tplife wrote: I"m very sorry that your pack would be so careless! But it just goes to show that some people who should know better don't. The US military current issue is a ThermaRest sleeping pad and a Eureka-manufactured dome tent with infrared-reflecting fly. I have one of the cots from Iraq but they aren't for outside camping in unheated enclosures. We had one of those giant army tents when I was a kid and I noticed they had two large insulated holes where the heaters would exhaust their stacks from the wood/coal stoves. They are heated enclosures when it's cold outside. Of course, if you use a heater inside your tent with your Coleman air mattress, you'll be safe and snug as what doing is keeping the air around your mattress, or under your cot, heated to keep it from sucking the heat out of you. But seriously, don't let me discourage you or anyone else from risking their comfort and safety, it's your life friend.
From the Boy Scouts:
"Sleeping Pad. Any kind of pad will aid in stopping the CONDUCTION of cold from the ground into your bag and into you. Anything from a “Thermarest” to a piece of white 1” or 2” thick foam (found at army/navy stores and cloth stores) will work. Air mattresses are a bad choice because there is no insulating factor between you and the cold ground. Cots are also a bad idea because they raise you off the ground creating a cold dead air space below you. If you don’t have a mat, bring a spare wool or natural fiber blanket to use as a ground pad under your sleeping bag."
tplife has a big thing about air mattresses and cots and posts similar stuff every time it comes up. He'll back it up with that Boy Scouts quote, which is obviously talking about cold weather camping, and he'll also sometimes back it with "I've been camping for xx years, I've camped at xxxx feet and had snow on my tent in " (I forget the month, June maybe). It is great that he is experienced at camping, and likes camping in some relatively extreme situations, but his experience isn't necessarily applicable to everyone.
If you plan to cold weather camp, he is right. A pad is a much better bet (though, as he acknowledges in the above post, you are fine with a mattress or cot if you use a portable heater). However, he seems to think using a pad is a one size fits all solution. There are many types of camping and ways people do it, there are few universal answers.
I'd venture to guess that most people probably camp in the late spring, summer, and early fall. In most of the country we aren't camping at xxxx feet in the Rockies where it may well get below the 50s, or even snow, nearly year round. For most of us, hypothermia when camping is far from a concern. For many of us, heat, not cold, is a bigger concern.
OK, so that means his advice may not necessarily be fully applicable to everyone's situation, but there is nothing wrong with it, except, if you don't find a 1-2" foam pad comfortable. Personally, I'm OK with one, and have two for use when camping in late fall through early spring. Yet, I also have some nice air mattresses for more comfort when the temperatures allow it, and I'm thinking about replacing them with cots or a taller air bed so getting up will be a little easier. Some people won't like the pads at all. Some older folks or those with physical issues may find it difficult to get up when sleeping on the ground on a pad. If they camp when it is weather appropriate to use a mattress or cot, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going with a more comfortable option and using an air mattress, air bed, or cot.
Vehicles: 2011 Ford Fusion (for car camping), 2009 Suzuki Boulevard C50 (motorcycle camping) Tents: Boulder Creek Hunter Ridge 4 (cheap 4-season tent from Bass Pro Shops), Alps Mountaineering Vertex 4, Kelty Grand Mesa 6, Big Agnes Fairview 4
gmajane wrote: I am 63 and pull a little teardrop camper with my Honda Civic. It has just enough room for a double bed mattress. Check out my profile for a picture.
I really like those teardrop trailers, they're too cool!
Teardrops are definitely an interesting option. Bed off the ground, well protected from the elements, lightweight (enough that most cars can pull them), they are trailers so they'll carry a lot of your camping gear and de-clutter the car while traveling, and they just look cool. Some have a built in camp kitchen on the back as well as your sleeping quarters. I do worry for myself that they may hold too much heat (I live in MD, it gets hot), but with the OP living in MA that is less of an issue and this may be a great solution for her.
Jeff is correct, but I can find a lot more quotes to support what I'm talking about, I didn't invent the problem or any such thing. I make my living in the field of science, I can even quote you the scientific laws that define why an air mattress or a cot is a heat, sink, but I won't here unless we're all going to brew some coffee! The simple fact is that if you camp without a heater,and the outside air temp is between 30 and 50-degrees F, you will sleep a lot better on a sleeping pad as you won't be subject to having your energy calories sucked out of you while you sleep. I guarantee it! Also Jeff doesn't realize that sleeping pads come in thicknesses from about 1.5" to nearly 6" thick, more than enough varieties for any sleeper. A lot of people go cheap and just buy a cot or an air mattress, and then try to convince themselves that they did good.
I'm 65 and DH is 68. We're still tent camping and canoeing. Along about when I got near 50, we got an air mattress. It made a world of difference. When we're camping in cooler climates like this past June in the Sierra Nevada, we open up a down sleeping bag under us. We had a down comforter and a fiberfill sleeping bag over us. We were toasty warm even though it was pretty nippy and there was snow on the ground.
We fly wherever we're going to camp so I try to keep the weight down. When we were much younger, we didn't have chairs and a table, but now we do and it's so much better.
Since I like to boondock camp, I got a toilet contraption from REI. That was where I was having the most difficulty as I got older. It looks kind of like a snack table with a nylon top and a hole in the middle. It even has a padded seat. Since our aluminum roll up table is heavy to put in the luggage, we started buying or acquiring a piece of plywood to put over the toilet and use as a table. It works fine and isn't too low.
I don't plan to give up tent camping any time soon and already have my next trip - to Utah - in the works.
tplife wrote: Jeff is correct, but I can find a lot more quotes to support what I'm talking about, I didn't invent the problem or any such thing. I make my living in the field of science, I can even quote you the scientific laws that define why an air mattress or a cot is a heat, sink, but I won't here unless we're all going to brew some coffee! The simple fact is that if you camp without a heater,and the outside air temp is between 30 and 50-degrees F, you will sleep a lot better on a sleeping pad as you won't be subject to having your energy calories sucked out of you while you sleep. I guarantee it! Also Jeff doesn't realize that sleeping pads come in thicknesses from about 1.5" to nearly 6" thick, more than enough varieties for any sleeper. A lot of people go cheap and just buy a cot or an air mattress, and then try to convince themselves that they did good.
I understand what you are saying, and I guarantee that when I'm camping in December I'll be using a pad and not my air mattress. However, I'd wager that the vast majority of camping done in this country is done when/where it is well over 50 degrees (heck, I suspect that for 80% or more of the car camping done is in areas and times of the year when it doesn't get below 60, other than canoe campers and backpackers, I think tent camping in the cold is pretty rare). I've never seen a 6" camping sleeping pad, it would be useful, but I suspect it is far more money and bulkier than a cot or decent air mattress (and thus harder to store and transport). For the camping most people do, a cot or decent air mattress will handle the job well.
Edit:
Correction, I've never seen a 6" sleeping pad that was only a pad. I have seen the inflatable sleeping pads, but then you are sleeping on a good deal of air just like an air mattress. The thickest pads I've seen that are just pads are in the 2-3" range.
I bought 2 thermarest sleeping pads in 1974. I have slept on lava, sand and snow with them. We currently use them for company on the floor of our fiver. People are amazed that a 1.5 in roll up mat is more comfortable than a 4in foam matress. If you camp, they are a must. Still sleeping on the ground at 70. In 1974 they were $70.00 from the factory. Today they are $72.00 retail.
1994 27sl Alpenlite, 2001 Dodge Cummins auto 3.54 stock
essie wrote: I want to thank everyone who responded. I am going to have to think long and hard about what is good for both of us. I have mentioned giving up the popup to my husband and as always he tells me to do what I want. We both love camping and being outside which is what the pop-up gave us.
When my son and his wife go camping with us, their take down seems so simple compared to our process.
I do like the thought that one person put forth about thinking what five years from now will bring. Thank goodness the decision does not have to be made till October.
We're going through this process, as well. DH & I came to the decision to sell the PUP and go back to tenting. We're 54 & 55. We love camping, but we're tired of towing. At the moment, we're not in a position to buy a motorhome or Class C. Perhaps in the next 5 years we'll think differently about it. But for now, we'll be in our old tent, with out blow-up beds and thermal underwear. Tenting is a good fit for us, where we are right now, and it won't cost us a thing for start-up. We already have all our stuff.
Don't let the nay-sayers get you down. Try tent camping if you want to . What's the worst that can happen? You find out you really don't like it?
"Those who dwell...among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."--Rachel Carson, environmentalist, 1956
2009 Ford F250 XL
2006 Dutchmen 25F
Me & DH in non-parenting mode!
Here are two uber-thick sleeping pads: MegaMat and Dreamtime. At about 6' and 180 pounds, I use a CampRest, adjustable for total comfort and only 2" thick. the MegaMat is 4" thick and the Dreamtime is 3.5" thick. There are other pads out there that work in the same manner, without hollow tubes or empty air spaces underneath. A good sleeping pad costs no more than a good indoor-air mattress/pump/battery set, takes up far less room when rolled up, they're smaller than my folded USGI cot, has very little risk of puncture and requires less room in a tent. Inflatable speeping pads are constructed very differently than air matresses, they use open-cell foam or soft insulating fibers that prevent the conduction of air as a single cell or tube, or empty air space. While I certainly enjoy summer camping, I wouldn't want to miss the other 3/4 of the year with spring blooms, fall color, brisk mornings around the coffee pot or light snow falling in the silent alpine air. It's many a night out west when temps fall to between 40 and 50 degrees, above freezing but chilly. Those conditions merit respect for the outdoors, especially if like me you take children and novice campers along for the fun. If I owned air mattresses and cots (and I do/have in the past but would never go back) I wouldn't throw them away, but I'd bet upgrading with safety and comfort in mind. If cost is an issue, these pads can be purchased on Ebay at auction and keep in mind they are lifetime guaranteed.
* This post was
edited 08/16/11 11:20am by tplife *
Offline
Also Jeff doesn't realize that sleeping pads come in thicknesses from about 1.5" to nearly 6" thick, more than enough varieties for any sleeper. A lot of people go cheap and just buy a cot or an air mattress, and then try to convince themselves that they did good.
