New Tenting Setup

[sneakers]

I was never to organized in camping with all my gear etc, I know it's somewhere in the garage or shed. Well this forum motivates me to change this approach and make tenting as comfy as possible. Up for consideration is solar power, sleeping pads, chuck box, tarp setup plans, kitchen gadgets and lights. Over the years we had a trailer and pop-up, and I'm more excited now than ever.

[Happy Joe]

Re: New Tenting Setup

I graduated from the garage/shed storage, and now use a spare bedroom for most gear...
Solar is good, but I really only use it on extended trips (a relatively large battery makes this possible).
I really like thick foam for a sleeping pad (but a thick air mattress + insulation is a close second).
Kitchen gadgets is an area that I must regularly downsize for camping (they accumulate rapidly...).
Lighting is important; currently playing with a floor lamp for the tent (not certain about this one..). Have almost settled on solar garden lights for the tent entry area (outside).


Gear evolution is never done!


Enjoy!

[drake2]

Re: New Tenting Setup

I graduated from the garage/shed storage, and now use a spare bedroom for most gear...
Solar is good, but I really only use it on extended trips (a relatively large battery makes this possible).
I really like thick foam for a sleeping pad (but a thick air mattress + insulation is a close second).
Kitchen gadgets is an area that I must regularly downsize for camping (they accumulate rapidly...).
Lighting is important; currently playing with a floor lamp for the tent (not certain about this one..). Have almost settled on solar garden lights for the tent entry area (outside).


Gear evolution is never done!


Enjoy!

What is the best way to insulate an air mattress? I have read a lot about how an air mattress will actually pull heat away from you. do you insulate below the air mattress and above the air mattress? What is the trick? Is this for summer and winter or just in cold temps?

[Happy Joe]

Re: New Tenting Setup

I found that even a mattress with a flocked (fuzzy) top surface helps.
In the mountains that I typically haunt it usually gets cool in the summer so trying to sleep in excessive heat isn't normally an issue.
Desert camping also usually gets cool at night.
Winter camping is the worst, and when I used to load up on the mattress insulation (was also sleeping on the ground/snow at the time).
I used to do an old folded blanket (even tried a double layer of bubble wrap; worked fairly well if you could keep people from popping the bubbles) below the mattress and the moving pad (doubled) on top.


A big issue with non flocked air mattresses is that the bag, etc. tends to move around and slide off.


Not certain about the best way but I have used;
blankets on top and or botttom (fold for at least double thickness); fair performance,
a ridgerest ground pad, on top likes to roll itself back up... moderately frustrating,
a military surplus ground pad, it also liked to reroll itself.. loaned it out and it never returned (not sad).
I finally settled on a well used and washed (fluffy) moving pad on top of the (flocked) mattress; it didn't try to slide off the air mattress and when doubled provided OK insulation.


Even after going to a cot and foam pads I usually bring the moving pad. It has been loaned to many people for use as an insulator/ground pad and occasionally a blanket, when they brought too light bags or forgot a bag. This one has a soft surface not like those available at harbor freight.


Enjoy!

[MountainMama]

Re: New Tenting Setup

Nothing fabric or kitchen related goes in the shed. I store tent, chairs, mattresses, sleeping bags, kitchen box etc. all under the bunk beds we keep for the grandchildren. Perfect, as would be otherwise wasted space. The only items that are in the shed are stove, lantern, buckets, and such.

[tplife]

Re: New Tenting Setup

Drake, in my estimation you can only overcome the negative r-value of cots and big air mattresses by tripling your insulation to slow that natural heat transfer (less a heater or electric blanket). If you can't shell out $$$ for a good MegaMat or ThermaRest pad (or REI knockoff), remember that an upholstery shop can sell you thick dense foam at a reasonable price that you can wrap or cover. This million-cell insulation will give you 5.0 or better and allow you to get down to just one sleeping bag in sub-zero weather (I hunt bear and deer in the Sierras, it's C-O-L-D).

[drake2]

Re: New Tenting Setup

Drake, in my estimation you can only overcome the negative r-value of cots and big air mattresses by tripling your insulation to slow that natural heat transfer (less a heater or electric blanket). If you can't shell out $$$ for a good MegaMat or ThermaRest pad (or REI knockoff), remember that an upholstery shop can sell you thick dense foam at a reasonable price that you can wrap or cover. This million-cell insulation will give you 5.0 or better and allow you to get down to just one sleeping bag in sub-zero weather (I hunt bear and deer in the Sierras, it's C-O-L-D).

Thanks tplife but I am not familiar with the terminology and significance of r-value or what 5.0 represents. I am about to try to google it though. Would you layer below and above the air mattress? Also, are you saying a cot does no better than air mattress in cold weather? What's advantages of a cot over air mattress in cold and warm weather? So it would be better to sleep on some sleep memory foam of some sort over a cot or air mattress? Thanks.

[terasec]

Re: New Tenting Setup

just to throw it out there
i recently redid my floors and had some underlayment left over
it is thin and light, doesnt have much r value in itself, but it is also silver/reflective which helps.
i folded it over to double it, and it has worked quite well
i havent used it in extreme cold, but have used it in 40 degree nights, i sleep on the ground with just a sleeping bag,
not all camping materials need to come from typical outdoors stores
this came from home depot

[tplife]

Re: New Tenting Setup

Yes, a cot and a hollow tube air mattress have about the same 0.75 negative R-Value. Ideal is 5.0 or better, if you buy pads and gear with R-Value in mind, you can't go wrong and can save a lot of extra insulation (read: restful sleep). Anything under, reflective or whatever, does nothing whatsoever. The purpose of reflective material is to bag yourself up inside so it has no heat loss, i.e.; in an emergency situation. Underneath you, it's really not doing anything. Make a bag of it and get inside, SCORE! Anything extra you can pile on top to get you away from the air mattress will slow some of the conductive heat loss of those big conductive tubes (or cot). Because they act this way, cots and those big air mattresses are more comfortable in muggy, hot weather as they do a better job keeping you cool and comfortable.