Re: Blow up mattress
Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:14 am
I find those electric air pumps really irritating. If I heard one in the backcountry I'd fold up my tent and walk a couple of miles.
There are better solutions. I used to take a big roll of high quality 3" foam, cut to fit the floor of the tent. We had sheets too... just for car camping though. I'm sure it was lighter than 10lbs, for two people, but would be really bulky strapped to a pack. It would more than fill a pack.
I replaced that eventually with one of the Thermarest luxury models. I think it's 2 1/2" thick, full length, wide. It's heavy and bulky but less so than the foam. I know one guy with a bad back who carried that model on ski trips. For him the weight was well worth it. I used mine car camping and was a godsend after a day of trying to climb offwidths in yosemite. When you're sore you really want a real pad, not some narrow 3/4 length UL joke.
Both the 3" foam and that luxury pad were expensive though. I imagine the all-too-ubiquitous electric inflatables are super cheap chinese walmart items.
There are better solutions. I used to take a big roll of high quality 3" foam, cut to fit the floor of the tent. We had sheets too... just for car camping though. I'm sure it was lighter than 10lbs, for two people, but would be really bulky strapped to a pack. It would more than fill a pack.
I replaced that eventually with one of the Thermarest luxury models. I think it's 2 1/2" thick, full length, wide. It's heavy and bulky but less so than the foam. I know one guy with a bad back who carried that model on ski trips. For him the weight was well worth it. I used mine car camping and was a godsend after a day of trying to climb offwidths in yosemite. When you're sore you really want a real pad, not some narrow 3/4 length UL joke.
Both the 3" foam and that luxury pad were expensive though. I imagine the all-too-ubiquitous electric inflatables are super cheap chinese walmart items.