Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by plasticpepper on May 23, 2014 19:45:34 GMT -5
Hello darlings! Ed and I are thinking of trying something different for our "bed" this year - in the past we've used an air bed but we're fed up with the fact that it takes up the entire floor of our tent and all the issues that always come with air beds - they're so wobbly that they're not really that comfortable, one person moves and the other gets bounced all over, and you can't comfortably sit or stand on it to get changed or do the ol' baby wipe bath or anything.
What we're thinking of doing is getting some sort of sleeping pad thingie / self inflating mattress (probably getting two that we can put side by side to make one big "bed") and then possibly putting a foam pad thing underneath the whole shebang. And then somehow putting a sheet on the whole thing, because let's face it, nobody wants their Bonnaroo body coming in direct contact with anything that can't go in the washing machine...or the incinerator.
We're thinking maybe something like this with something like this underneath it.
Problem is, there's no real way to judge those kind of things by looking at pictures and reading product descriptions! We've been reading reviews but I thought I'd come see if any of you guys had any expert advice for us. Does anyone have any recommendations for self-inflating sleeping pads (or something similar)? Anything super comfortable - or anything NOT super comfortable that we should try to avoid? If you have something like this, has it held up well / is it nice and durable?
Also would be great to hear anybody's thoughts/suggestions on our plan in general. We know this is never going to be the MOST comfortable thing in the world, but we're willing to sacrifice a little bit of comfort for something that leaves us room to move around / fit our bags and other things in the tent!
I have had it for 2 years now and I absolutely love it. I like a firm sleeping surface so I will manually inflate it more than it automatically inflates, but I have never had issues with it both camping and on peoples floors. My back doesn't do well with normal air mattresses and I have never had any back issues from it. I have heard that if you are a side sleeper it is too thin, but as a stomach sleeper it works great for me.
We use Big Agnes inflatable sleeping pads called "AirCore" and a thing they have called the "Pump House" which helps with inflation. It can also be used to store your pad(s) during transit. This is my backpacking set up. Checkout your local outdoors store for these or buy online. YouTube reviews are priceless.
Maybe try individual air mattresses, this way movement from one person will not bother the other. Also when you need more space in the tent you could place one on top of the other.
Or my favorite is a cot, light sleeping bag, fleece blanket and pillow. Not that I use it for camping but a night sleeping out on our deck is very nice.
Good luck and you have 2+ weeks to try it out at home and make adjustments.
Post by plasticpepper on May 24, 2014 22:50:12 GMT -5
The air mattresses we had actually were individual ones (they velcroed together to make one big bed), but they were still a pain. We thought about going the cot route, but that would really only work if we wanted them completely separate - double wide ones either have a bar in the middle that seems like it must be uncomfortable, or if they don't have that bar then I assume you'd get the hammock effect where you can't help but end up smashed together in the middle of the thing. And I am too much of a girl to want separate cots - I like to snuggle!
Anyhow, thanks for the recommendations guys, we will check those out for sure!
Post by Od Lid Johnny on May 25, 2014 9:21:10 GMT -5
We use a queen size self inflating mattress. It is the only air mattress I've ever had that hasn't put me on the floor in the middle of the night. We have had it for about 5 years. Taken it to 4 Roos and a burning man. Countless camping trips and home visitors. The firmest bed I have ever slept on too.
Just got my REI self inflating foam pads. I LOVE them. I've never slept on a air mattress that didnt lose air at some point. Took the pad out, opened the valves and added a touch of my own air. Perfect.
may seem like common sense but....you'd be surprised. you still have to manually blow up self inflating pads. don't assume it does it for you and then be miserable. just a fyi
Hi- I have one of these camp mats They're not cheap, but they come in a nifty plastic storage cylinder that becomes the pump for the bed. Of course a full blown (no pun intended) aerobed is much more comfortable, but these are infinitely more portable, need no electricity, and are fairly comfortable.
Search around and you can probably get a better price than the website I linked to...Bed Bath and Beyond sells them online and if you sign up for their e-mail you can get 20% off offers.
Post by plasticpepper on May 16, 2015 13:15:27 GMT -5
Just to check back in...we did end up buying the self-inflating pad things; used them for Roo last year as well as other camping trips and we were quite happy with them. They definitely inflate just fine on their own, no manual inflating necessary - in fact we found that we actually preferred to sit on top of them with the valve open for a moment to let some of the air back out before closing the valve to make them a little "softer." We put our sleeping bags on top for extra padding, and so that we'd have a more washable layer to protect the mats from our grossness at Roo. My only real issue was that my sleeping bag is made of that shiny material and it slid around a lot on top of the pad, but Ed's is a softer / less shiny material and his was fine in that respect.
Does anyone have any recommendations for self-inflating sleeping pads (or something similar)? Anything super comfortable - or anything NOT super comfortable that we should try to avoid? If you have something like this, has it held up well / is it nice and durable?
