Find the right Mattress Our Mattress Selection Guide takes your priorities and turns them into choices in three easy steps Camp Quilts And Tech Blankets Choosing the Right Sleeping Bag: Part 1—Understanding EN Temperature Ratings Learn about the EN 13537 Standard. Choosing the Right Sleeping Bag: Part 2—Down Vs. Synthetic Sleeping Bags Is a down sleeping bag or a synthetic sleeping bag best for YOUR style of camping? Air Mattresses And Cool Temperatures Camping air mattresses don't insulate wellAlthough camping air mattresses are great cushions, they are poor insulators.A sleeping bag on an air mattress works well for most summer camping and in moderate temperatures. Keeping excess heat from building up allows campers to sleep more comfortably.However, on cool evenings or at higher elevations, campers may find themselves struggling to stay warm, while lying in a sleeping bag on an air mattress.The large air cavity in the mattress allows air to move around inside, transferring heat from the body to the ground, and warm air cannot build up against the body to keep it comfortable.
On cold nights, a sleeping bag or blanket on an air mattress probably will not insulate enough. The bottom of the sleeping bag will be compressed by body weight and will not be able to trap warm air between the fibers or down. The air mattress cannot trap warm air, either.This has been an ongoing problem with air mattresses and cold nights: even though campers may be in a very well insulated sleeping bag, the body chills from below.A tip to stay warm on an air mattressCamping equipment manufacturers have developed a solution to the problem of compression defeating insulation: the self-inflating pad, which does not compress much and therefore retains its insulating property.By placing a thin, self-inflating pad on top of an air mattress, the pad will insulate by trapping warm air against the body, and campers will sleep warm and very comfortable, even on a cold night.Even a fairly narrow, 20" wide, 3/4-length, self-inflating pad, which does not extend under the lower legs, can insulate enough to make a camper comfortable on an air mattress on a cool night.
These pads would normally be too small to be used as a sleeping cushion by most leisure tent campers, unless they are children. Socks and a few unneeded clothes under the foot of the sleeping bag can assist in keeping your feet warmer.A quality sleeping bag will loft and trap warm air above the camper.For campers with good circulation, some of the excess heat retained in the trunk of the body will be transferred via the bloodstream to the extremities, and that is often enough to keep the lower legs and feet comfortable.The self-inflating pad also does not need to be as wide as the air mattress. The gaps between the pad edge and the mattress edge can even make for more comfort by allowing a bit of excess heat to escape so campers don't get too warm—especially if they are otherwise well-insulated.If the self inflating pad has a smooth top, the gaps to the sides allow the sleeping bag to rest on the flocking of the air mattress and stay in place better.Other solutions for sleeping warmerIn a bind, laying clothing between the sleeping bag and air mattress will improve the situation.
In an emergency, a sheet or corrugated cardboard or several sheets of newspaper will also help. These can be placed under the air mattress to reduce heat transfer from the body through the air mattress to the ground.Air mattress losing pressure on cold nightsA big drop in air temperature between the time of day when the mattress was inflated and the coldest part of night may cause the mattress to become noticeably less firm.If you are expecting a drop in temperature of 20-30 degrees or more, inflate the air mattress more firm to compensate.On a cold night, some of camper's perspiration will pass through the bottom of the sleeping bag and condense on the tufted points of the camping air mattress.The body perspires even while sleeping, and some of the perspiration will condense on cold surfaces.Since the tufted dimples of the air mattress are drawn away from the heat of the camper's body, they can become cold enough for perspiration to condense there.In the morning remove the sleeping bag and let the condensation on the pad or mattress evaporate.
This will keep camping sleep gear in good condition for more camping trips.When extended family descend for the festive season, like modern-day innkeepers, we must find room for them all.But while the term ‘air-bed’ was once synonymous with lack of sleep, today’s inflatable mattresses are so comfy your guests may stay well into the New Year.Here, ALICE SMELLIE grabbed the electric pump and tested out six... This clever blow-up bed can be used as a single or a double bed and took just under two minutes to inflate Two single mattresses that can be used alone or zipped together to form a double bed. Alternatively, stack one on top of the other and fasten together with the attached straps to make a thicker mattress.Each bed is 19cm high, 188cm long and 74cm wide and weighs 3.3kg. It took just under two minutes to inflate both with my electric pump. Alice says she found the bed perfectly comfortable and airtight, but commented that it was close to the ground The word ‘convertible’ conjures up images of luxury cars, but this bed is sadly less than five-star and the mattresses look grey and limp when lying unmade-up.
I found them perfectly comfortable - though if you sleep like a starfish you’ll find your hands and feet on the floor because it’s so low. But in terms of versatility, they’re genius. Put two small children in different rooms, separate grumpy teenagers or sleep in solitary luxury on the double mattress. A double-lock valve ensures they’re airtight. Easy to deflate by pulling out the valves, then roll up small. I even manage to fit it back into the box. This bed stands almost half a metre off the ground, keeping bottoms well protected from cold stone floors or carpets scattered with pine needles. It took Alice six minutes to inflate using her pump including unwrappingAn astonishingly large and light bed weighing just 3.5kg. It stands almost half a metre off the ground, keeping bottoms well protected from cold stone floors or carpets scattered with pine needles.: 47cm high, 198cm long and 137cm wide. It took six minutes to inflate using my pump - including unwrapping and unfolding.
I had low expectations because it looked so small when deflated, but this is the Doctor Who Tardis of the air-bed world.When tucked into the little carry wrap it hardly looks large enough for a toddler, never mind a teenager or aunt. However, when inflated it expands quite astonishingly into a high and full-sized double bed, which feels sturdy and as comfortable as though spending the night on a well-sprung mattress. The brushed polyester surface makes it feel deliciously velvety and it doesn’t have the strong plastic scent familiar to other beds.This extra surface on top of the PVC also makes the bed more puncture resistant, lighter and stronger - with 32 coils of PVC within it to provide structure. It’s fairly easy to let the air out and wrestle the bed back to its small form. I used my body weight to push it down and was almost, but not quite, able to squish it back into the bag. A massive green inflatable sofa with drinks holders, which folds out into a double air bed.71cm high, 231cm long and 193cm wide, which makes it bigger even than a super kingsize.
12 minutes, including 30 seconds of removing my sweater as I got so hot manhandling this behemoth. The Whopper is a massive green inflatable sofa with drinks holders, which folds out into a double air bed This huge bed needs two people to get it through the door once inflated. Lying on it, it feels a little unstable - as though my buttocks might soon make contact with the floor - and I wonder whether it might lose air, especially if people bounce around on it as my children did.Fantastic if you want to put loads of kids in front of the telly or for a nap, while grown-ups chat on Christmas afternoon. Though the air is released easily enough, folding this back to its initial packing size appears impossible. I end up staring in despair at a great heap of green plastic. The Aerobed Platinum takes just four minutes to assemble, including putting on sheets, and uses a remote This looks and feels like a luxurious double bed when made-up - both in height and quality of bounce. Comes with a valance and a padded top sheet.56cm high, 188cm long, 137cm wide.
Four minutes, including putting on sheets. It comes with a plug-in internal motor and remote control, which inflates it within a minute and a half.Should it go down at all (I don’t think it will), you can re-inflate to the perfect firmness by simply pressing the button for a few seconds. Alice says this blow up bed is the most bed-like air bed she has ever seen and that it is very comfortable‘Why have you put a double bed in the hall?’ asks my husband irritably. Of course I haven’t. This is simply the most bed-like air bed I’ve ever seen.As well as being comfortable, it’s recommended for those with bad backs, for whom a change of bed can mean days of discomfort. Press the deflate button and within a couple of minutes the bed is flat. I just about manage to fold it into its bag. The ReadyBed blue airbed double is a basic, blow-up mattress that slots into a material pocket beneath an all-in-one sleeping bag, saving you the faff of sorting sheets, pillows and a duvet A basic, blow-up mattress that slots into a material pocket beneath an all-in-one sleeping bag, saving you the faff of sorting sheets, pillows and a duvet.20cm high, 180cm long
Though it comes with its own battery-operated pump, I decide it will be quicker to use my own. It’s suggested that it only takes a minute to blow up, but takes me 14, including an interim where I remove the pump nozzle and all the air shoots out like a wind machine. There is a clearly a technique I cannot master. Alice Smellie thinks the built-in duvet is an excellent idea, but it’s too thin for winter, so you might need extra bedding anyway. However, she loves the fact that the bedding is easily machine washableThis looks exciting - making-up beds is tedious. Once I have wrestled the plastic mattress into the pocket, I clamber on.Because of my hopeless inflation, my buttocks hover perilously close to our stone floor. The built-in duvet is an excellent idea, but it’s too thin for winter, so it might need extra bedding anyway. I love that it’s machine washable, though. Incredibly easy to deflate and I can fit both cover and bed back into the bag. This mattress took took five minutes to inflate with its own in-built pump and folds itself up with one button Stored in a massive suitcase-like box, simply unzip, plug in to the mains and watch as the bed expands to full size all by itself.