Taylor Made Teardrop Bean Bag Chair, White Marine Vinyl

Comfortable seating on a boat is harder to get right than it sounds. Fixed seats eat up deck space, folding chairs slide around, and most soft cushions soak up water and never really dry out. The Taylor Made Teardrop Bean Bag Chair solves that the simple way. It's a marine grade beanbag you drop wherever you want to sit, and it's built to live outside in the sun and spray.

The shell is 20 ounce marine grade vinyl, the same heavy material Taylor Made uses on its covers and boat furniture. That vinyl is waterproof and water repellant, so a splash over the gunwale or an afternoon rain shower wipes right off. The seams are lockstitched with UV resistant thread, which is the part that actually matters over the long haul. Cheap outdoor seating fails at the stitching first. The thread rots in the sun and the seams let go. Lockstitch construction with UV thread is what keeps this one holding its shape season after season.

The teardrop shape is the other half of the story. It's wider at the base and tapers up, so it settles into a natural recline and cradles your back instead of dumping you flat. Sit up to fish, lean back to relax, it moves with you. We've found these work best on center consoles, small runabouts, and pontoon boats where you want a comfortable spot that isn't bolted down. And they're just as at home on the dock or the swim platform.

Two features make day to day life with it easier. First, the webbed carry handles. You can grab it with one hand and move it from the cockpit to the dock, or stow it in a locker, without wrestling the whole thing. Second, the twin zipper design with an interior pocket. The zippers give you access to the fill chamber so you can add or adjust the filler to your liking, and the interior pocket is a handy spot to tuck a phone, keys, or sunglasses while you're kicked back.

Think about how you actually use your boat. If you spend afternoons anchored in a cove, days on the sandbar, or evenings tied up at the dock watching the sun go down, a fixed helm seat isn't where you want to be. You want something you can flop into. That's exactly the gap this fills. Guests love them because there's no learning curve, kids claim them instantly, and at the end of the day they carry off and stow flat against a bulkhead.

A few honest notes on living with it. The vinyl is waterproof, but the chair isn't meant to be left sitting full of water. If it's going to ride out a heavy storm or the off season, stand it on end or stow it so water doesn't pool and the fill stays dry. White vinyl looks sharp and stays cooler in the sun than dark colors, but it does show scuffs and dock grime, so give it an occasional wipe with mild soap and water and a fresh water rinse. Do that and it stays looking clean for years.

One more thing worth saying. A beanbag will shift on a wet, smooth deck when you're running in chop, so it's best used at anchor, at the dock, or while you're cruising easy, not as a seat for a hard offshore run. Treat it as the comfortable lounging spot it's built to be and it earns its keep. Taylor Made offers this beanbag in several color combinations, so if you're outfitting a whole cockpit you can coordinate with your existing cushions and covers. This one is the clean white version. It reads bright and traditional and pairs with just about any boat color scheme, and for boaters who want a relaxed place to sit that shrugs off sun and spray, it's an easy call.