Camp bed option

[jclay1773]

What's everyone’s opinion on double camp beds. Have done the air mattress and am over it as it goes down and it’s also very hot as it doesn’t allow your skin to breathe. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, John

[CruiserV8100]

Look at Dunlop HD foam products, I got the double ultima swag best sleep I ever had out campin, hot or cold night.

[ozynorts]

We looked at them but decided that they were too big for camping. We ended up going with single stretchers with a foam mattress on them.

[jclay1773]

Thanks for the help. We have thought about the swag or stretcher bed with foam or maybe even stretcher bed with swag. Do love my sleep in the single swag so might just have to look at how big each is and decide from there. Maybe just swag on the ground. Those stretcher beds seem quite large in the bags. Thanks again.

[Mrs Ronnie H]

Hi
Have you thought of a Self inflating camp mat. I reckon ours is great. I have trouble sleeping just on the air bed so ended up with the 10cm camp mat. We have used it on its own but I prefer to put it on top of the air bed as I like the extra height. Worth checking out.

Mrs H

[jclay1773]

Never thought of that. Thanks, will look into it.

[fairpractice]

Hi. I second the idea of self-inflating mat on a stretcher (ex army for me). Note ALDI are selling $30 self inflating mats this sat (20th july) cheers john

[thelump]

Another vote for the self inflating but they do have a downside especially in the larger models. They are the same width rolled up as on the ground making a queen size one a fairly large object to deal with when packing. Depending on your car of course. Apart from that they are comfy and good.

[Argle]

I am using the double high air bed (coleman) comes with a 12 month leakage warranty and bung an eggshell foam mattress on top - best night sleep ever!

Cheers

[ch1ppy]

Everyones idea of camping is different, some through choice and some due to circumstances or necessity; e.g some people backpack, some vehicle based, some vehicles carry large amount of gear others are crammed for space, some tow boats or trailers which can carry extra gear, some take a caravan which is akin to a shack on wheels

one things for sure you need a good nights sleep, otherwise your weekend away or holiday break turns out to be an exercise in stamina and hard work, you look forward to the drive home, every klm that bit closer to your cosy soft bed and some zzzzzz’s

the other thing you can count on is the younger and fitter you are the more you can put up with, heck when i was in my teens and twenties i would even camp in the snow in VIC (where possible i would find a public shelter, no walls but a roof and sleep on a bench) with little more than a blanket and wearing all my clothes, most of the time i got by like that carrying my army surplus rucksack. Other times or places, you find a soft bit of ground somewhere or make bed with leaves or dig the ground with the army surplus “diggers” folding shovel, for extra comfort dig a trench and put hot coals in it, cover with dirt and sleep on a soft heated bed for the night! ah that was bliss lol. waking up with icy dew on your face is fun too



compact but comfy choice;

nowadays there are modern compact ‘thermarest’ type inflatables, some with memory foam and complex air pockets etc in them, they roll up to very small dimensions, smaller than a half loaf of bread some of them. for just regular car based camping with say, 4 adults space is premium. i like to use these and for young people they can live with it but for extra comfort and luxury i use one on top of a WWII army stretcher , the thin foam mattress is mainly for warmth, the air under a stretcher can be very cold in winter or out in the desert etc. the modern stretchers are fine but they arnt as good as the WWII imo, modern stretchers are pretty hard and taught nylon, the old army ones are canvas so it shapes to the body and is slightly softer to sleep on, heaps cheaper too, think i saw some the other week for about $20. the main reason for them though is they pack up smaller, take up much less space than new stretchers do, probably about 2’6 foot long or so (i'd have to check, might be 3') by about 3” diameter rolled up, putting 4 in the boot is easy, they can even be partially unpacked, unrolled to lay flat in the boot and take up almost zero space..some new stretchers are HUGE packed up and even the ones that copy the old mobile army style use 20mm or so pipe and put a bend in them near the top, these type dont pack near as small as the army stretchers and they arn’t nearly as wide or long as the old army stretchers either, the army ones use steel rod about 6-7mm which takes less space than 20-25mm pipe, the bend in them makes them not pack up neatly either

down side to single stretchers is its difficult to cuddle the misses, but your camping, back to basics, at one with nature, use your imagination , double stretcher beds are ok in a limited kind of way, comfy perhaps, there not going to put up with vigorous night time calisthenic activities, they are not small size when packed, probably about the same as top of range airbeds with pumps etc

hamacks are another option but in Oz lots of the trees one might hang em from, have a habit of big branches falling down in the night to kill ya, with that thought looming overhead its hard to get some zzz’s . besides if the greenies get any more power you wont be allowed within twenty feet of a any tree let alone touch the sacred things



not so compact, but comfy choice;

old air mattresses , who hasnt tried them! better than nothing perhaps, no fun at all when you wake on the hard stoney ground because it went down in the night (keep a puncture repair kit handy ,not that that fixes things in the middle of the night). some modern quality ones are more robust, a basic one (by todays standards with sophisticated air compartments, old basic thinnish ones are horrible because your hips or other bits just sink to the ground, they offer no support) wont take up too much space but they can be very cold to sleep on, at the very least spread a wool blanket on top to help insulate you from the cold air underneath, one of the thin modern memory foam matts from high end hiking and camping stores work too, so might that cheap foam people use to do yoga on, kmart etc sell them in fitness and camping areas.

comfy glamping choices;

the other alternative is a pricey and extravagant air mattress with pillow top and built in pump, i’ve seen em, they look like they would work well, its serious glamping (camping in luxury) and they take up a HUGE amount of storage space, so at least a very large wagon, or not many people riding with you, otherwise a trailer/boat or roof racks. bare in mind its not very friendly to neighbours if you arrive late in the dark to set up camp and fire up noisy air compressors, try not to be inconsiderate wankers...the other week i found a very private out of the way camping spot in the flinders rangers with my family, then late at night this drongo and his partner driving a BMW pull up, set up camp right near us when there is all sorts of other places they could have gone, making all commotion setting up their huge palace multi room of a tent, air pumps going and if thats not enough he then proceeds to shine his car lights on hi beam directly at our camp ,hmm out of curiosity ?, what a w@anker, then nicks off in the car for while, no doubt to the nearest pub for drinks or food and comes back again shinning lights at our camp, for some minutes!...must say my patience was drawing to a near end by then

a slight step down from the top of range air mattresses but still glamping it up is the 3’+ or 75mm-100mm self inflatable mattresses, they are comfy enough, they do the job well, down side is they take up a god awful amount of space in or on top of the vehicle, or one needs a trailer, particularly if you whole family is fitted out with them. setting up camp is easy but watch everybody avoid like the plague the job of rolling them back up, its a royal pita, between this and latrine duty many choose cleaning the dunny. but hey, if thats what it takes for you have a good nights sleep then you suffer the consequences with only slight distain

if thats still not comfy enough then you off to campers and caravans and your old bones might thank you for it lol


a long story but i thought it might help someone in the future reading about alternatives.

[MrNanks]

I have just about every option and my big advice is to steer away from the Coleman bunk beds. I and everyone around our caravan has spent way too much time putting them up. There must be an easy one out now. They do take up a lot of storage room. definitely get a self inflating mattress and go from there.

Cheers