ALPS Mountaineering King Kong Chair, Clay (8140317)

ALPS Mountaineering King Kong Chair Review: Full-Height Camp Seating, If You Have Room

Not everyone wants to sit low. A lot of van and car campers spend their evenings in a camp chair, and for them a seat at roughly dining-chair height, with armrests and somewhere to put a drink, matters more than shaving a few inches off the packed size. The ALPS Mountaineering King Kong is a big, steel-framed quad-fold chair: one motion to open, one to close, a 19-inch seat height and an 800-pound rating. The cost is space and weight. It packs into a bag 40 inches long and weighs 13 pounds.

What the Amazon link sells: the ALPS Mountaineering King Kong Chair in Clay, ALPS part number 8140317. ALPS sells the King Kong in several colours under separate part numbers, and a larger King Kong XXL, which is a different chair. This page covers the standard King Kong.

This review is research-based. VanLifeKitchens doesn't test products hands-on. Specs come from ALPS Mountaineering's product page and the Amazon listing this page links to. Comfort and fit notes are reasoned from those published dimensions and from how camp kitchens are commonly set up.

Choose this if:

• You want a chair you can sit in for hours, at a height that's easy to get in and out of.
• You want armrests with cup holders and pockets, and a chair that opens without assembly.
• You're a larger person or want a high weight rating; ALPS rates it at 800 lb.
• You have a garage bay, roof box or space behind the seats for a 40-inch bag.

Skip this if:

• Storage is tight. Two King Kongs fill a large share of a van garage or SUV cargo floor.
• You carry chairs any distance from the van. At 13 pounds each, they're heavy.
• You want the smallest packed seating. The Helinox Chair One packs to 14 inches long.

What it is

The King Kong is a quad-fold chair: the steel frame scissors together sideways and front-to-back, so the folded chair becomes a long, roughly square bundle that slides into a carry bag. To open, you pull the arms apart and push the seat down. There are no poles to assemble and nothing to clip together.

ALPS lists a powder-coated steel frame and a quilted 600D polyester seat. Each armrest has a mesh cup holder and a stash pocket, and there's a mesh organiser pocket on the back. The carry bag has adjustable backpack straps.

Specifications and sources

The Amazon listing gives the overall set-up size as 24 inches wide, 20 deep and 41 high. ALPS's page describes its warranty as covering defects in materials or workmanship; the Amazon listing describes it as a limited lifetime warranty. Check the paperwork in the box for the exact terms.

About the 800 lb rating. ALPS publishes it, and it's far higher than most camp chairs. What it tells you is that the frame is built well beyond normal use. It doesn't mean the fabric or the ground will behave the same way at extreme loads. Treat it as a sign of a robust frame, especially for larger adults, rather than an invitation to sit two people in it.

How it fits a van or camp kitchen

The space question comes first. The King Kong packs to 40 by 8 by 9 inches. In a high-roof van with a rear garage under the bed, two will usually lie across the garage floor. In a van without a garage, they tend to end up on the floor between the seats or in the bed area during the day. In an SUV, they eat a large share of the cargo floor. Measure the slot you have before you buy, and remember that two chairs are 16 to 18 inches across, not 8.

Weight matters if you move them. 13 pounds per chair is fine for a few steps from the van to the fire ring. It's a lot to carry to a beach or a viewpoint, which is where a pole chair has the advantage.

It suits standard-height tables. The 19-inch seat height ALPS publishes is close to a dining chair, so the King Kong works at a table in the 28 to 30 inch range, such as the GCI Slim-Fold Cook Station, for eating, playing cards or prepping vegetables seated. With a low table like the GCI Compact Camp Table 20, the table ends up a little low, but the armrests' cup holders cover most of what a side table does.

Easy in, easy out. A higher, flatter seat with armrests to push up from is easier for people with stiff knees or hips than a low sling seat. That's the main reason many people choose this kind of chair over an ultralight one.

Matching chair height to table height

The usual rule of thumb for comfortable seating at a table is a gap of roughly 10 to 12 inches between the seat and the tabletop. That's why a dining chair with a seat around 18 inches pairs with a table around 29 to 30 inches. Applied to camp furniture on this site:

Use these as a starting point rather than a rule. Sling seats sag under load and soft ground lowers both chair and table, so the real gap at camp can differ by an inch or two from the published figures.

If you only carry one table, decide which you do more at camp: eat at a table, or relax around the fire. A full-height chair like the King Kong earns its space when you eat seated at a standard-height table. For fireside sitting with a drink in the armrest holder, the table height matters less.

Two people, one van. Most couples carry two chairs and one table. Two King Kongs plus a full-size cook station is a lot of packed volume; one way to cut it is to keep the full-height chairs and pair them with the small flat-folding table, or keep the cook station and choose pole chairs.

Stability and uneven ground

The King Kong stands on four steel feet joined by the frame's cross-braces. On firm, level ground it's stable and doesn't tip easily, partly because of its width and weight. On soft ground, sand or a slope:

• Feet sink. The feet are narrow, so on sand or soft soil the chair can settle unevenly. A flat board or a mat under the feet helps.
• Slopes. Face uphill or across the slope rather than downhill, so your weight sits over the rear legs rather than tipping you forward.
• Don't lean back on two legs. It isn't designed for that and the frame can rack.

Durability and care

As with most quad-fold chairs, the parts that wear over years of opening and closing are the fabric at the seat edges and the frame joints, not the steel tubes themselves. To keep it working:

• Open and close it fully; don't force a half-open frame.
• Dry the fabric before you bag it, so the chair doesn't mildew in a closed van.
• Keep sand out of the joints and rinse after beach use, since salt and grit are hard on any folding mechanism.
• Check the frame for bent tubes after it's been stepped on or shut in a door.

Limitations

• Big and heavy packed. 40 by 8 by 9 inches and 13 pounds.
• Steel frame. Durable, but heavier than an aluminium chair.
• Narrow feet. Sink in soft ground.
• Warranty wording varies by source. ALPS's page and the Amazon listing describe it differently.
• Not adjustable. No recline or height settings.

Which guides it fits

• Weekend car-camping kitchen checklist: seating for a camp kitchen when packing space is less tight.
• Van kitchen storage guide: planning space for gear that only comes out at camp.
• Van kitchen layouts: where the outdoor side of the kitchen sits.
• See how it compares with an ultralight chair in Helinox Chair One vs ALPS King Kong.

Verdict

The ALPS Mountaineering King Kong is a comfortable, full-height camp chair with a steel frame, a 19-inch seat, armrests with cup holders and pockets, and an 800 lb rating, and it opens in one motion. Its weakness is exactly what makes it comfortable: it's big. At 40 by 8 by 9 inches and 13 pounds packed, it needs a dedicated storage slot. If the van has that space and you sit outside for long evenings, it's an easy chair to live with. If storage is tight, a pole chair such as the Helinox Chair One makes more sense.

FAQ

How big is the ALPS King Kong when folded? ALPS lists the packed size as 40 by 8 by 9 inches and the weight as 13 pounds.

What's the seat height? ALPS lists a 19-inch seat height, with a 24-inch-wide, 20-inch-deep seat and a 22-inch backrest.

How much weight does the King Kong hold? ALPS rates it at 800 pounds.

Does it need assembly? No. It's a quad-fold chair: pull it open and push the seat down. It folds the same way and slides into its carry bag.

Will it fit in a van? It depends on the van. In a high-roof van with a rear garage, two usually fit across the garage floor. Without a garage, they need a 40-inch slot somewhere. Measure first.

Is it good on sand? Its narrow steel feet can sink in soft sand or soil. A board or mat under the feet helps.

Is the King Kong XXL the same chair? No. The XXL is a larger chair. This page covers the standard King Kong, part 8140317 in Clay.

Sources and verification

• ALPS Mountaineering, King Kong product page: seat width, depth and height, backrest height, packed size, 13 lb weight, 800 lb capacity, steel frame and quilted 600D polyester, pockets, carry bag, warranty wording. https://alpsmountaineering.com/king-kong.html (checked 2026-10-11)
• Amazon product listing for ASIN B09L3798QF, the listing this review links to: title (King Kong Chair - Clay), part number 8140317, dimensions, packed size, weight, capacity, warranty wording, availability (checked 2026-10-11)