XL is a ‘Helinox-type’ camping chair with an ultra-light and ultra-compact design, but at a much cheaper price. In XL format it costs 49.99 euros and in smaller dimensions its price is 29.99 euros.
The brand helinox It is one of the references in camping chairs for its ultra light and ultra compact designs. But the reality is that their chairs are really expensive. So, as is often the case, Decathlon has replied interest in this type of chairs with their own: they are called Decathlon MH500XL and follow that same concept, standing out especially for its weight of only 1.8 kilograms.
This interesting camping chair has a tubular structure foldable, made of aluminum, which unfolds easily when taken out of the bag. And the other part is the seat and backrest itself, made of polyamide and polyester, with side pockets to put a bottle of water, a thermos and similar objects.
Decathlon’s ‘Helinox-type’ chairs: ultra compact and ultra light, but much cheaper
This type of chairs, the Decathlon MH500XL, are low chairs. In other words, although they allow you to maintain a comfortable posture, the knees will always be slightly bent –unless we stretch our legs forward- and the back is not fully upright. They also do not have armrests, but their approach is very different. In this type of camping chair the ultra-compact and ultra-light design prevails.
Their most favorable aspect is that, when we carry them in their bag, their dimensions are only 38 x 15 x 10 cm and they hardly occupy a volume of 4 liters each of them. In addition, there is a somewhat more compact format that occupies 3.6 liters and weighs only 1 kg. The problem with this second model is that the backrest does not reach the head.
However, the key point of the Decathlon camping chair is that its price is €49.99. They are not cheap camping chairs, but they are much cheaper than any of their real alternatives. As we have been commenting, this type of chair has the Helinox brand as a reference. And the Helinox cost around 120 euros more with quite similar characteristics.
If we opt for the model with more compact dimensions, the price on the Decathlon website is 29.99 euros. It is a small sacrifice in terms of comfort, but the truth is that they are even lighter, even more compact, and the price difference may be worth it for many campers.