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What do you find to be the best setup for a good nights rest when tent camping???

Air mattress? Cot? Foam pad? A combination of them?

Wanting to do more tent camping this coming year and want to make sure I make the best of it. Curious what everyone's preferred method is?

Back issues make me use a cot. I put a foam rubber pad on it and then a sleeping bag. It ain't perfect, but it works. If you can do without a cot, it's that much less stuff to lug around.

Tried to use an air mattress a couple of time and spent the night fighting with the stupid things. I'd opt for a cot with a closed cell foam pad, good sleeping bag with a fleece blanket as a liner. This combo has kept me comfortable and allowed me to get a good night's rest.

Do you guys think there are big differences in cots? Was looking on Cabelas site and they have a bunch of different ones available. I've always slept directly on ground up to this point but my back has become aggravated the past year or so and was also leaning to trying a cot. I've never slept on one before.

I haven't compared all of the cots Cabelas sells, but have over 10yrs experience with their Outfitter XL. It's good to go IMO, and appear to have a recent update that makes attaching the end bars much easier.

I place an inflatable thermarest under a rectangular bag and sleep like a baby.

Cots are cold unless you get enough under you for insulation.

My back hates cots too for some reason.

We sleep a couple weeks a year in AK on the floor of the tent on a Cabelas appx 3 inch "mattress" and can't say that we have any complaints.

Have been on air mattresses before that have been cold as all get out.

Cots will make getting up IE standing up a lot easier. But personally I can't sleep on them with my back.

I'll echo what 222Rem recommends, as I use the same cot and also the Thermarest self inflating mattress.

I roamed around a lot tent camping when I was a young man.

I didn't know what mattered at the time,...we slept on an old air mattress that would deflate by morning.

A bed is everything. As long as the tent keeps the rain out you won't know the difference in quality. But you need a good bed.

Spend what it takes to have a good cot in your tent.

It'll be the difference between feeling good and feeling like chit when you get up in the morning.

If I'm truck camping I always take the best air mattress (usually a double decker) I have and a moderate feather bed to throw on top. Keeps me warm and easy on the back. I also do not use sleeping bags anymore. My sheets, cheap comforter and a good pillow. I even do that at Interstate hotels. Regardless of the situation I want a good if not great bed!!!

If I'm not truck camping then I use a combo inflatable sleeping bag/air mattress that bind as one.

Thanks to Mother Nature I've been chased off the App Trail more than once because I did not have the right bed and gave into weather. Especially, thoughout VA, NC and GA! Never again!!

I also have a nice setup for the inside of my full sized SUV!!

I have started to realize this very same thing ... pretty sure it comes with age. Experience means everything. Lol

I have done winter, in a nylon tent. The 6 man size does about right for me with a table, coleman stove, and couple chests. Little electric lamp is enough, sunset is bedtime. Closed the vents, added a cat heater, and a cheapo folding bed, or cot. You need foam or something under you for the cold. A rug is a real blessing. My one trouble is I am a side sleeper, and my knees stick out. I use some decent fleece and wool blankets to build a nest. I have gotten rolled completely over in a zipped mummy, it isn't any fun.

#1 My best for all seasons is a cot with a 2 or 3" self inflating pad on top. That adds a cushion and insulation.
#2 An air mattress on a cot is excellent in warm weather but doesn't have the insulation of the self inflating ones in cold weather. A closed cell pad on top of the mattress adds a lot of warmth.
#3 A tight cot with only a closed cell pad is warm but can be hard as a board.
#4 Those Cabelas cot pads are great but they're very bulky to haul if you're short on car space. They take up as much space as a large dog.

For a cot, we use these Alps Mountaineering cots. They work well and fold small. A cot with end stretchers will stay a little tighter but take up more space when folded. If you opt for these, let me know and I'll give you a couple hints on setting it up. It's easy but most people do it wrong.

closed cell foam pad, followed by inflatable bed, followed by cabelas cot in warm weather, followed by Holiday inn

What size tent are you using? If big enough the Cabela's Outfitter XL with inflatable pad as described above. If smaller, we use to use a full size inflatable mattress, a sleeping bags.

I use a cot, with a piece of 1/4 inch plywood cut to size. Topped off with a 6" memory foam pad! Having a bad back this works best! I don't usually care about the size when packing my gear! I just want to be comfortable for the week. I've stayed in my wall tent with this setup for a couple weeks at a time! When it gets real cold the foam is a real blessing! When the stoves burns down at 17 below, my buddies get cold first! Then feed the stove!!

Coleman inflatable mattress with a Cabelas roll up foam pad on top. Cover it with a sheet and sleep under an opened up -20 down bag. If it gets to 20 or below, close the down bag and sleep in it.

Tobaggin for the noggin in real cold.

roll-a-cot and a cut-down walmart memory foam mattress to fit.... old bedsheets and blankets from home with a piece of canvas for a spread. heck with airmattresses or inflateables. And the cot should be high enuff to sit on and still be able to stand up unassisted....grin

same here

Sycamore

This. No matter how hydrated I am I get cramps getting out of my cot. Hamstring and groin cramps. No matter how carefully I get out of it. I need a higher cot I think. Never have this problem in a bed.

Another vote for cabelas xl cot and self inflating pad .
I use a blue x-mart closed cell foam pad then a wool blanket on top of the pads .
Tip: shop in the wood working section of lowes/depot and get 4-5 medium alligator clips about the size that would go on a motorcycle battery charger . Zip a sleeping bag up about knee high and use it like a blanket with your feet in the zipped part of coarse .
Use the alligator clips to fasten the sleeping bag to the cot , that way your sleeping bag won't slide off during the night .