|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,934
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,934 |
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?
Last edited by RickyBobby; 12/15/16.
==================================================
I'm a proud member of the BGE cult ... yes, I consider myself an EGGHEAD
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 18,033
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 18,033 |
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.
molɔ̀ːn labé skýla
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,827
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,827 |
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.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,934
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,934 |
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'm a proud member of the BGE cult ... yes, I consider myself an EGGHEAD
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 10,718
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 10,718 |
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.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,494 |
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.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,277
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,277 |
I'll echo what 222Rem recommends, as I use the same cot and also the Thermarest self inflating mattress.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 79,321 Likes: 2
Campfire Oracle
|
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 79,321 Likes: 2 |
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.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 33,971
Campfire 'Bwana
|
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 33,971 |
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!!
Proud to be a true Sandlapper!!
Go Nats!!!!
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,934
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,934 |
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. I have started to realize this very same thing ... pretty sure it comes with age. Experience means everything. Lol
==================================================
I'm a proud member of the BGE cult ... yes, I consider myself an EGGHEAD
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,724
Campfire Tracker
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,724 |
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.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,412 Likes: 9
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,412 Likes: 9 |
#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.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,920 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,920 Likes: 1 |
closed cell foam pad, followed by inflatable bed, followed by cabelas cot in warm weather, followed by Holiday inn
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,781
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,781 |
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.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 5,683 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 5,683 Likes: 1 |
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!!
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 95,740 Likes: 2
Campfire Oracle
|
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 95,740 Likes: 2 |
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.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
I Dindo Nuffin
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 22,939 Likes: 16
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 22,939 Likes: 16 |
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
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 17,231 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 17,231 Likes: 2 |
My best for all seasons is a cot with a 2 or 3" self inflating pad on top. That adds a cushion and insulation. same here Sycamore
...Actually Sycamore, you are sort of right....
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 6,864
Campfire Tracker
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 6,864 |
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 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.
It's about like this:
"Do you puff peters?"
"Hell no!"
"NAZI!!!"
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 24,496 Likes: 14
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 24,496 Likes: 14 |
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 .
PRESIDENT TRUMP 2024/2028 !!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Bristoe The people wringing their hands over Trump's rhetoric don't know what time it is in America.
|
|
|
|
579 members (1234, 10Glocks, 160user, 1Longbow, 1lessdog, 1minute, 70 invisible),
2,126
guests, and
1,268
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
Forums81
Topics1,192,783
Posts18,495,955
Members73,977
|
Most Online11,491 Jul 7th, 2023
|
|
|
|