Tent mattress recommendations??

fiftyxp · Jul 8, 2019

Sharpish said: ↑

Must be hot in Texas. I've never heard of someone running a generator to power AC to cool a tent.

I hate hearing generators when I'm camping.
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85 at night feels like 95, on the beach mind you...

m603holden · Jul 8, 2019

Worth it.

Exped MegaMat Duo 10 Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad, Ruby Red, Medium https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZK26QF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6eZiDbKYPPJ4H

TacoRD16 · Jul 8, 2019

tonykarter said: ↑

I went through a few air mattresses before I arrived at the combo I use now. First, go with at least a queen size mattress if its going to be two people. If its going to be just one person, go with a queen size mattress! (Ask me how I know.) Believe it or not, it will fit in most dome tents. You'll want a thin one if it's a dome tent. If a higher ceiling tent, then get one that is no less than 18 inches tall, and if possible, get a 20" or a 22" tall one. Makes it much easier to get out of bed in the morning and more like home. This is very important: DO NOT get an air mattress that has longitudinal "tubes". Rather, get the waffle-style top surface. ONLY the waffle-top kind. Also, make sure that it has a flocked top of some sort. This will help hold your bed linens and they won't slide off as easy. Buy two air mattresses. Don't find out you should have a spare on hand at 2am like I did. GET A FLAT MATTRESS, meaning, DO NOT GET ONE WITH A RAISED "PILLOW" across the top.

We are just getting started. Next, go to Bed, Bath and Beyond and buy you a 3-inch memory foam mattress topper, one with a zip-off cover. Spend some money here. Get that 20% off coupon from their website and get you a good one. This goes on top of the air mattress, and the flocked air mattress top clings to the memory foam mattress topper cover. It won't walk from beneath you during the night.

Next, bed linens. I have an old queen-size TravaSak "sleeping bag" with T300 percale sheets that Velcro inside it. These are hard to find, but if you know anyone who full-timed in their camper or motorhome chances are they have an old one you could purchase from them. These were the bee's knees back in the 80's and 90's and anyone who ever tried to make a bed in a motorhome quickly converted to these for convenience. So ask your grandparents and their friends. They sold the motorhome, but they kept this. They probably have one in their attic. There are other queen-size sleeping bags out there, but get one with the sheets that Velcro inside. Much more comfortable.

We drive ourselves hard doing what we do outdoors. After a shower all I want to do is pile into this maximum comfort, not some lumpy sleep reality. The sheets inside the bag really help out here. God knows I did lumpy, "make-do" sleeping arrangements for forty years, and the system I described above is the culmination of everything I have learned. It is more comfortable than my Tempur-Pedic mattress at home. As comfortable as this is, I now sleep in a hammock outside if it is cool, (quicker to set up, just as comfortable) and let my friend's wives sleep in this, especially if the thought of camping puts them off. ALL OF THEM have risen the next morning and start their day with something akin to, "Oh MY God RAY! That's the best night's sleep I have had in a long time." They get their coffee, they go back in the tent and they go back to bed! They all say that the air mattress/memory foam pad combined with the TravaSak is much more comfortable than what they sleep on at home. It changes attitudes about camping for the outdoor-squeamish. My fishing buddy's wife lays in there and laughs out loud, giggling out, "This is SO AWESOME!!!" Of course, the air conditioner doesn't hurt, or the wall-to-wall carpet...

One last thing...air mattresses can be cold. (That A/C will drive it down to 58 in there in the early morning hours, even in the summer.) I can snuggle-bunny real good at 58. Love it like that. Sleep GOOD at 58. The memory foam helps keep the cold from creeping under you. However, if you are going lower than that, say, below freezing there is one other trick I learned. Get a queen-size electric blanket. Put it on the floor of the tent above the carpet and UNDER the air mattress. It will warm the air in the air mattress and you can be toasty down into the teens. Again, ask me how I know.

Here is a picture of the set-up, just the corner of the air mattress and you can see the TravaSak. That's one of the sheets on top of the TravaSak. You can see the white velcro on the tan sheet. That's carpet on the tent floor. I don't glamp, but I make sure I am comfortable.

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Where did you pick up the AC tent skirt and stand? Love camping but an AC is almost a must for the Houston and coastal camping. What size generator do you use or recommend?

tonykarter · Jul 8, 2019

Must be hot in Texas. I've never heard of someone running a generator to power AC to cool a tent.

I hate hearing generators when I'm camping.
Click to expand...

It IS hot in Texas.

Now you have.

If you can hear my generator, you pitched camp too damn close to me. It's a Honda for Christ's sake, the quietest generator made. More quiet than a normal conversation.

Where did you pick up the AC tent skirt and stand? Love camping but an AC is almost a must for the Houston and coastal camping. What size generator do you use or recommend?
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https://acboot.com/ (The page loads slowly. Give it time to fully populate.) I recommend the EU3000 Honda. It is even more quiet than mine. Will push the big 12K window units too.

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Tent mattress recommendations??

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