Every spring the battle of comfortable camping takes center stage. The debate of the inflatable mattress vs. folding camping cot is the main consideration. The outcome of the debate depends a lot on what form of camping you plan to do.
If you are either on a biking or hiking trip, weight and storage space is a big consideration. The tent shelter on this type of trip will be a small two-man pop-up style. Generally this form of tent is too small for even a regular size inflatable mattress. Most folding camping cots require a framework that weighs too much to transport in a backpack or in bicycle panniers. The nod may go to an individual-sized mini inflatable mattress just large enough to slip under the sleeping bag and suitable to put enough space between you and the cold ground.
Twin Sized Mattress
The next form of camping may include an on-the-go itinerary, but you plan to travel from campsite to campsite with your car or truck. Again the packing consideration is to keep weight and storage space to a minimum, but there is a possibility of carrying either the inflatable mattress or the folding camping cot. Your consideration now may turn to your age.
As one grows older, the joints begin to offer their objections to bending and climbing up out of a bed that is lying upon the ground. The inflatable mattress vs. folding camping cot debate may find the cot as the winner in this case.
Most affordable inflatable mattresses are generally eight to ten-inches thick when inflated and do a great job of keeping your back off the ground, but only by a mere couple of inches. The folding camping cot, on the other hand, can place the reclining camper approximately twenty-inches off the floor of the tent. This height is much easier for the physically challenged camper to swing out of a comfortable night's sleep on the trail.
Another factor in the inflatable mattress vs. folding camping cot debate is the size of the camper. The dimensions of the average folding camping cot are 74-inches long by 25-inches wide. A more robust hiker, biker, hunter, or vacationing-camper that measure over six feet two inches tall and weighs in over two hundred fifty pounds is going to have to opt for a heftier size cot. Prices tend to double when that occurs, and the overall weight and storage issues come to bear again.
It is for that matter that some of the newer inflatable mattresses are worth considering. These items are really more like an inflatable bed than just a mattress. They are constructed with two air cells that are stacked upon each other creating an airbed that is twenty-inches high. Sleeping on this type of camping bed is pure luxury. However, you must pay the price of the ability to transport such a device into the field.
So, the inflatable mattress vs. folding camping cot debate may still go on each spring. However, we have learned at least one basic truth in this article. Whatever style of camping your prefer, there is a possibility of a comfortable night's rest awaiting you through either choice you make.