Starbound Astronomy Metal Viewing Chair, Black

I began my voyage into amateur astronomy two years ago when my four year old son asked me to show him where the aliens live. (My answer to him: Possibly around Kepler 22b) We ended up getting an Orion XT10G Goto Dobsonian telescope and began down the path that so many others do by purchasing other accessories for our scope. At the time I had a three foot step ladder that I took with me from my garage and used when we viewed in our backyard or went out to our dark site (about 20 min outside the city). In that first year, I didn't concentrate much on chairs because I was busy thinking about lenses, power packs or filters.But, this past summer, I went on my first astronomy camping trip with several other gentlemen from here in Northern California to a very dark site in central Nevada. Several of these guys had layouts of high end equipment including some nice chairs like the Catsperch, the Vestil 600 and the Televue stools. After sitting my lazy butt down on a few of these to look through their scopes, I was immediately hooked. Sadly at this star party, no one had a StarBound chair. But, I did get to try the Vestil CPRO 600 chair which was well built and very sturdy. The only downside of that chair was that you have to remove the padded seat and then rehook it into a higher or lower rung before you can sit back down.After a bit more research, I ran across some reviews for this StarBound chair at places like the Cloudy Nights forum. Since everyone had glowing things to say about the StarBound, I decided to give them a shot (and with Amazon's warranty at my back). The chair came about seven days later (shame that it does not qualify for Amazon Prime shipping) and was boxed very well. Installation took all of five minutes and I was up and sitting my big butt on it in no time.The only thing I do not like about the chair is that it comes with standard flat head bolts. This means that you must either use a wrench or the correct socket with a ratcheting wrench to finish the setup. I would prefer to see this changed to the far better and more user friendly socket head bolts that use an Allen key. Another point worthy of consideration is that the height only goes up to 33 inches at the highest setting. That means that if you have a big dobsonian scope, you are going to need the Catsperch chair (which has a foot rest and can go up to 48 inches high) Other than those two minor concerns and I love this chair. The best thing about the chair is that you simply take your weight off the chair's cushion for a moment, slide it up or down to where you need it and apply pressure from your rear end and keep on observing. It is really that simply and takes much less time than the Vestil or Catsperch chairs that I used at the star party. You spend more time observing and less time futzing with your chair. The base is also great and the is stable even on titled ground. The chair is rated for up to 350 pounds so hopefully it can cover most everyone out there. (for my 182 pounds, the chair is rock solid)Company Seven even offers this chair with white rails so that you can see it easier in the dark while observing if you want that option. For myself, I have had no trouble with my black finished model at my rural site. I can also say that the finish on the rails appears good and does not easily scratch off and the cushion is well made and comfortable. I only have two months on my chair so far but it has been an excellent addition to my hobby. It is actually far more useful than many of the other lenses or filters I have. And when you are rock steady, you can actually see something just a tad bit better. So, believe it or not, this chair has actually improved the seeing of several of my favorite targets (like M31 and M42). Overall this chair is easily five stars and I can highly recommend to anyone else getting into astronomy. Clear skies!

I purchased a relatively large telescope a few years ago with one of my main goals being planetary viewing. As anyone who gets into this hobby knows, purchasing the telescope itself is only the beginning as you find yourself continually spending additional dollars on equipment upgrades, better eyepieces, filters, etc. in order to enhance your viewing experiences.While trying to improve my views of Jupiter and Saturn in particular, I have literally spent thousands since buying the telescope itself and have enjoyed some increasingly amazing views for having done so.So far, one of the best improvements I've had in viewing the planets and various deep sky objects has come from purchasing this chair, which was something I did not expect.I had purchased the chair simply because spending several hours looking through a telescope can be a little tough on the neck, back and legs if you're standing the entire time, so something that would allow me to look at planets while seated would obviously solve that problem.What I did not expect is the secondary benefit that I got by making myself more stable during the viewing session. Details on Jupiter and Saturn were so much easier to see because I've now added much more stability to the last element of the optical chain, the person who's looking into the eyepiece.Additionally, the chair's height adjustment is very quick and easy it's very sturdy, well balanced and comfortable.I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys long nights under the stars.

I would have given this 5 stars but the rubber cushions on the legs are junk. I have only used this chair a few times and the 2 cushions on the front legs are completely falling apart. I am currently making some wooden ones with white oak to replace these.

It is everything I was hoping, and more...normally I have had to have shortened observing sessions with my 11" SCT due to back pain from doing the big telescope pretzel with my body. At almost 74, I was putting off my observing sessions. With this chair, I can observe longer, better, and more comfortably than before. Should have had this years ago.

Use with my telescopes, two sizes. Has an easily adjustable seat.

This was a birthday gift purchase for my boyfriend.The chair is high quality and easy to assemble. The seat is adjustable for tall to short.There was only one issue that the leg cap was wrong. The company quickly responded. The cap would not be replaced. But it was offered to refund or partial refund. But I didn’t feel that was needed to replace a under a dollar cost item. But the company still gave a $10 refund so that paid for 24 caps.I would recommend this chair and the weight is 250-300 pound so it is very sturdy.

The price put me off a bit, but I decided to go ahead and give this chair a try. I’ve used it for a couple of weeks now, and all I can do is echo some other customer comments here. I didn’t know how much I needed this until I’d used it. It’s definitely the single most useful accessory I’ve purchased. Nothing fancy here… simply a tool that has one job to do, and does it extremely well.