Bedding for camping, what do you use?

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4xFar Adventures

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I've had the same sleeping bag for almost 10 years and it might be time for something else. It's a bag from The North Face with my name all over it. Really! It's called the Big B! It's a 20* bag and has served me well throughout all four seasons. Snow camping required some extra layers on me and a blanket on top, but that seems pretty normal I think. I've never been into the mummy bags. They seem to cover too much of the face and how are you supposed to sleep on your side in those things?

There's a company called Rumpl that seems to have carved themselves a nice little niche in the camping market. I've considered one of these to be the sleeping bag replacement, but at the same time, I might be able to talk my sister out of an old down blanket she doesn't really use anymore. I would consider it a win if her blanket can pack into the same bag as the Big B. Since most down comforters are white, it would be a good option to get a cover for it for mud, dirt and Quake (my St. Bernard).

One thing that I have already done is to get my butt off the ground. For years I used the REI 3.5" sleeping pad. It's worked really well and has been very comfortable. In fact, as I write this, it's under the cushions of the couch for better support while my broken leg heals. Today marks week number 6 dealing with this...

Anyways. The sleeping pad worked well enough and I never had any complaints about it. Some nights seemed to be a little rougher than others, but overall it's something I'd recommend. Anything thinner and that may not be the case. Sorry for any of you backpackers out there:)

So, the replacement of the sleeping pad was a cot. Mine happens to be from OzTent and it is amazing. The cot does have some slight padding to it, so the sleeping pad just stays at home. It doesn't feel like the mattress at home, but boy do I sure sleep like I was on it. I sleep hard at night now. There's always been a couple times on the pad that I get half conscious when rolling over, but on the cot, I have yet to do that.

Bonus points for the cot since it's tall enough to use as a seat to put shoes on as well as having ample storage for the Pelican cases under it. That's something I didn't really consider until the tent was setup. And on top of that, the Pelican cases themselves become shelves for keys, flashlight, and anything else you want to keep together at night.

So what do you use for bedding? It doesn't matter if you have a ground tent, sleep in your vehicle, or use a roof top tent. We can all glean some good info to getting a good night's rest on the trail. I think it's a major factor to enjoying your trip. This can also help if you have someone who isn't so keen on camping or have kids and need to figure something else out for them.
 

Excursioner

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We use the Excursion as our tent. We got rid of the 3rd row seating altogether and when the 2nd row is down there is a full 84" long by 54" wide and flat area to sleep. We had a 3" foam mattress made that has two inch egg crate foam glued to it and just put a fitted queen sheet over it and place the old zip together, flannel lined sleeping bags on top of the mattress. Best investment ever. I sleep better on that set up as I do most nights in my bed at home. Even when it's just me and the dog I am plenty warm.
Now I am an old backpacker and quite familiar with the go lite camping strategy, but am pretty confident I'll never go back down that trail so to speak. That's a younger person's endeavor. This ol guy is quite comfy at night and do not have to worry about wind, rain, bugs or critters inside the Excursion. It's the primary reason we went with that rig; it checked off so many boxes for overland camping.
 

TerryD

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In the past I've used an air mattress with either a mummy bag in colder weather or a Coleman bag in warmer weather. Most of the time it's just two people using a 8 person tent so room hasn't been an issue. My tent died last year, a horrible slow death, so on the last trip it was two guys sharing a 3 man tent and that was CRAMPED. I'm hoping to get another big tent soon but I can't see my gear changing much, it just works very well for me and with a crew cab truck or K5 blazer, room isn't much of an issue. I also have a hammock with a bushcraft-style tarp that I'm wanting to get some good use out of this summer and I've purchased a Thermarest Trail sleeping pad to use with that as well as my army surplus wool blanket. We'll see how that works out!
 

Teh_Viking

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Right now I am using a Double size futon that a friend gave me, it was just cotton filled so I cut up an old king size memory foam topper to fit inside of it. It worked ok, but I could still feel the sleeping platform. I'm looking at getting a new 6" futon to replace it. Other then that we use 2 sleeping bags that combine into one giant one.

Oh and that Rumpl blanket looks pretty cool.
 

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My wife and I have the 15 degree bags from Big Agnes we use for backpacking and at basecamp. I didn't think a mummy bag would work for me, but these are hybrid bags and one can sleep on your side and even roll around inside them. (6' 200lbs) There is also plenty of legroom. These bags, combined with our Therma-Rest pads (the pads slide into the bottom side of the bags so you cannot roll off the pads) on top of our Byers cots, is a great nights sleep in any weather.
 

Longshot270

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I'm still in a ground tent so my Rio Adventure cot and 5 ft outdoor foam chair cushion are staples.

It doesn't get cold down here so I went back to a sheet and blanket. In total, it takes up more space than just a sleeping bag but the cot and cushion can ride in the roof rack or trailer if needed and sheets are easier to wash.
 

vegasjeepguy

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I'm spoiled. I run a rooftop tent and have real sheets and blankets for sleeping. So much better than sleeping bags

Sent from my LG-H810 using OB Talk mobile app
Same here. Nothing better than climbing into "bed" on a cool fall evening in the middle of nowhere and wrapping up in a down comforter and flannel sheets while holding on to a full sized pillow.
 

krax

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I mentioned it in another thread, but I've recently started using a Big Agnes Dream Island bag. It's a pretty cool blend of technical features and car camping comfort.

I don't like mummy bags in general, but I've also had the sheet/blanket setup get drafty. If you haven't checked out the blanket/bag hybrids from Big Agnes, ExPed, Nemo, or Sierra Designs, you should.
 

4xFar Adventures

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We use the Excursion as our tent. We got rid of the 3rd row seating altogether and when the 2nd row is down there is a full 84" long by 54" wide and flat area to sleep. We had a 3" foam mattress made that has two inch egg crate foam glued to it and just put a fitted queen sheet over it and place the old zip together, flannel lined sleeping bags on top of the mattress. Best investment ever. I sleep better on that set up as I do most nights in my bed at home. Even when it's just me and the dog I am plenty warm.
Now I am an old backpacker and quite familiar with the go lite camping strategy, but am pretty confident I'll never go back down that trail so to speak. That's a younger person's endeavor. This ol guy is quite comfy at night and do not have to worry about wind, rain, bugs or critters inside the Excursion. It's the primary reason we went with that rig; it checked off so many boxes for overland camping.
Do you ever have issues with condensation? I know a few people who sleep in their rigs and it seems to be pretty common. Not wanting to setup my tent in the mud while it was raining, I spent a night sleeping in the back seat of my truck. I was expecting to wake up sore all over, but everything was fine and didn't have an issue the next day (I'm 6'4" BTW). The windows were left cracked open and luckily it didn't rain inside. The front seats were moved up and the footwell was filled with Pelican cases to make and extended sleeping platform. Well, I didn't really sleep on the cases, they were there really to just prevent me from falling!
 

4xFar Adventures

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In the past I've used an air mattress with either a mummy bag in colder weather or a Coleman bag in warmer weather. Most of the time it's just two people using a 8 person tent so room hasn't been an issue. My tent died last year, a horrible slow death, so on the last trip it was two guys sharing a 3 man tent and that was CRAMPED. I'm hoping to get another big tent soon but I can't see my gear changing much, it just works very well for me and with a crew cab truck or K5 blazer, room isn't much of an issue. I also have a hammock with a bushcraft-style tarp that I'm wanting to get some good use out of this summer and I've purchased a Thermarest Trail sleeping pad to use with that as well as my army surplus wool blanket. We'll see how that works out!
A hammock is intriguing and something I've not used when camping before. I'm hoping to get an OzTent this year, but having a hammock for those base camping days in the summer sounds wonderful.
 

TerryD

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A hammock is intriguing and something I've not used when camping before. I'm hoping to get an OzTent this year, but having a hammock for those base camping days in the summer sounds wonderful.
I've spent one night in it so far, two years ago. Been too busy to get out much but hopefully that's changing. I'm wanting to get some good use from it this year.
 
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Excursioner

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Do you ever have issues with condensation? I know a few people who sleep in their rigs and it seems to be pretty common. Not wanting to setup my tent in the mud while it was raining, I spent a night sleeping in the back seat of my truck. I was expecting to wake up sore all over, but everything was fine and didn't have an issue the next day (I'm 6'4" BTW). The windows were left cracked open and luckily it didn't rain inside. The front seats were moved up and the footwell was filled with Pelican cases to make and extended sleeping platform. Well, I didn't really sleep on the cases, they were there really to just prevent me from falling!
I have the ability to crack the front or rear windows, even when it is raining outside, because I have those weathertech window deflectors all the way around. They are great because you can roll down the window a couple of inches without rain or wind getting in the cabin. So no, condensation has never been a problem for us. It's quite nice and both my wife and I at 5'7" can fully sit up inside while in bed because of the pretty decent ceiling height. That's how we watch any media we might bring with us, sit up with a pillow behind us and watch the ipad. We love our Excursion
 

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Vincent Keith

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My most important piece of sleeping gear is ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ear plugs. I carry 5-6 pairs.
I carry a large box - just in case anyone is within a half mile. keeps them from wanting to toss me in the river in the middle of the night.
 
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RootedWanderers

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If I am sleeping in my tent I have a Byer of Maine Easy Cot, a light sheet, and my Thermorest Argo blanket. I have a Mountain Hardware Ultralamina sleeping bag for colder, and sometimes I just use my hammock and my argo blanket.
 
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Rexplorer

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sierra designs has a cool bag that has a sleeve for the mattress in it. there is no down on the back of the bag, since it gets compressed by lying on it anyway. the sleeve really keeps the mattress in place, which is usually difficult in a ground tent with a nylon mattress on a nylon sleeping bag. keeps me all lined up. only problem is it needs smaller and contoured pads to work properly. still my go to. lots of other bags have similar sleeves or other systems, its a good feature.
 
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Boort

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Depends on when and how I'm sleeping.
  • No tent/no bugs in my bed roll under the stars.
  • In a tent on the ground: Summer either in or on my old Winnebago Sleeping bag, It's Big brown and heavy, but comfy and well padded.
  • In a tent on the ground: Winter Usually the Frostline Kit Down bag that my Mom made in the 70's, on top of my Thermarest pad and backpacking air mattress.
  • In the bed of my truck: Same as Winter tent, maybe with old foam mattress instead of ridge-rest and air mat.
  • In the popup camper: Sheet in the summer or down comforter in the winter (with heater if needed)
Boort