Roll-A-Cot

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MOAK

Rank V
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

2,865
Wherever we park it will be home !!
First Name
Donald
Last Name
Diehl
Member #

0745

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WRPN 506
Several years ago / several trips ago, we decided to step up to much better cots than our old folding cots from Gander Mountain. After a ton of research I chose the Roll-A-Cot. No doubt it is a very sturdy cot, with some pretty cool features as the carry bag actually fits on the side of the cot to keep things organized up off the tent floor while you're snoozing. These are not cheap cots, we paid about 300 for the pair, so with all expensive things it took a while ( 3 years ) for buyers remorse to set in. It 's kinda like paying 2 or 3 hundred dollars to go to a concert and that particular night the performance just sucked. You're out $300, the band had a really bad night and that's tough to admit to yourself after spending those bennies. As time passes, you quit kidding yourself and admit you wasted the 300. Do you quit going to concerts? No. Do you quit buying cots? No. You keep buying until you find a cot that works. ( the american auto industry counted on this psychological phenomena for decades until Toyota & Honda entered the market and the rest is history )

The biggest thing wrong with this otherwise excellent cot is the amount of time and energy spent setting it up, not to mention your hands will get blackened from the untreated aluminum. I never did learn to set them up, I couldn't figure out how to thread two tubes together through the sides of the cot, then twist them together. That was always Virginia's job. As time went on, it became harder and harder to set them up and break them down. The final straw though was seting them up in 20 degree temperatures. It takes quite a bit for my wife to hurl expletives that any sailor would be proud of, but there she was having a terrible time of it.

We are giving these cots to our two adult kids. They will love them cause they are free, and they may keep them forever, unless they camp as often as we do, which they will not be doing, at least for another 20 years. In the meantime, we have received our Buyers Cots of Maine. Two things I like already, deployement takes all of 20 seconds and the canvas suits me a lot better than sleeping on plastic. The only drawback is that they are twice as heavy as the roll-a-cot. An extra 20 lbs isn't that big a deal as we have trimmed our weight down in other areas.
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Overland-Indiana

Overland Bound - Midwest Regional Ambassador
Launch Member

Influencer II

3,316
Kokomo
Member #

0750

Several years ago / several trips ago, we decided to step up to much better cots than our old folding cots from Gander Mountain. After a ton of research I chose the Roll-A-Cot. No doubt it is a very sturdy cot, with some pretty cool features as the carry bag actually fits on the side of the cot to keep things organized up off the tent floor while you're snoozing. These are not cheap cots, we paid about 300 for the pair, so with all expensive things it took a while ( 3 years ) for buyers remorse to set in. It 's kinda like paying 2 or 3 hundred dollars to go to a concert and that particular night the performance just sucked. You're out $300, the band had a really bad night and that's tough to admit to yourself after spending those bennies. As time passes, you quit kidding yourself and admit you wasted the 300. Do you quit going to concerts? No. Do you quit buying cots? No. You keep buying until you find a cot that works. ( the american auto industry counted on this psychological phenomena for decades until Toyota & Honda entered the market and the rest is history )

The biggest thing wrong with this otherwise excellent cot is the amount of time and energy spent setting it up, not to mention your hands will get blackened from the untreated aluminum. I never did learn to set them up, I couldn't figure out how to thread two tubes together through the sides of the cot, then twist them together. That was always Virginia's job. As time went on, it became harder and harder to set them up and break them down. The final straw though was seting them up in 20 degree temperatures. It takes quite a bit for my wife to hurl expletives that any sailor would be proud of, but there she was having a terrible time of it.

We are giving these cots to our two adult kids. They will love them cause they are free, and they may keep them forever, unless they camp as often as we do, which they will not be doing, at least for another 20 years. In the meantime, we have received our Buyers Cots of Maine. Two things I like already, deployement takes all of 20 seconds and the canvas suits me a lot better than sleeping on plastic. The only drawback is that they are twice as heavy as the roll-a-cot. An extra 20 lbs isn't that big a deal as we have trimmed our weight down in other areas.
View attachment 14168


I used to sleep on cots when I would camp when I was younger, on solo trips I have since switched to hammocks. I did love my grandpas old army cots though!
 

MOAK

Rank V
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

2,865
Wherever we park it will be home !!
First Name
Donald
Last Name
Diehl
Member #

0745

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WRPN 506
Yes, I'm sorry "Byer" of Maine. I considered the OZTent cots, as we have one of their tents and their products are top shelf. However, they are huge cots and I'd forever be banging my head or my feet on the crossbars. If these Byer cots don't work out, then Oz it is..
 

Enthusiast III

1,250
Phoenix, AZ
I have two of the Roll-A-Cots. The outfitter we used for a white water trip on the Colorado through the Grand Canyon used these. We bought a pair after that trip. Takes a few minutes to understand the set up, but for the low weight, quality of the build, and a seriously comfortable night's sleep the trade off seems decent. The two fit in our 4-person Big Agnes tent with a nice "hallway" between them. For solo trips I like sleeping out under the stars and these are great for that. The carrying bag doubling as a gear stash is pretty nice.



We also have a pair if the Bunker tent cots from OZ Tent. Expensive and heavy, but fairly easy to set up and take down. Love them for base camp situations. We slept in 5 days of rain and down to 17 degrees (with a good pad and sleeping bag) with no complaints.