I hauled both of my sons along with beach gear like boogie boards, coolers, chairs, and endless amounts of sand toys. The combination of their light weight and a fold-down frame makes folding wagons especially handy for everyday use, including getting in and out of a car or on and off public transportation. We’ve seen people using these wagons around the neighborhood and at the beach, as well as for gardening, outdoor concerts and movies, and sporting events. I even ran into a PTA parent who was using a wagon to schlep a used printer to school. Great for trips to the park, camping, outdoor sporting events, gardening, grocery shopping and much more! Like the Mac Sports Heavy Duty Collapsible Folding All Terrain Utility Cart (our pick for use on sand), the Mac Sports Outdoor wagon has an easy-to-use, telescoping handle.
But because of how tightly this one folds, it seems more compact and easy to carry than any of the other wagons we tested. When folded, the Mac Sports wagon’s dimensions are approximately 29½ by 20 by 8 inches. It comes with a small cover, which squeezes the accordion folds together tightly and makes the wagon easier to lift and carry with the included strap. The material is easy to wipe clean, and during our testing it didn’t grow any mildew when stored damp.
It’s one of the simplest wagons to unfold and use, and it rolls smoothly enough to keep its contents intact over mud, grass, bumps, and curbs. At 22½ pounds, it’s one of the lighter models we tested and a cinch to lift into cars. It’s also one of the lowest-priced wagons we considered, but it performed as well as or better than wagons that cost twice as much.
After six months of sitting mostly outside in the Southern California sun, our gray Coleman chair was noticeably less faded than our Walmart and Renetto chairs, the latter of which had bleached from bright red to pink. Portable outdoor chairs are also helpful for anyone who doesn’t have the room or budget ozark trail canopy for permanent backyard furniture. And they can save your back, make it easier to juggle a picnic plate and a cold beverage, and generally help you to relax comfortably outdoors. Walk around any campground or tailgate party, and you’ll notice the popularity of this variety of accordion-style seat.
We think the REI chair functions better and will last much longer than the similar chair from Walmart. But the price difference is significant—and after six months of near-constant outdoor use, the Walmart chair was still in decent shape. The Chair One is rated to hold up to 320 pounds, versus 250 pounds for the Flexlite and for the third chair we tested, the Alite Monarch Chair (the latter chair is no longer available, as Alite went out of business in late 2019).
I live in coastal California, where wagons are often the default way to move kids, beach gear, and even school equipment around the neighborhood. This versatile, light, easy-to-use wagon totes everything across different types of terrain and folds up to a compact, easy-to-carry size. But after half a dozen excursions, we found—as we had with the Renetto Original Canopy Chair—that having a chair you can easily carry without a bag is preferable. In real-world conditions, you’re often packing up fast to try to get ahead of crowds or traffic. So you can easily misplace a carry sack on a dark night in a crowded field, especially if you’re in a large group or have a lot of stuff.
Even after over a year of use, the wagon didn’t lose any ability to fold or unfold smoothly. For the first round of testing in 2019, I used each wagon on trips to my son’s elementary school, traveling about half a mile each way over sidewalks and city streets during the course of two months. I also took them to the beach, rolling them down the beach path and testing them on the sand. Additionally, I tested each wagon (filled with soccer equipment) on grass and bumpy, broken concrete surfaces, paying attention to how the suspension and wheels performed under different conditions. In spring 2021, I tested four additional beach-friendly wagons during several trips from my home in Santa Monica to the beach (10 blocks away) and back.
Despite the Renetto’s weight, our testers found it easy to carry and simple to set up and adjust. We discovered that even though most testers had not previously considered a shade-equipped camp chair, once they used one they appreciated the comfort and convenience of built-in sun blocking. Of all the wagons we tested, the Mac Sports Collapsible Folding Outdoor Utility Wagon best hits the sweet spot of price, versatility, weight, and ease of use.
The similar Mac Sports XL is bulkier than the regular Mac Sports, but also has a higher weight limit and more space for all your tools—or toys. The canopy quickly and easily transforms into a carrying case—just wrap it around the chair and snap it closed with two plastic buckles, and you can carry the whole thing on your back like an oblong backpack. We brought this chair to a dense Los Angeles neighborhood to watch Fourth of July fireworks. We got some admiring nods en route to the celebration—and we had one of the more comfy seats at the show.
At just 21 ounces, the Alite Monarch was the lightest of the three chairs we tested in this category, as well as the most compact, but its two-legged design required your own legs to serve as the third leg of the stool. REI’s Flexlite Chair has been replaced by an entire flock of Flexlite chairs; the one that is the closest to replacing the original Flexlite in the lineup is the Co-op Flexlite Camp Chair. The design, size, and weight is nearly identical, but the nylon fabric has been replaced with polyester. The Renetto chair usually comes in between 8 and 10 colors and is rated to hold up to 350 pounds.