It’s been at least 15 years since I slept in a tent. Used to just sleep on a cheap roll up mat on the ground and recall not getting much sleep.

Now I’ve got a young family I’m thinking of buying a bigger family tent such as a montana 6, but this time I want to be as comfortable as possible. So what is the best option for a crap sleeper who likes a bit of comfort? Camp beds, air beds, thermarests etc.

Camp Beds

Car camping?
Thermarest type mats (plenty of cheaper heavier & thicker ones) which insulate better. Air beds are all born crap.
Sleeping bags are good but now we normally just take the duvets from the bed.

Proper stove for cooking helps (2 burner gas one), lights, folding table & chairs so you can get your arse off the floor.

Also a decent pub nearby goes a long way to help.

Might struggle to get it into the back of your average family estate car though

If you are sharing a bed with your other half then avoid a double airbed at all costs. Every time one person moves the other gets bounced around like a bouncy castle. Two single airbeds side by side eliminate that problem, with a fitted sheet over to hold them together, then duvet and pillows. I have occasionally felt cold with airbeds though (whichever side of me is against the airbed gets cold) so as mikewsmith says thermarests or similar, with foam inside for insulation, can be a good alternative. Still recommend normal bedding through, instead of sleeping bags.

For car camping I use cheap closed cell foam mats underneath a chunky thermarest mat. The two foam mats lay side by side and are taped together with some duct tape. They pretty much fit the floor of the tent and they stay down all the time so moving around inside the tent is always comfy and they keep it a little better insulated.

I tried a big inflatable mattress (the sort you keep as a spare for house guests) and it was far less comfortable than the thermarests due to the ridges in the thing.

I also use an inflatable pillow when i remember to pack it.

I use a sleeping bag, but normally leave it unzipped and use it like a blanket, the last time I actually used it like a proper sleeping back was an icy December in snowdonia. I guess most of the time normal bedding would work for my needs but I’ve got spare sleeping bags and I’ve no spare duvets so I use what I’ve got.

Gone from a double air bed to 2 of these camp beds for £10 each. really comfortable for the price, not very big if you’re on the larger side.

Nice thick thermarest type things here. Got sick of self deflating air beds. Even if our thermarest a go down, they are still comfy.

For car camping we have a double air bed and a duvet, normal pillows too.
Spotty dog IMHO.
Bikepacking wise a thermarest Neoair, and a nice down Dossbag..

If you can find one, the luxury version of the Nemo Tuo air mat is awesomely comfortable. It’s horizontally split into two compartments: the lower one you inflate hard to protect from the ground, the upper you run cushy and soft for comfort. Works brilliantly.

You could do something similar by running a thinner Therm-a-Rest or similar over a closed cell form mat of the Karrimat type. If you try running a pair of Therm-a-Rests like this, they tend to slide about ime. The big plus of the self-inflating mats over straight air beds is that the foam inside them stops convention currents within the mattress, which is what tends to make them feel cool in anything other than warm weather.

extra thick thermarest type things are very good for all the reasons stated above. Alpkit fat airic for me.

I do a lot of camping, some mith mrsmr, some solo, in all seasons. This means have tried most options available over the last decade. I like a firm bed and sleep on side mostly. Enough rum makes me sleep on my back. YMMV

Findings:

Metal framed folding camp beds – unless very small person, they are narrow, heavy/bulky to transport, and only good for sleeping on back.

Double air mattresses: Can’t see anything good about them except (false) economy IMO. They are cold, bouncy, need a pump, take ages to inflate, are vulnerable to puncture, and any movement or mid-sleep exits means the sleeping partner gets woken by the shocking bouncy nonsense.

Single ‘ribbed’ budget airbed – ie. Multimat Camper Air: OK solo packing at a pinch, easy to inflate, easy to adjust to good compromise (not too bouncy, not too flat) – but narrow and slippery, ie always slide off. Ok in a small solo tent but needs extra insulation (foam mat underneath for instance)

Self inflating mats: Cheap thin ones often let you down and aren’t too warm
Good ones ie Thermarest are my chosen route in most situations solo bikepacking/backpacking

Mid-range thick (5cm-10cm) self inflating comfort mats (ie Vango DLX 7.5cm) are awesome, very comfortable and long-lasting IME

(Double options are often suspect as tend to be narrower than two singles, and again means that the heavier partner squeezes air over to the lighter partner’s side)

Just ordered two ‘Grand Canyon’ 7.5cm in wide sizes for extended trip car camping. Will see how they fare, currently looking at ways to join together, could be a duct tape underneath job or a heath robinson with double fitted sheet and straps. To date have used Vango DLX 7.5cm for some years but only had one and it finally died after heavy tear on a nail. in shed. Weirdly it’s still more comfortable to sleep on than most other stuff,even with a big chunk missing.

In short: quality, thick, self inflating mats I find are always the better option for camping by car. Thermarest Prolite or similar best for back/bikepacking.

(Have never tried neoair or downmats so can’t comment)

We’ve been using a double air bed for at least 10 years for camping in the big tent. We’ve gone through two in that time, last one punctured. If we have an electric hook up we use a bigish electric pump to inflate it, if not we have a small pump which runs off the car.

We use sleeping bags.

I’ve never had a bad nights sleep on an airbed, I’ve never noticed the ‘bouncing around’ thing to be an issue, nor have I ever been cold.

For small tent camping we use alpkit fat eric airbeds, and whilst they’re comfortable they’re nowhere near as comfortable as an airbed.

We’ve also tried camping beds, they’re okay but bits of metal tent to poke into you unless you sleep on your back all night and don’t move.

PSA: Air mattresses are allegedly rubbish for sexytime*

*Unless:
A – You actually prefer the 6inch crawlspace bailout option at the side, or
B – You are a God-like tantric superbeing.

+1

And for those that are extra fussy there are options

http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/coleman-comfort-airbed-double.html

http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/campingaz-convertible-quickbed.html

Thermarest +1 excellent, even my wife will camp if she’s got her Thermarest with her 🙂

We have that very airbed druidh has linked (the Coleman). I can confirm you don’t get the bouncy around thing with it. We use a pump that charges from the car battery on the way and has enough to blow it up, and suck all the air out (almost essential to get it back into the bag in which it comes) when packing for home.

Family camping and we currently use a double airbed and this double sleeping bag:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-starlight-double-sleeping-bag-p292631
The sleeping bag is brilliant. Very comfy, warm and spacious. We left ours undone almost to the bottom on each side, making it like a duvet with a bottom (but takes up far less room – still big though). The airbed isnt great, but not bad either. Very quick to inflate with a proper inflator http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9152856.htm
Doesnt bounce much, but I still dont get a great nights sleep. I’m thinking of getting us a fancy double airbed, like http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/outwell-flocked-excellent-double-airbed.html.

When on my own I use a Vango 7.5DLX mat and single sleeping bag – no more comfy than a single airbed really. Also the mat takes up more room when folded up, more room than my tent!

My mrs, who really doesn’t enjoy camping described my use of the exped mats last time I took her as “not as rubbish as I expected”. That’s akin to the response most of us had to watching road bike party.

Usually go for couple of foam bed rolls on floor with thermarest ontop then duvet and sleeping bag if chilly, that’s in the van awning and a touch excessive as I have a bad back.

Ive got the same as Dobbo above, little campbeds and really comfy. Tried everything else and nothing worked

We use 7cm Outwell self inflating mats, and they’re very good. A big advantage over the thinner ones is you can leave them fairly soft, and still sleep on your side without your hip digging right through. Double airbeds are total rubbish.

http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/coleman-comfort-airbed-double.html

Another vote from me. Use this one car camping.Very comfortable, no ridges, no cold spots.

For lightweight I’ve used Karrimats, Thermarests and Exped Downmats. Exped are best but a bit of a faff blowing up with the supplied bag/pump.

My mrs, who really doesn’t enjoy camping described my use of the exped mats last time I took her as “not as rubbish as I expected”.

We camp all year round and in some fairly daft places after long days. Expeds were a complete game changer for us after years on thermarests. I still don’t sleep very well in bad weather in winter…but I’m always comfortable, which makes being confined to a sleeping bag for 14 hours after a hard day much more bearable.

Clearly, what it offers can be achieved for less if you’re car camping…but if you actually head off anywhere without your car, you’d struggle to beat it for cost/warmth/weight/comfort/durability.

My trick for perfect comfort with expeds is to inflate fully and keep the valve at the same end as your head. Get in your sleeping bag, sort yourself out, then lie on your back and put your hands behind your head until you can feel the release valve. Gently pull it open just enough to let air squeeze out (don’t pull it right off!!) then pop it back in just before your butt touches the ground. If you sit up, your backside will be touching the floor, but when you lie on it you’ll be perfectly balanced and utterly comfortable. The fact that it is not fully inflated doesn’t affect the insulation rating (I had exped confirm this).

Double airbeds are total rubbish.

Clearly you’ve only ever experienced ‘rubbish double airbeds’.

My long term experience is completely different.

http://www.millets.co.uk/equipment/sleeping/sleeping-mats-airbeds/

We’ve recently spent a week on a double one of these. Superb, no bouncing, not clammy, no cold spots plus it came with its own pump and quick to pump up with the car. It didn’t need reflating. At that price they’re almost disposable.

I’m sure camp beds are wonderful but I would be a bit concerned about those feet on a groundsheet. Plus my nose would probably be touching the roof.

Mudmuncher you should definitely get the Montana 6 . I bought one 3 years ago . It’s massive

Thanks for the tips.

Looks like a good self inflating mat is the way to go. Thinking of the 2 below because they are both extra wide, the exped ones can also be zipped together. Suspect the outwell one is made by exped as it looks similar and has the same dimensions

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/outwell-dreamboat-single-p296137
Or push the boat out and get….
http://www.downsleepingbag.co.uk/sleeping-bags/Exped-Mega-Mat-10-LXW-Sleeping-Mat-X32205061.html?source=googlebase#.U-XKHcu9KSM

Still going for the Montna 6 tent, but wondering if there will be better deals on the tent, mats etc. as the summer season draws to a close.

Go for the down mat. They are every bit as comfortable as people say