Starbound Astronomy Metal Viewing Chair, Black

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.

The StarBound chairs is all I hoped it would be. Easily adjusts from about 8 in off the ground to higher than I can sit and I'm 6' 3". When adjusted the seating is secure and comfortable with no slippage. The legs being straight down in the front keeps the chair legs a much out of the way as possible. It is sturdily built and folds nicely for storage but is still light enough to easily be carried around. I wish the seat could be folded up and back for more compact storage but I don't think the seating would be as secure if it did. The chair is a little pricey but worth the money.

Very sturdy chair and easily changes position for different scope heights. Additionally, its far more comfortable than my camp chair! :) My only gripe is that the front legs aren't flared as well. Being flared would perhaps add a bit of stability and would help immensely on adjusting the seat height.

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!

Phenomenal chair! I have occasional crippling lower back problems, so astronomy could sometimes be a literal pain in the ass. Not since getting this chair. I use this chair for observing through several different scopes: 70mm refractor, 10" Dobsonian, and 5" EQ-mount reflector. This chair works perfectly low down for the refractor and perfectly high up for the Dob (even when observing near the azimuth). Easy, quick, one-handed adjustment of seat height, and great stability from wide-set rear legs. This chair even makes binocular observing a piece of cake! If you are considering this chair for astronomy, get it while you still can. Improvement to make: I am looking for some reflective tape to put somewhere on the legs of the chair to make it visible when observing at dark sky sites. An all-black chair in a very dark environment leads to banging your shins and losing the chair in the dark.

The chair is well built and sturdy. I am not a little guy so I needed something like this. The only drawback is the seat does not fold down and would have to be unscrewed (hand turn knobs) to flatten the seat for transport. Not a biggie just a transport nuisance. It is an angular grabbing setup that holds the seat in place when you put your weight/derriere on it. It doesn't waver and holds its position. It also allows for countless position changes to accommodate your line of sight and comfort while viewing.