Sky-Watcher Anti-Tip Observing Chair

4.0 Good Inexpensive chair

Price, wheels, and it's a chair!

Height adjustment limits

After searching the web and finding a number of similar looking chairs for quite a bit more and lots of plans for building your own, I found this chair on the Skywatcher site. I called up a few nearby dealers that carried Skywatcher products, and the first one to call me back (Astromechanics, recommended) could get one for me at price that was way less than I expected.

I haven't used (or even seen in person) any of the competitive chairs, but this one seems pretty well made. It has wheels on the two legs that only touch the ground when you tip the chair to pull it. This is a nice touch, I think.

I've used the chair a couple of times, so I can't really comment on the long term durability yet, but two different adults (myself and my wife) have had zero problems with it so far, and my young kids (11 and 9 years old) haven't had any problems either. In fact, it's the first time my kids have seen some object near the horizon without me lifting them up, which is getting tougher and tougher, although I've only had my scope for about 5 months now.

The limited height adjustment probably means it wouldn't be that good if you are using a large dob, but it works fine in just about every position for my 8" SCT without the legs fully extended on the tripod (which I have never done anyways).

It's also pretty amazing what a difference being able to sit and look for a while without having to stand makes.

If you don't have a chair, try this one!