Camp Cots / Pads / Mattresses

StomperNJ

Bound is truckless man.
My wife and I used the REI Kingdom Cots for a few years, but since then we've tried to pare down our gear and the amount of room two big cots take up is too much to live with in the back on an Xterra. Now we're using the REI Camp Bed 3.5....I'd say it's 85% of the comfort of a cot with 20% of the room taken up in the truck.
 

jeffjeeptj

Adventurer
Gazelle T4 with 2 Tent-cots and Thermarest pads. Requires carcamping. We leave the Tent-cot with the tent portion folded down. We are both 67 and will be leaving the RV in the yard more often, although, we use the Gazelle setup for a day or two side trip.
 
Love the Tent-Kot with Exped; I mean it doesn't get much more compact and comfy than this setup. With the rainfly, it's absolutely marvelous and straps to the roof, down, and set up in less than 3 minutes!
 

CampStewart

Observer
Yeah that's it, These bed are for Carp fisherman and they use them in the dead of winter, Over here their are at leased a dozen brands of them and most brands make at leased a dozen or Two different models, I bought the Defender model because I had the first model of it and the new one has extra legs and an inbuilt Pillow, they are way better than any Camp bed you can find, Over here and in Europe they must sell about a million of them a year, Carp fisherman love upgrading to the latest model, and they gear they have is incredible, (y)
You must not be in the USA. Being favored by Carp fisherman would be about the worst incentives one could mention here lol.
 

67cj5

Man On a Mission
You must not be in the USA. Being favored by Carp fisherman would be about the worst incentives one could mention here lol.
I've never fished for them myself but in the UK and Europe they love catching them because of the shear size of them, In some countries they even eat them, But so many people fish for them there are a complete line of camping and clothing products made just for Carp Fisherman and you can forget all the big name brands of sleeping bags Bed Chairs and tents, Nothing come close to the Function and Build quality and the style of the Carp fishing Camping gear Bar None. and you can take that to the bank.

My latest Sleeping Bag is at leased 4x better and warmer than anything you can buy on the market and it cost around about 200/250 USD, Due to it's design I have about 9 options with how I can set it up to sleep in and even on it's leased setup I was almost too warm in -3*c / 26*f with 40mph winds.
 

Scoutman

Explorer
For those who use a cot, how do you keep them from squeaking and creaking all night long? We have a few types of cots that we use on occasion and while I love the comfort and coolness of a cot, the noise level is usually what keeps me from getting really good sleep on one.
 
For those who use a cot, how do you keep them from squeaking and creaking all night long? We have a few types of cots that we use on occasion and while I love the comfort and coolness of a cot, the noise level is usually what keeps me from getting really good sleep on one.
Its probably the fabric rubbing on the rails. Get some Teflon or silicone spray. Make sure you get it under the fabric all the way around.
 

Scoutman

Explorer
Its probably the fabric rubbing on the rails. Get some Teflon or silicone spray. Make sure you get it under the fabric all the way around.

Thanks, I have some silicone spray I can try. The cot is a Buyers of Maine Tri-Lite cot so I can pull the folding support poles out and rub them down. Hopefully that works.
 

tatanka48

Active member
when Jeep/Truck/canoe camping Thermarest CampRest is the goto pad

when M/C camping i use an Exped SynMat (grande)

the only cot that fits in my smaller tent is the UltraLite(now owned by ThermaRest) (grande ausi)

since Exped came on the market there are several more inflatables on the mkt w/ insulation which i haven't needed to study

since ThermaRest bought out UltraLite Cots they have changed the design and materials a bit butt my original aint broke so i haven't studied them either

having gathered options over the years i just check the weather before packing whatever is appropriate for it and the conveyance

for the OP's Q i'd give serious consideration to Xped products/pads and size n insulation packages specifically suited ...

the quality and durability of the Original UltraLite cot would have me suggesting consideration of one of the newer ones

"T"
 

67cj5

Man On a Mission
My Carp fishing bed don't squeak, But if you are having troubles with a squeaking camp bed Try putting candle wax on the joints or Rub a bar of Soap on the joints as a second option. and don't use silicone sprays because they will mark or damage your Sleeping Bags,

Hope that helps.
 

OutOfBounds

Adventurer
We have Cabela's Lightweight cots. Pretty low profile and pack down very small. They're a royal pain in the ******** to set up though and I'm still unconvinced the hassle is worth it. Using any other larger, folding cots is a no-go for us though since our tent is a MSR Elixir 3. Just no room.
 
My favorite combo is a Helinox Cot Max with a NEMO Cosmo 3D Insulated Air Pad (XL Max). Those two paired with my down semi-rectangular bag and I rarely miss my bed at home.
 

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