Camping Furniture Buying Guide: Chairs, Tables and Storage

Quick answer

Buy your camp furniture in this order: seating first, then a table, then storage. If you already own an Oztent RV or RX tent, start with accessories that zip or hang inside it, such as the Oztent RX-5 Living Room & Zip-In Floor or Hanging Storage Shelves, before adding freestanding chairs and tables. Match every piece to how you actually camp, not to how you hope to camp.

Camp furniture is the part of your kit you touch every hour of a trip, yet it is usually bought last and thought about least. A chair you cannot relax in, a table that wobbles on gravel or a storage bag that never gets used will annoy you far more than a slightly heavier tent.

This guide gives you a buying order, the trade-offs that matter and the Oztent pieces that solve specific problems. It is written for campers who want a camp furniture setup that packs down, sets up and stays useful trip after trip.

Start with seating: what to decide before you buy a chair

Seating is the first purchase because it affects everything else: table height, where you put the stove and how much room you need under the awning. Decide whether you want a low chair for lounging or a higher chair that lets you eat at a table without leaning forward. If you mostly sit around a fire, a lower seat is fine. If you cook, eat and read at a table, choose a chair that puts your elbows near table height.

Weight and packed size matter more than most shoppers expect. A chair that is comfortable at camp but awkward to carry will stay in the garage. Check the packed length against your vehicle's storage space, not just the boot volume. If you carry chairs on a roof rack or in a trailer, a replacement bag is a cheap way to keep a good chair in service rather than replacing the whole thing.

• Sit in the chair before you commit if you can; seat height is the single biggest comfort factor.
• Keep a spare carry bag so a torn bag does not sideline a perfectly good chair.
• If you camp with kids, buy seating that matches their height rather than letting them perch on adult chairs.

Tables: match the table to the job, not the catalogue photo

There is no single best camping table, only a table that fits how you use it. A low table suits sitting on the ground or in low chairs. A standard-height table suits upright chairs and doubles as a cooking and washing-up surface. Before buying, measure the height of your chairs and pick a table that lands within a comfortable reach, roughly level with your forearms when seated.

Think about the surface you will put on it. A stable table with a flat top handles a stove, a lantern and plates at once. A lightweight roll-top table packs smaller but flexes under a heavy camp oven. If you cook outside the tent, a table that lives under the awning keeps you out of the weather without moving everything inside.

• Measure your chair height first; a mismatched table is the most common camp furniture mistake.
• Decide whether the table is for eating, cooking or both, and buy for the heavier job.
• Check that the folded table fits through your vehicle door, not just in the boot.

Storage: the piece most campers buy too late

Storage is what keeps a camp furniture setup from turning into a pile of bags. The goal is to get gear off the ground and within reach, so you stop unpacking the whole vehicle to find a torch. Hanging storage works well inside a tent because it uses vertical space that otherwise goes unused, and it keeps small items off the floor where they get stepped on or damp.

For longer trips, combine hanging storage with a floor or living-area solution. A zip-in floor gives you a defined, clean surface for bags and bedding, and it stops small items disappearing into grass or sand. The trade-off is setup time and packed weight, so decide whether you want a quick overnight camp or a comfortable base camp.

• Put frequently used items at eye level and heavy items on the ground.
• Use hanging storage for soft goods and small gear, not for heavy cooking equipment.
• If you camp in sand or long grass, a floor is worth the extra setup.

How to build a camp furniture setup that packs down

A good camp furniture setup has one home for every item. Start with the tent or awning as your anchor, then add furniture that fits inside or immediately beside it. If your awning is the main living space, closing it in with front and side panels turns it into a weatherproof room where furniture can stay set up overnight.

Pack in layers: heavy furniture low and forward, soft storage bags on top, and anything you need on the first night near the tailgate. Label or colour-code bags if several people pack the vehicle. The test of a good setup is whether one person can unpack the essentials in ten minutes in the rain.

• Set up your full camp furniture layout at home once before a trip.
• Keep first-night essentials in one bag that never gets buried.
• Leave a little empty space so wet gear has somewhere to go.

Decision rules for buying camp furniture

• Rule 1: Buy seating before anything else: Choose chair height first, then choose a table that matches it. If you cannot sit comfortably for an hour, no table or storage upgrade will fix the camp. Checkpoint: sit in the chair, then measure your seated elbow height before buying a table.
• Rule 2: Buy storage before you buy a second table: Most camp clutter is a storage problem, not a surface problem. Hanging storage and a defined floor solve more daily friction than an extra table. Checkpoint: if you are unpacking bags to find small items, buy storage first.
• Rule 3: Enclose the space before adding furniture: Furniture only stays set up if the space around it is weatherproof. Panels that close in an awning or a zip-in living area protect the furniture you already own. Checkpoint: if you pack furniture away every night because of rain or dew, solve the shelter first.
• Rule 4: Match weight to your worst trip, not your best: Buy for the trip where you have to carry gear furthest, or where space is tightest. Furniture that only works on easy drive-in camps will limit where you go. Checkpoint: pack the full setup into the vehicle once before you commit.
• Rule 5: Replace parts before replacing products: Bags, panels and floors extend the life of furniture and tents you already own. A replacement bag or an added panel is usually the cheapest upgrade available. Checkpoint: before buying new, ask whether a replacement part solves the problem.

Oztent products that solve specific camp furniture problems

• Oztent King Goanna Chair Replacement Bag: An easy replacement bag for the Oztent King Goanna Chair, ordered so it arrives at your door as soon as possible. A torn carry bag is the most common reason a good chair gets left at home. Replacing the bag keeps the chair in service for a fraction of the cost of a new chair.
• Hanging Storage Shelves: Hanging storage pockets designed to organise your tent, with big convenient storage, adjustable pockets and a quick and easy setup. Designed and developed by Oztent Australia Pty Ltd. This is the simplest camping storage solution for keeping gear off the ground and close at hand, and the adjustable pockets let you fit different-sized items without a fixed layout.
• Oztent RX-5 Living Room & Zip-In Floor: The Zip-In Living Room and Floor fully encloses your entry area to create a large, weatherproof sleeping or living area, with a 30-second setup, full-height living room and 65g No-See-Um mesh screen. If you want furniture to stay set up inside the tent, this turns the entry into a defined living area with a clean floor, so chairs and storage are not sitting on bare ground.
• Oztent RV-5 Deluxe Front Panel: The Deluxe Front Panel zips to the front of the awning and to the optional side panels to completely close in the awning, with a large screened area, zippered door and a drop-down zippered canvas panel for rain. Enclosing the awning creates a weatherproof room where a table and chairs can stay out overnight, which is often cheaper than adding a separate shelter.

Who this camp furniture approach suits

Best for

• Campers who already own an Oztent RV or RX tent and want furniture and storage that work with it
• Families and couples who set up a base camp for several nights and want gear off the ground
• Buyers who want to add comfort in stages, starting with seating and storage rather than a full furniture set

Not for

• Ultralight backpackers counting every gram, who should choose purpose-built lightweight seating and skip hanging storage
• Campers who only need a single chair for occasional day use and will not use tables or storage
• Buyers looking for a fixed furniture set for a permanent cabin or annexe rather than a packable camp setup

Buy camp furniture in the order you use it: seating, then a table, then storage, and enclose the space so it can stay set up. If you already run an Oztent tent or awning, start with the accessories that fit it, such as hanging storage, a zip-in floor or awning panels, and add freestanding furniture once the basics are solved.