An air mattress will help you to stay warm and comfortable...

An air mattress is a must if your going to be out sleeping in your tent anywhere. There's certainly a variety available and once again you have to figure the type of camping you're going to be doing to properly select an air mattress for your trip. As well there are a variety of prices so you should be aware of what you’re buying.

The right mattress not only gives you comfort from the hard ground but gives you good insulation from the cold ground. They come rated differently and some may not be rated at all. This insulation is in my opinion the factor that is going to give you a good night’s sleep, even more than the actual comfort of it. Most people that are camping for the first time may overlook that fact, so be aware, god insulation gives you warmth and warmth gives you comfort, making your camping trip altogether more enjoyable.

Some folks prefer to use an air mattress that is inflatable via a footpump or by blowing it up using your mouth. They’re probably not too bad to use in the summer but I’ve found that they can be a little difficult to find the “sweet spot” regarding the right amount of air to use. Any time you move your heavier parts are on the ground and as I stated the ground can get cold. Not to mention if you overfill them they’re just not all that comfortable. Also I don’t find them to be that warm. They do get you directly off the ground but it’s difficult to warm up the air in there on a cool night. They are also noisy if you are one to toss and turn in the night.

I have do have several but the air mattress that’s my favorite is a Thermarest and is a self-inflating type of mattress. Now it’s not even an inch thick but it’s one of the best pieces of camping gear that I own. It packs up small and stays packed and is a full length mattress when I’m using it. Because it’s a full length it’s suitable for camping in cooler weather. It’s less than one inch thick and uses a type of expanding foam to inflate the mattress and it compresses nicely for storage when hiking or portaging. Thermarest makes all sorts of mattresses and they vary from affordable to fairly expensive. You can tell that they are a better quality mattress than most just by looking at them though and mine has proven to be very rugged indeed, having used it in spots that I would not even consider to be a campsite. An example of the one I have chosen to use is shown below. Click on it to check out pricing etc. I admit it can appear a tad expensive at first sight but in retrospect, had I spent the money on the Thermarest the first time I would not own as many mattresses as I do now and would have saved some money in the end.

Another one of mine is one that I bought at a Canadian outfitter and is “their version” of a Thermarest air mattress. It’s called an Apogee and is also a very good mattress for the money. I bought it in a ľ length version thinking I was saving weight for my upcoming camping trip that spring. Well there’s pictures on this site of that particular trip, they‘re the ones where everything is snow covered. Needless to say it was quite cool at night. Using the ľ length Apogee my upper body was warm but my feet froze! It was awful. I wore three pairs of socks and was in my sleeping bag and my feet were so cold that it made the rest of my body uncomfortable. So the point is this, when buying a self inflating air mattress, don’t scrimp to save ounces by going to a ľ length from a full length mattress. If it gets cold enough you may (or most probably will) regret it. I’ve kept my ľ length because it’s OK in the dead of summer to use or for a child so I haven’t wasted my money totally. And besides, it’s of similar quality to the Thermarest mattresses so I couldn’t go wrong.

I have a Coleman self inflating mattress too. It’s certainly the most inexpensive of the ones that I own. It’s probably best suited to using at your family campground where you know the lots are level and there will be not even remotely extreme terrain. It’s comfortable and warm and is a good length as well but it is just not as durable as the others are. The foam inside it is not attached to the outer layers and what happened with mine was that I used it on a bit of an incline. As I moved around in my sleep the outer shell twisted around the foam core and caused the seam to run right up the middle of the mattress. It doesn’t pack properly now because I can’t use the compression straps as they’re not properly aligned any longer. Also it doesn’t pack as small or as neatly as the others. Notwithstanding, for most folks, they’re excellent value for the money.

The most important thing is for you to be off the ground. The ground will suck the heat right out of your body and that’s just not fun. So keep in mind that regardless of what you buy, you’re first order of business is to get off the ground. Even a thin Thermarest air mattress is surprisingly comfortable after you’ve been on it for a while.

Another option of course are slabs of foam that come in varying thickness. They tend to be thinner and have less insulating quality and they don’t pack well at all. However they are cheaper and if space is not a problem for you when carrying your gear then it may be a wise choice.

Click the link to return to the top of the air mattress page or click on coleman camping to return to the last page. Go back to the homepage for more info on camping .

footer for air mattress page