When we first bought our camping equipment we purchased a double-height queen-sized air mattress. I am a novice camper and at my age have no wish to ruin my experience with the discomfort of sleeping on the ground. The air mattress was pretty comfortable. We did have a problem with it killing our portable power supplies but I am not sure if that was a problem with the inflating motor on the mattress or a problem with the power supplies. We used the mattress monthly for over a year and a half. Unfortunately, when we used it in April we woke up on top of each other in an air mattress taco. We had apparently developed a leak.
The downside of an air mattress is getting the air back out once you finish using it. With this in mind, I looked at other sleeping options. After some research, I settled on a KingCamp Double Camping Cot. The cot, at just over seven feet by just over four and a half feet, is big enough for two people to sleep comfortably but folds up compactly enough (just under four feet by one foot by one foot) to pack. The cot is heavy (35 pounds) but comes in a wheeled carrying case which makes it pretty easy transport.
Set up is not difficult. Simply unfold the cot and pull the legs taut. While one person can it up, it is a breeze with some help. The frame is steel and the bed is heavy-duty thickened 1200D Oxford fabric. The product description on Amazon claims that it will support up to 550 pounds. There is an elastic band at each corner to hold a mattress in place as well. We added a rug for the floor of our tent to our camping gear to make sure that the feet of the cot will not rip the floor of the tent. The tent feels roomier than it did with the air mattress and with the cot being raised we have room for storage underneath.
The only issue that I have had with the cot is that it is a bit big for our tent. When I measured the tent to make sure it would fit, I measured the floor. I did not think to account for the height of the cot. We have a dome tent, which is smaller 19 inches above the floor. It fits in the tent, but the corners poke out a bit. While it doesn’t seem that there is any danger of the tent ripping, I am sure the added stress will shorten the life of our tent.
There is a support bar running down the middle of the cot so I decided to also get a mattress pad to counteract any discomfort the bar might cause. I ordered the KingCamp Double Sleeping Pad. The pad is self-inflating. Simply unroll and unfold the pad and then open the valves on the top corners. Immediately you can hear the pad inflating. The first few times we used it I ended up blowing a little more air in. I accidentally left the valves open one night while we were having dinner and the pad filled itself without me having to add any extra air. The pad is almost three inches thick when fully inflated. The issue that I had with the pad is that it is not as wide as the cot. With the slightly higher height in the middle of the cot from the bar, the centered pad made us feel like we were falling off. If we put the pad all the way to the edge of the cot, one of us could sleep very comfortably, but the other ended up being half on and half off the pad.
To resolve this issue I bought two single KingCamp Sleeping Pads. We went with one Plus and one Wide pad. The two together cover the entire cot making a comfortable sleeping surface. All three pads deflate and roll up pretty easily. A little patience helps with deflation, but not any more than an air mattress. The double pad is much easier to deflate with some help. All of the pads come with compression straps and a carrying bag. The smaller pads are almost four inches thick making them even more comfortable.
Cost on Amazon as of this writing-cot $149.99, double sleeping pad $109.99, plus pad $74.99, and wide pad $89.99.
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