hoping to get persuade the wife and kids into a few gentle camping trips this year, will be car based, so space not too much of an issue. Kids are 7 and 4, what advice re mattresses – don't know what's best – blow up, thermarests or what ?

also any reccomendations on good deals ?

Thanks

what about camp beds? my mate had one at a festival and everyone wanted a go!! 😯

Thermarests EVERY time. 🙂 Blow up mattersses have a huge area of air circulating rounf them which your body never warms up, so they are colder. Just get the thickest thermarest you can get hold of. Try the Alpkit make too 🙂

I would say big airbeds if space is not an issue – much more comfy

Base camp thermarests for all 😀

Self-inflating for sure. Alpkit and Kathmandu do good alternatives for less money than Thermarest – go for the thicker, full-length if you're not fussed about weight and bulk.

Go for airbeds. I have a wee Airic which is great for fast and light but if you want the wife and kids to actually enjoy the experience go for a decent quality blow up jobby!

Airbeds here too as long as you don't over or under inflate them they're just the job

I've got the Alpkit Fatknacker or what ever it's called. Lovely and comfortable. Great for car trips but no good for lightweight camping.

Airbeds, & make them Coleman Comfort variety. Not cheap, but worth every penny. Super comfy, but dont overinflate….you wouldnt sleep on a plinth at home would you. Aldi do a blower for inflating for about £5. And kids like to move about so while mummy sleeping bags might look all-rugged etc, they might be better with regular bags. Also, that grippy matt stuff that you can get is good for putting under the bag as silky covered bags slide a lot on air-beds.
Camping with kids is great fun.

thanks all. looks like about £75 for 3 Alpkit Airic's (I already have a thermarest) or just under £40 for 3 tesco single blow up jobs plus a hand pump.

Check out Decathlon. They have great Thermarests which are about twice as thick as the normal ones but still role up quite compact. Good price too. Mine is great.

I'd go for Vango's self-inflating thermarest type things. We've had 3 Alpkits ones and none now keep air overnight.

IMO the Vango's are better made and more comfortable.

We got our Vango's from here…
http://www.outdoorkit.co.uk/productlist.php?category_id=396&newsortby=selling_price%2Casc

Having been down the air mattess route I'd say go for Thermarest type things for young kids as ours were forever rolling off air matresses. As kids are much less heavy/dense I think they're comfortable for them too, you also don't need to insulate the matress from the ground as you do with air matresses.

Branded thermarests are expensive.. I think their patent must have expired recently or something because there are now loads of own-brand alternatives around which are way way cheaper.

Camp beds are a faff and rob you of headroom in small tents. And they are bouncy. And when you get in your partner goes up in the air, and comes down again when you get off. And when you roll over they get bounced about.

those vango ones look a pretty good deal

If the ambient night time temp is quite cool then you will have a cold night on an inflatable mattress. As mentioned above your body will try and heat up the air which is contained within the mattress. Not a drama though if you are going to be camping in the summertime when the temp should be higher.

For ultimate comfort in cooler climbs try putting a thermarest on top of an airbed / or campbed. This gives you the best of both worlds, i.e. insulation and comfort.