Review on Heavy Duty Portable STRONGBACK Low Gravity Recliner Beach Chair - Built-In Lumbar Support For Camping, Travel & Outdoor Lounging by Sheri Zhao

When pricing good beach chairs that I thought may also double for concert,park, etc, chair I suddenly found that what I wanted was $100 plus at the local beach shop (yikes). After doing some research I came across these Strongback chairs. From the reviews for the "standard" chair design, it looks like due to the height and high center of gravity multiple reviews have noted failures at leg weld points. For this reason I passed on the "Standard" design and targeted the "Low Gravity" design (the Low Gravity "2.0" (not sure what the 1.0 was), and the recliner designs).The only other chair that made my list was the very well liked Tommy Bahama Backpack Beach Chair which can be had pretty cheap (I think $25) at your nearby Costco (though I think the Costco brand is suppossedly inferior to the stock Tommy Bahama one which sells for $80 if you can find it).Since I was already at the beach and really impressed with the Stongback beach chair concept (I've got a bad back and am 260lbs) so I thought WTH and got both the 2.0 and the recliner designs shipped to the beach house and decided to do a head-by-head comparison at the beach. What I found is that essentially these two chairs are the same chair exept that the "recliner" design has front legs that can extend using a pivot mechanism making the chair have a steeper front angle (i.e. recliner). It should be noted that you cannot manually adjust from standard to "recliner" while seated. You either have to decide you want it in the standard position or the recliner before you sit in it.The pics attached compare the two chairs (2.0 on left and recliner on right). Below are the strengths and weaknesses ot the Strongback Low Gravity Chairs in general (both designs):Pros:1. Does indeed provide good back support and forces one to sit with good posture so that your back doesn't tire out as easily over long sitting periods2. Seems pretty durable in construction. Double stiching used with the HD fabric and the frame material seems a decent gauge metal3. I like the lever lock design in the back of the chair which creates a tight lumbar support and ensures the chair will stay in the position when in useCons1. Pricey for what it is. I really envision the sweet spot for this kind of chair to be between $40 to $50.2. The cup holder is flimsy and cheap but servicable. You can fit something slightly larger than a 12oz can in this3. Little difficult to collaspe (maybe this will get easier once I break it in)4. The accoridan collasping design is crappy and is hard to transport without the bag compared to backpack chairs or chair with a built in carrying straps5. The carrying bag is atrocious, very thin, cheap and the close string constantly gets stuck on the legs when trying to put the chair into the bag. The materials should have been similar to what the chair fabric is (polyester 600D tear and wear resistant fabric) and wider to make it easier to insert the chair into it6. The chair is pretty heavy for it's size (12lbs)7. One less year of warranty if purchased on ebay (3 year if purchased directly from Strongback)8. The chair is very low to the ground, but you can "launch yourself" to a standing position by pushing off on the "padded arms" without too much difficulty. Would have liked the chair to be a little taller but its low height wasn't a deal breaker for meWhen choosing between the 2.0 design and the recliner design I decided to go with the recliner design for $10 more. Using the pivot legs to slightly increase the height causes you to fall back into the lumbar support even more (due to the angle) which I think is more comfortable and provides more back support. The short extension legs are housed in a plastic pivot housing which may fail at somepoint. I would have rather hoped this housing is steel/metal vs. plastic but my initial thought was the housing was relatively durable.So in closing. I like the Strongback chairs even though they are a little too pricey for my blood. The accesories (cup holder and bag) that come with the chair are cheap compared to the chair's overall constrution. Personally I liked the recliner design over the 2.0 design and felit like it gave very good support to the lower back.As mentioned you can get this chair directly from the manufacturer and get an additional year of warranty. They ship tax free and with free shipping so that might be the best way to go if you really are sold on this chair. I choose to purchase on ebay due to how quickly I could get the chair shipped to me (2 days) and their flexible return policy.I hope this review has been helpful.EDIT - It's great to see that this review has been so helpful for ebay purchasers. Unfortunately the chair only lasted about one season and then the plastic connector that bridges the arm frame to the back frame cracked. This is very much the chair's weak spot and there is a lot of stress on it when putting your full weight on the sides of the chair when either easing yourself down into the chair or launching yourself up out of the chair. Due to the chair's very low height it is not easy to enter or exit the chair without using the arms for support. It's interesting that the frame of the chair is so durable but much less rugged plastic material was chosen to support this area of the chair. I looked to see if there was any way to easily modify and/or improve on this plastic connector and did not see an easy remedy.I had no issues with getting a replacement chair from Strongback. I just needed to email Strongback CS a pic of where the plastic connector failed (info@strongbackchair.com) and they sent a new one to me with free shipping. Interestingly that did not want the old one back so if anyone has a thought on how to fix this plastic connector I am interested. Due to my experience with this chair I would definitely advise purchasing this chair through Strongback.com rather than ebay as you get an additional 2 years of warranty when purchasing directly through Strongback. I still enjoy the chair and it does provide great back support but it may not be suitable for larger individuals due to the weakness of the connector that this chair is constructed with.