Camping foo

[Pamela]

I am preparing my camping equipment and find that I need new stuff.

I replaced some of my gear, added some other and deleted a few too.

Now, question: Does anyone else here camp regularly and if you do, can you recommend a good ground pad? I have tried air mattresses and they are fine for overnight, on grass, if I remember the batteries.

I like solid, closed-cell foam the best. Lightweight, soft yet firm and inexpensive. My pad was an old GI issue pad, 3/8" thick but a mouse got into it and it now has holes. I never really liked it anyway; I always felt every rock and root.

Suggestions?

[monster]

We camp regularly. We use airbeds because we've gone soft. I've have friend who use the thicker yoga/exercise mats over pads intended for camping. They cost about $15 in the sports section. I'm not sure why they prefer them

I'm so much help, aren't I?

Question though .....why would you not pack your battery at the same time as the mattress?

[sexobon]

Since my days in SF, living out of a rucksack for extended periods, I've always gone modular by carrying two ground covers: a USGI closed cell foam pad and a USGI air mattress (Therm-a-Rest manufactured). The air mattress gets rolled up tight, the foam pad gets rolled up around it, and they're lashed to the outside of the pack together.

Deployed, the closed cell foam pad is used on bottom to take abrasion while the air mattress is placed on top to reduce pressure points for comfort.

In case of severe weather (getting caught in a torrential downpour, hail, high winds with airborne debris), I carry extra long bungee cords on my pack frame to strap around the pads near both ends and a couple places in the middle. The stretch of the bungees allows me to crawl in between the pads with the closed cell foam above for overhead protection while the air mattress below still keeps me off wet ground. The long edges of the pads can come together on the windward side to make an extremely low profile expedient lean to.

Now all you have to do is find some good prices. Periodically there are some great buys online if you've got the time to look for them.

[Griff]

I use the Thermarest pad. I wonder if throwing a yoga pad over the top of it might improve things since sleeping bags tend to slide off those pads.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Griff

I use the Thermarest pad.

For those days when your vaj gets too hot and sweaty?

[monster]

Originally Posted by Griff

I use the Thermarest pad. I wonder if throwing a yoga pad over the top of it might improve things since sleeping bags tend to slide off those pads.

Oh yes, that rings a bell, that might be the reason There are several people who use the yoga pads who would normally buy top-of-the-line appropriate camping gear, that would make sense

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by Pamela

I always felt every rock and root.

Suggestions?

Pam, I never went in for the air mattresses. I've pretty much gave up tents, too. If I go on a genuine 'camping trip', I'll take a small tent.

I keep one of these,



mostly the chair, in GrandCherokeeOne all the time. If I get a little drunk while at my spot on the river, I just whip out the chair, and viola!, camp is set up, thirty seconds, max. I'm already marinated in DEET, so no need for a tent. There's a blanket in the Jeep all the time, too, if it gets chilly.

If I know I'm spending the night on the river, I might take the cot.

I bought a really cheap, really thick comforter at Big Lots a few years ago. It makes a good pad for the tent floor, but, you'll still feel the lumps and bumps of the ground.

[Pamela]

Good ideas all. I also had another driver suggest a piece of high density foam from an upholsterer. I would need something to protect from abrasion still, but I like that one, also my original idea of a pad from a chaise lounge, but those are so bulky!

[BigV]

I'm in deep FAWET right now preparing for my next camping trip. This trip will involve plenty of hiking, but we'll be staying in the chalet when we're not hiking hut to hut, so on this trip, no sleeping pad is required.

What I've learned from sleeping on the ground, usually in a tent, is that a big, fluffy air mattress is not nearly as warm as a smaller, thinner inflatable pad, mostly because that's a LOT of air to heat up, and I tend to roll off of them since they can't be inflated enough to make them firm near the edges. I'd stay away from air mattresses.

Face it, you only want to be off the ground (you really do want to be off the ground, the ground is going to be colder than you and stay colder than you, all night long), but the difference in being a fraction of an inch off the ground and being a couple inches off the ground matters not at all to your pressure points (I'm generally a side sleeper and my hip and shoulder are the most likely to bottom out). sexobon's suggestion for two pads, one closed cell pad on the bottom where it's most likely to be abraded and a second inflatable pad on top for comfort/insulation is deluxe. I usually only use my Therm-a-rest. I have a three-quarter length pad, about an inch thick. I use such a small pad because I only need to keep my core off the floor, my feet are usually ok, or I rest them on a bag of stuff/clothes. The main reason for the smaller pad is that I like the lighter weight for backpacking. If I'm car camping, a larger pad, or even a pair as above is luxury.

I usually inflate my pad as full as I can blow it up, then lie on it with the screw valve near my head. I lie on the pad in my sleeping position and bleed out a tiny amount of air until I can feel the pad sag a little in the middle under my hip. Too much air in the pad makes it too firm and I feel like I'm gonna roll off of it. Too little air and I bottom out, then I need to get off the pad and blow it up some more and start over. Just right for me feels like a little bit of depression under my hip, enough that it feels like I have to roll uphill a little to move around. Natually, your "sleep number" may vary.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by BigV

... sexobon's suggestion for two pads, one closed cell pad on the bottom where it's most likely to be abraded and a second inflatable pad on top for comfort/insulation is deluxe. ..

Oh, most certainly. For what I was doing one wants the most effective weapon, chow, and sleep accoutrements one can carry. There are priorities of work even during down time: weapons maintenance, chow, and sleep - in that order. When there's only a few hours each day to accomplish it all, for days on end, quality of sleep becomes a health concern of which comfort is a component. The aforementioned combination has worked for me on icy mountain and desert sand. For Pam, that translates into 4 season effectiveness which when carried in milder weather accommodates unforeseen changes.

A person can certainly make do with less for just camping over a long weekend. During woodland survival training where all I had was my uniform, I made a lean to out of fallen branches, brush, and slept on a pine needle mattress. What is 3/4 length pad I don't even.

A couple of other considerations:

Some backpackers, especially those going off the beaten path, are adopting the current military modular backpack approach using a main pack with a quick-detachable patrol pack. The military uses it to increase speed and maneuverability as needed. Civilians use it for storing emergency essentials to quickly lighten the load of someone who's become acutely ill or injured; but, still has to hike out or be carried out. For dual ground insulation carry, the closed cell foam pad is attached to the main pack and the air mattress is attached to the patrol pack.

As people age, they look for comfort measures to accommodate their physiological changes and enhance their quality of outdoor life. Loss of musculature and subcutaneous tissue can increase discomfort over bony prominences, joints can be painful at the end of the day even when static, and people aren't as psychologically inclined to tough out situations so much anymore if they don't have to just to get close to nature. The two pad carry that worked well for me in my past profession still works well for me in my present recreation. What a deal, money well spent.

BTW, for those who slide off their air mattresses, there are thin textured non-slip polymer sheets on the market that are tacky on both sides. They're used to keep bed linen in hospitals and nursing homes from sliding so mobility impaired patients don't accidently slide with the linen off the edges of their beds and fall. Two or three 1 sq. ft. polymer sheets should keep a sleeping bag on an air mattress.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

For those days when your vaj gets too hot and sweaty?

Does this meet our current definition of a cunty comment?

[lumberjim]

No. This was just another poor attempt at levity. A pun, but a bloody weak pun.

[monster]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

No. This was just another poor attempt at levity. A pun, but a bloody weak pun.

ouch

[Pamela]

Another suggestion via pm which bears thought... a good hammock. I may carry one just for the variety, given the various terrain that I may encounter. I feel that sleeping a bit higher in snake country is advisable.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I've found sleeping in a hammock difficult because I don't sleep well on my back. Any other position leaves me sore in the morning from the hammock's curve.