Thread: Beds

I currently use an air matress or just the inside of my rig. I am getting some secondhand camping bunks this month.

Originally Posted by Michael2

Word of warning.

Air matresses are giant heat sinks. You'll be warmer & more comfortable on a 2" thick swag than a 6" thick air matress.

Air mattresses on the ground are indeed cold..something to do with convection currents. A thinner closed cell foam on top of the air mattress will give the best of both worlds..comfort and insulation.

Bloody Hell Omaroo, so it was u who have been in my garage!!!!! Its so long since I've seen my tent I've forgotten what it looks like. I can't wait to stick it on top of the Fender n head off somewhere.

how do the self inflating mattresses compare....?
i have used an air mattress on a concrete slab before.....
had a blanket under it......and a second sleeping bag on top of it.......

i have taken the mattress off the single bed and thrown that in the back of lurch a couple of times.....
but be warned....this method only works if you leave home before the wife sees it....

Originally Posted by DEFENDERZOOK

how do the self inflating mattresses compare....?
i have used an air mattress on a concrete slab before.....
had a blanket under it......and a second sleeping bag on top of it.......

i have taken the mattress off the single bed and thrown that in the back of lurch a couple of times.....
but be warned....this method only works if you leave home before the wife sees it....

I've got 2 king-size self inflating mattresses... (single bed size) they are good to sleep on (probably better than a normal foam mattress) and insulation is good. Only hassle is that they are a little bulky, but roll up at least.

I use one of these. They keep you off the ground, but not too far. The double will fit within the walls of a D11 and Defender flat roofrack for a poor man's hannibal.

tentcot.jpg

Was a real pain to find in Canada, but I see they have a store in Melbourne 03-9909-7698. Not sure on your price but it ran me just under $300C$

www.tentcot.com

Pros and cons:

Pros:
- quick set up and take down
- very confortable
- 6 inches off the ground
- solid built
- can be set up as a lounge chair

Cons:
- can't stand up
- not much room inside for storage (but you can hang a net underneath)
- a bit bulky
- only sleeps 2 max

Hi Steve,

We bought one of those X arm ally jobs that you see at all the camping shops for the young bloke before we head off to outback QLD in August. I set it up in the lounge room when we got it so as to make sure it all went together ok before we were 100's of km's from home only to find out something didn't work

Anyway the canvas/nylon part was a bit tight and needed a fair effort to stretch into place so to help stretch it I had a lay down on it and within 10 mins I was cutting wood, much to the missuses displeasure as she was trying to watch some damn soapie or such crap on tv.

It was very comfortable, quite stable and plenty wide enought for my big ass

for the cold weather we are just going to put one of those thin HD foam mattresses under his sleeping bag to stop the heat loss from below, in summer it wouldn't need it.

I think it cost about 70-80 bucks and folds up as small as one of those camping chairs.

Glen the army stretchers are a knack, when learnt... quite easy, great night sleep with army foam matress, hard to get now though, I have two for extended night camping, I've got a wood frame one and a very rare alloy frame one.

In Defender when by myself on a Metzler Ultimate 7cm self inflating mattress fantastic comfortable sleep, doesn't come out of car, made in Germany probably better than Thermarest.

In a tent for overnight trip with the wife, Thermarest De Luxe twin valve self inflating mattress I think 7cm thick inflated fully, only draw back takes a bit to deflate properly to make small. If you could leave up would be better, great for big people 100 cm wide, I bought this near new of a mate for $200, they retail over $500, greatly overpriced though.

I ve got four thermarests worth every cent, the oldest about 23 years old, 50cm orange one great sleep directly on the snow, I have a couple of thin 3/4 ones, better than those blue things but 10 times dearer they would want to be.

Winter on a air matress not good need wool blanket on top to insulate the pocket of cold air your sleeping on, great to li-low on though, cheap doesn't matter if they rip.