REVIEW – Sitting at your desk is, according to many, a death sentence. The compromises to your hips as well as your lower back are huge and real. A few companies have addressed this issue in various ways, from standing desks to wobble boards, walking desks, cycling desks, cycling chairs, and cycling footstools. Today, we’re going to consider another option – the Vilno NOBEL Kneeling Chair.
What is it?
The Vilno NOBEL Kneeling Chair is a backless kneeling rocking stool.
What’s in the box?
The Vilno NOBEL Kneeling Chair ships unassembled, with a hex key for assembly.
Hardware specs
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- REDUCE PRESSURE ON YOUR BACK & NECK – Rather than the standard chair’s 90° trunk/thigh angle, the kneeling chair provides a 120° trunk/thigh angle. As you sit in this position, the pressure on the disc in your spine is decreased.
- NO MORE SLOUCHING – Because your neck, back, and shoulders are automatically aligned when you sit on a kneeling chair. As a result, your lower back is less stressed, and spinal compression is avoided.
- RELIEVE LOWER BACK/SCIATIC PAIN – Pain may be a significant distraction at work, causing you to lose concentration, and reduce productivity. Time to change that! With the kneeling chair, you have more excellent circulation, which aids in transporting nutrients to your brains, allowing you to focus while working as your core muscles become more active.
- NEVER AGAIN FOR TRADITIONAL OFFICE CHAIRS – You’ll be asking‚ where have you been all my life?‘ after your first use. Experience maximum comfort during the whole working day, even 10 hours of sitting.
- 100% EASY RETURN RISK-FREE GUARANTEE – We know you might think this weird type of chair may be helpful, but if not? we’re confident you’ll be pleased with this posture chair. Use it for 2 weeks and we guarantee you’ll be happy forever after. If not, simply reach out to us and enjoy a full, 30-day money-back guarantee with no questions asked.
Design and features
The main design is two curved bentwood ribs that form a slightly deformed C-shaped and are connected by four cross-braces. The cross pieces are roughly trapezoidal so that the two main pieces are not quite parallel. At one end, the “C”-shapes are connected by a single large seat. At the other, each has a single knee pad. Assembly took roughly 40 minutes.
Once the Vilno NOBEL Kneeling Chair is assembled, the unit looks like a pair of large C-clamps with one side connected with a seat, and the other sides terminated with a single pad on each.
Usage is not too difficult: put your butt on the big piece and your knees or shins on the smaller pieces. It’s nearly impossible to sit on this unit and have a hip bend smaller than 120º. Contrast that with most chairs where your hips can’t deviate from 90º!
Setup
Assembly is not too difficult. There is a single screw and two wooden dowel plugs on each side of each cross piece (except for the curved “corner” cross-piece, which has just the two screws on each side). Once the main piece is assembled, just add the three padded pieces and you’re done. The milling of the assembly holes and the dowel inserts into the pads are very precise. I only had trouble lining things up because I was doing it all alone, and without a good working area.
Performance
The Vilno NOBEL Kneeling Chair gives you the option of kneeling against the two lower pieces with your butt resting on the larger piece. You can also place your shins on the lower two pieces, which I find a little better for longer seated sessions. When I do sit for long periods on my knees, they remind me when I stand up that it’s not recommended. But my back always feels great!
What I like about the Vilno NOBEL Kneeling Chair
- Quality materials
- Excellent alignment for assembly
- Comfortable design idea
What I’d change
- Might need more/denser padding for “older sitters” in the knee pads
Final thoughts
Thirty-odd years ago, when I was mostly sitting in front of my Macintosh Plus doing graphic design and learning about computers, I had a kneeling chair. I have a much loved picture of my now-38 year-old daughter sitting on that kneeling rolling chair at my desk. It was a great chair, and allowed me to sit for much longer sessions, due to the ergonomics of the design.
Vilno’s offering is similar, but offers rocking, rather than the casters from that older model. But my knees have suffered a lot in 40 years, and need a bit more padding now! Using my shins (a bit of a change in position from my habit) makes this better for longer seated sessions.
If you’re young, this will be fantastic! If you remember when the Woodstock album and Sgt. Pepper were the blockbusters of the summer, you’re gonna want to stay off the knees and stick to the shins. I’m still excited to use it, but have to make sure I don’t get into the old kneeling position by accident. YMMV!
Price: $249.99
Where to buy: Vilno (Save 10% with code: gadgeteer10 no expiration date) and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Vilno. Vilno did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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$34.90 (as of April 25, 2025 07:32 GMT -04:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
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I inherited something like this 30 years ago from my then-girlfriend. It worked pretty well. It was expensive too (in 1990 dollars).
Yeah, I reupholstered that old one with new foam several times, but finally, my wife made me give it to a thrift store. It’s an amazing design and very comfortable.