Balloon beds are well comfy. I’ve only had a balloon burst when I was testing it for the first time on the floor at work whilst simulating leaning out of my ‘tent’ to put an imaginary morning brew on the go, the outermost balloon burst!
However, when used inside a bivi bag balloon beds do tend to move around with you as you roll from your back onto your side leaving you with no cushioning. Also I wouldn’t use one for a multi day tour ‘cos I’d get sick of blowing the balloons up every night, but for mountain marathons and one or two night ultra-light bivis they’re great.
Regarding tarps, I prefer them to a tent any day but only now bother putting one up if there’s a danger of rain or a strong cold wind. I bought one of those Alpkit tarps, which is great but TBH, a cheap tarpaulin from a hardware store is not too bad, it’s what I used for years and there’s much less worry about damaging it with a sparky campfire or on sharp branches…
Ok, what’s still left in the wild camping snapshot album then? 😉
A riverside bivi…
Using a Dartmoor wall and a tarp to funnel the cold wind over me…
The dangers of not securing your tarp properly. When Si crashed out the night before there was a layer of nylon between him and the sky…