HEST foamy chair cushion review: Versatile seat pad tested on New Mexico backroads

GO NEW MEXICO REVIEW

Essential Overland Gear Review: Comfortable chair cushion doubles as booster seat

Memory foam pad from HEST impressed on rugged northern New Mexico backroads, proving versatile enough to serve as a driver booster seat, passenger cushion and RV mattress topper

Padfoot, right, and his friend Eli Friedman approve of the HEST cushion.

Rebeca Zimmermann/GO NEW MEXICO

Donn Friedman GO New Mexico

Published July 6, 2026 - 10:46 a.m. Modified July 10, 2026 - 4:50 p.m.

HEST chair cushion doubles as seat cushion and booster seat as Rebeca Zimmermann drives a gravel road in the Valle Vidal.

Just last week, my cranky adventure partner sat her behind into a $3,000 custom seat during a test drive of the Papa Smurf overlanding van. She declared that seat the most comfortable in any vehicle she had ever sat in.

, meanwhile, sent us one of its newest seat pads for review. It can either be used in a car seat or be put into a camping chair.

After sitting for just a few minutes, Rebeca declared this pad comparable to the German high-end engineering of Scheel-mann. After a long trip across northern New Mexico and back to Albuquerque, her opinion remained. The Scheel-Mann seats included lumbar support, which the HEST pads did not.

HEST is the same company that sold Freya Bowman of Espa帽ola her dog bed recently at Overland Expo, and she has had no complaints either.

You can鈥檛 get a chair frame directly from HEST 鈥� the frames are sold out 鈥� but we had tried them out at the Overland Expo booth in Flagstaff, a 6-foot-2 and a 5-foot-2 adventurer found the chairs to be remarkably comfortable. Recently we tested the cushion on bone-crushing dirt and gravel backroads in northern New Mexico鈥檚 Valle Vidal. HEST products are available in Albuquerque at local merchants including REI.

The HEST pad performed multiple functions:

Being a driver booster seat in our NV 200 van, where the seat no longer adjusts upward.
Acting as a passenger-side seat cushion for bouncy roads.
Supplementing the mesh cloth of our cheap camp chairs.
Creating a buffer between sleepers and our firm RV mattress. (Some in our group sleep like 鈥淭he Princess and the Pea鈥�).

鈥淭he Foamy Chair Cushion features premium, temperature-resilient memory foam from HEST鈥檚 award-winning sleep systems, wrapped in a durable water-resistant cover that transforms any camp chair or hard surface into a plush, supportive seat for campfire lounging, tailgating, long drives, and everyday adventures,鈥� the HEST website says.

The cushion 鈥� one of many sleep system products sold by HEST including dog beds, full mattresses and cooling sheets 鈥� is worth the $129 cost, though we still prefer the Papa Smurf approved Scheel-mann seats for driving if our budget were unlimited and those fit our rig.

Some other highlights according to HEST include a removable and washable cover, enhanced memory foam and an integrated compression harness.

鈥淭he name HEST comes from Hestia, the ancient Greek goddess of the family hearth and home. Just like Hestia, HEST represents comfort, hygge and that cozy feeling you get when spending quality time with the people you love most,鈥� HEST says.

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