I am cautious about buying equipment for a venture I may not pursue. As a pastels plein air presents a lot of challenges. I tried a home made setup at first and that didn’t work. This is my second take at it. The investment was small enough that it didn’t burn my budget. The easel is not the easiest to set up (I have no experience with other field easels so can’t compare). The arms that hold the palette are so close together that unless I had something to attached the palette to them for a secure hold it would useless. Other than those two things it serves the purpose

This easel is light weight and easy to assemble, but was not easy to get to stand straight and level. The little arms that are supposed to hold the pastel box were poorly tooled and it took shims, duct tape and a level to get them to be level enough for the box to sit even and stable on them. I thought it might be nice for plein air work but now that I have it useable, I think it will stay in the studio.....I don't want all the hassle trying to get it stable every time I move it.

This is a newer version of the one I had before. It’s not as compact, however it is easier to set up and seems sturdier. I like the arms that hold my pastels - that’s why I ordered a new one, but the greater length makes for difficulty in packing. If I had looked at the specs I probably would not have chosen it as a field easel.

Well constructed, sturdy wood, wonderfully light, decent adjustment hardware and no plastic. Haven’t yet tried it in breezy conditions but seems quite stable when legs are spread wide apart.

I love this easel. I have a fairly small space . This easel is light weight, takes up not much space, and is really sturdy. Easy to take down and set up.

Easy to set up, relatively light and folds to size easy to carry. Seems well made and sturdy.

Agreed it is fussy too set up but for the value thumbs up

I bought this easel a year ago because I was going plein air painting for the first time and it was on sale. I watched the video to see how to set it up. The video was very easy to understand and I am so happy that it was provided. I think I could really use another video on how to fold it back down quickly and efficiently when I am done painting. It's still a struggle for me. Since using it over the past year, I don't think I've ever folded it down the same way and I always end up with a leg sticking out somewhere or a screw falling out. While I am painting outdoors, I am really happy with the set up. It works great and is very sturdy. It's also light weight so not a struggle to carry to where I need it. Setting it up and taking it down requires a lot of patience so I would love it if Dakota would provide some tips to alleviate some of my frustration.

This is a very compact easle when folded up. It's also quite lightweight so that it will fit easily in a backpack. My only concern is that it takes some fiddling to set it up.