Things I Learnt at 3am

Tag: Vango Hampton DLX

  • The Camping Chair That Finally Stopped My Head Hanging Off the Back of Every Chair I Own

    The Camping Chair That Finally Stopped My Head Hanging Off the Back of Every Chair I Own

    I was awake at 3am rubbing the back of my neck, which is what happens after four evenings sat in a chair that was never built for someone 6ft 2. We’d had two of the standard umbrella-fold chairs in the van for a couple of years. Fine for Suzy. For me, the head section technically goes up high enough, but there’s no actual structure in it. My neck just hangs over the top or I end up slouched forward to compensate. Not a huge problem for an hour after dinner. A real problem for a full evening.

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    So at 3am I did the thing I always do, and started properly researching camping chairs instead of just putting up with it. That’s how I ended up buying the Vango Hampton DLX camping chair, the reclining version, not once but twice, and finally got an answer to a problem I’d been living with for two years.

    Vango Hampton DLX camping chair set up outside the Giottivan campervan

    The Actual Problem With Most Camping Chairs

    Standard fold-up chairs bundle into a long cylinder, which is why the backrest has no rigidity, which is why it sags exactly where a tall frame needs support most. I looked at the tensioned hub-and-pole style chairs too (Helinox and similar), which are genuinely excellent for packability, but they’re not built for sitting at a table for a meal, which is most of what we use camp chairs for.

    What actually solves it is a rigid-framed recliner with an adjustable headrest, because a fixed headrest just moves the same problem to a different height.

    The Vango Hampton DLX Camping Chair: What I Bought and Why

    I went for two Vango Hampton DLX chairs, not the Vango Hampton “Tall”. That sounds backwards given the name, but the Tall model has a fixed high-back cushion, and on a 6ft 2 frame that fixed cushion tends to hit you across the shoulder blades rather than your neck. The DLX has a sliding headrest and lumbar cushion instead, so I can push it right to the top of the 116cm frame to actually cradle my neck, and Suzy can slide hers down to wherever suits her. One chair, two very different heights, both properly supported.

    Vango Hampton DLX Reclining Camping Chair →
    Steel frame, seven recline positions, DuoWeave padded fabric, rated to 140kg. Built for campsite, caravan and garden use.

    First Impressions Against the Old Chairs

    Heavier, no question, at 5.86kg versus the featherweight umbrella-fold ones. But it folds completely flat rather than bundling into a cylinder, so it actually takes up less awkward space under the Giottivan’s bed platform, not more. The padding is proper padding you can feel doing something, not the thin quilted layer that goes flat after a season.

    The Recline and Headrest Test

    Seven positions, and the sliding cushion is the actual fix, not the recline itself. Upright for eating at the table. One click back for reading. Most of the way back for the bit after dinner where you’re pretending you’re not about to fall asleep, and for the first time in two years my head has somewhere to actually rest doing that. A full week in Wales, no neck ache the next morning, which had quietly become something I’d put down to getting older rather than sitting in the wrong chair.

    Vango Hampton DLX camping chair reclined with the sliding headrest cushion extended

    Two Matching Chairs, Not One of Each

    We didn’t buy one Tall and one DLX. Both DLX, both identical. Practically, they stack flat together under the bed rather than fighting each other’s shape, and there’s no “whose chair is this” argument every time we set up. The adjustable cushion means the same chair genuinely works for both of us instead of needing two different models to cover two different heights.

    Where It Falls Short of the Alternatives

    If you want the absolute peak of outdoor lounging comfort, a Lafuma zero-gravity recliner does something a Vango can’t, using an elastic clip suspension instead of stitched fabric. But they cost three to four times as much, and the folded footprint is a wide curved shape rather than a flat rectangle, which matters if you’re trying to slide two chairs under a van bed rather than into a car boot. For that reason alone I’d still buy the Hampton DLX again.

    The Verdict on the Vango Hampton DLX

    If you’re tall enough that camp chairs have always felt like they were built for someone shorter, the Vango Hampton DLX camping chair is the actual answer, not a nicer version of the same problem. Steel frame feels solid on uneven ground, folds flat enough to live under the bed without a fight, and at around £60 to £70 each it’s not a big outlay to stop your neck aching every evening.

    Related reading: my Giottiline Giottivan 60T review, the North Wales campervan sites roundup, and two more Giottivan quick wins.

    About Pete

    I’m Pete Harrison. I’m 55, I run a business, and I have a mild case of insomnia that means I spend a lot of time at 3am reading about gadgets, gear and ways to make life work better. Things I Learnt at 3am is where I write honestly about the things I’ve actually bought, tested and lived with. No fluff, no rehashing the spec sheet. Just the real verdict from someone who uses this stuff every day.