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Comfortable Camping with Air Mattresses
If you love camping (and why wouldn't you) you know that it's the kind of activity where you take the good with the bad. The joy of the outdoors, nature, fresh air and sleeping under the stars can just as often be summed up as voluntary torture. Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate, the equipment fails and the ground is a cold, hard reminder of the comfort in which you could be sleeping if you'd just had the sense to stay home. Of course, had you stayed home, you'd be missing out on all that nature. The mosquitoes, spiders, tics, sudden storms, poison ivy, ah nature. Think of all the lonely vermin.
Lucky for them, there are those who won't let things like crippling diseases, poisonous insects, vicious animals or life-threatening weather deter them from a camping trip. Goodness, no. Those things (and the great stories that result from epic adventures) are what makes a trip worthwhile. As long as the story can end with, "and that's how I narrowly escaped certain death," it's all good. A couple wet matches, a sharp knife and some twine are all these die-hards need (or want) to make it through the trip. And if need be, they can make their own twine.
The flip side of those guys who revel in giardia, trench foot, blood-sucking bugs, golf-ball-sized hail, marauding beasts and avalanche-prone camp sites are the haul-it-all crowd. If it fits in the recreational vehicle, it's camping equipment, if it doesn't, attach a trailer to the RV or tie it to the roof and it's still camping equipment. A bad camping trip for one of these types is poor satellite reception at the campsite. Or maybe the hot water isn't hot enough. The philosophy here is that if they really want to be immersed in the wilderness experience they can just watch Survivor Man on their in-camper flat-screen TV.
Now I appreciate both perspectives and have enjoyed time in both camps (if you'll pardon the pun). Now, however, I'm right there with the majority of campers and fall comfortably in the middle. I want to get away from beeping electronics and gadgets and annoying bosses but I'd rather not share my sleeping bag with snakes and have no interest in eating grubs and drinking my own urine to survive until rescuers find me. Most of us are content to leave the caviar at home, but want a decent meal at camp. We don't need an extension cord for a portable space heater but a warm sleeping bag is a necessity. We're not going to build our own shelter or sleep in a luxury RV, but a good dry tent is a must.
The simple rule for middle-ground campers who don't want to do one-on-one combat with the wild life or worry about where our travel-along masseuse will sleep is that, if we can carry it on our hike to our campsite, it's fair game. Factors such as the distance we have to travel, our own stamina and the type of terrain we'll be navigating tend set the limits of what we'll bring along. But, even so, most of us have a couple "essential" items. I define these as luxuries we could do without but prefer not to. In my case, great food and great sleep are those items.
Now, truth told, I cheat a little on the great food. I make it a habit of camping with a friend who happens to be a fantastic cook. While I'm running through my check-list of dehydrated edibles, this guy invariably spends his time ensuring he'll have everything he'll need (including spices in marked sandwich bags) to cook up some amazing risotto or orange chicken. The man is a wizard, I tell you. As for the second item, great sleep, I actually have to carry that in myself in the form of an air mattress bed.
Now the spoiled side of me would be thrilled if I could have my Select Comfort air mattress air lifted to my chosen camping destination. I own one and I'm a big fan but that's not exactly practical nor a middle-ground approach to camping. When I say air mattress bed, I mean a modern, compact, self-inflating camping air mattress.
Back in the day (when you get to my age you're allowed to use that phrase) comfortable sleeping meant spreading your sleeping bag over a cozy foam sleeping pad. These things weren't comfortable or cozy, doing little more for me than keeping me lightly insulated from the cold ground and spreading the pain caused by a lump or rock over a larger area of my body. I think that's supposed to be better. My camping pals and I called these things better-than-nothing pads because they were a sliver of a step above bare-ground sleeping. When camping air mattress beds came out they were bulky affairs and prone to puncturing or deflating. Larger than their foam counterparts, they were hardly worth substituting for the limited additional comfort they afforded. They were also a pain to inflate.
As it tends to do, technology moves forward and, today, we have modern air mattresses for camping that are light years ahead of those first efforts. Today's air beds are made of astoundingly durable materials. Even better, they are almost entirely self-inflating, though I still add one or two lungs full of air to them for that extra plush feel. Despite the comfort they afford, these beds also compact down to as small a size as their foam counterparts. Perhaps most important, they are substantially more comfortable than foam models which can compress to virtual uselessness through the night which entirely defeats their purpose.
Even those with delicate backs and sensitive joints can probably find an air mattress bed they can not only hike with, but will find downright luxurious compared to what they might have endured in the past. But, if you are the type who likes to drive and park at a camp site, you can take luxury to obscene levels. Custom air mattress beds designed specifically for certain model pickup truck beds and SUVs make for a fabulous night of sleep. Relieved of the burden of having to carry your bed on your back and blessed with the convenience of car adapters for automatic inflation, the sky really is the limit. If so inclined, you can be sleeping on 4, 6 or even 8 inches of comfy air.
For those who still insist that you haven't really been camping until you've slept on the bare ground in winter in blizzard conditions while wrestling a lion, to each their own, Rambo. Come to think of it, you're exactly the guy I want sleeping next to me in the wilderness. When a bear attacks, one of us (me) will be well rested and quick enough on their feet to escape. The other guy, well, think of all the cool scars you'll have to brag about after the trip.
About the Author Richard is a contributing author to several camping and outdoors blogs including www.airmattressbedsguide.com. Come find the right camping air mattress bed or every day air mattress for your needs.
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