We haven’t been able to squeeze in a camping trip so far this summer holidays, but I’m hoping to persuade Husband to have a few nights towards the end of August, along with a weekend with some friends of ours and their little camper van. If the weather continues to play ball then we might get lucky, so please keep your fingers crossed.
But while we haven’t been camping, we have been to stay with family and that meant sleeping on our camping air beds. We’ve spent the odd night on air beds before but this time we did three consecutive nights and, despite being the right side of my mid-thirties, my hips and back did not thank me for it.
I’m sure I wasn’t too uncomfortable spending a week on only a thin foam mat when I was camping with my family growing up, so how come I feel like I need some kind of surgical intervention when I’ve spent three nights on something which in theory should be comfier?
Perhaps we put too much air in it. Although we have a pretty hard mattress at home so are used to a firm base on which to sleep. And on the second morning when Husband got up with the children I was left with knees touching the floor as his weight no longer displaced the right amount of air – so we had to add some more air ready for the final night.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the boat-like rolling which can happen when there isn’t enough air in the bed and one of you gets up. But I expected to be comfier than I was.
And aside from the comfort there’s the ever-present threat of one of the children bursting one of the beds by throwing themselves on to it like some kind of miniature bouncy castle. I fully expected to hear a loud bang every time we put the kids to bed and threats of them sleeping on the floor if that happened fell on totally deaf ears, sigh.
Still, at least we had an electric pump with which to inflate all three beds. Otherwise I’d have spent about 30 minutes with a foot pump and would have thighs better than Jessica Ennis’. Alright, maybe not better, but as good as. Probably.
So what’s the trick campers? Do we need to try out the mysteriously-named SIMs? (I believe that’s short for self-inflating mats). Or is there something else we should be aware of? I hate the idea of a camping bed. I’m convinced I’d just fall right off the side and they look less comfy than sleeping on the floor. Plus, I quite like to sleep with my husband (he’s warm, like my very own hot water bottle).
If you have something which is super-comfy, please do let me know about it. Otherwise we might never camp for more than two nights at a time. There is something in the air, but it’s definitely not love.
All the camping gear... 
We got fed up with air beds, so now we have a couple of memory foam mattress toppers and use them instead. We stick them in the boot underneath all the heavier stuff, which compresses them down a bit, but I guess it depends on how much space you’ve got. We have 5 inches of luxury, but perhaps just one 3″ one would be ok. Worth a think I reckon – air beds are horrible!
Even better, use the foam topper on the airbed. we normally use insulating mats, airbed on top, quilt, us, quilt!
Hi Jack
That sounds like heaven! I used to do the quilt sandwich thing when camping as a teenager. Perhaps age has taken its toll…
Air beds are funny things, they are both the most practical but also the least comfortable of the sleeping options. Brilliant in that they pack away small and provide a degree of comfort but they can be cold and as you say in your blog can be troublesome when sharing a double.
I have tried all the alternatives but ultimately come back to an air bed as nothing else gives as much comfort for so little outlay and takes up so little space in the car. I have tried expensive (very expensive in fact) SIM’s and these are ok but to me they just aren’t padded enough. I have a good airstream one which I use on the odd occasion that I backpack and it’s fine but I wouldnt want to spend more than 1 or 2 nights on it.
Having tried all sorts and gone back to airbeds I have learnt a few things though:
1) Not all air beds are equal. As with all things you get what you pay for, our current Coleman airbed is far superior to the cheaper ones we have had in the past and although dearer than your average Tesco bed it still didnt break the bank. It has a greater number of “cells” or air pockets than the cheaper ones so stays firmer even when only one person is lying on it and is less inclined to deflate during the night. It also has an angled head section which I find gives a more comfortable sleeping position. The one we use now is actually 2 single air beds that zip together into a double. We find that this means that your side of the bed stays up better and you get less of the boat on the water effect when one person gets up.
2) Airbeds transmit the cold. Someone could probably tell you the science behind it but from experience I can tell you that the air in the bed is always cold anyway but on a cold night they will transmit the cold from the ground right to your back. This causes your back to tense against the cold and doesnt aid a restful sleep so you need additional layers of insulation. We use cheap plastic backed picnic rugs (you see them in supermarkets, poundshops etc) on the base of the inner tent and then put the air bed on top of these. We then cover the top of the air bed with a fleece blanket, with the sleeping bag on top of this. An old duvet works just as well.
3) A decent pillow is a must. We have inflateable Karrimor pillows which we find very good but other people may prefer a proper pillow from home. I think people tend to use very thin pillows or just cushions as they are less bulky to transport but in my experience a better pillow is worth the penalty.
Hope this helps, happy camping!