Air Mattress Beds for Trucks and SUVs
If you own a pickup truck or SUV, my condolences on the expense you have to pay for gas. You’ve probably noticed, though, that you have a wonderful area in back which would lend itself well to sleeping if not for the various inconveniences created by hard, cold metal and back-poking tie downs.
Fortunately, you can turn that wonderful space into luxurious sleeping accommodations for a surprisingly low price. Air mattress beds made specifically with the contours and space of truck beds and SUVs in mind are readily available.
If you’re looking for an air mattress bed for your pickup truck bed, consider models that accommodate the wheel wells. Hourglass shapes with good abrasion resistance, luxurious 8 inch depth and cold weather resistant features are your prime consideration. These work extremely well with truck and SUV tents which allow you to either cover the bed of your truck or turn your SUV into an extra room!
Any good source on SUV and Truck mattress beds should provide a list of applicable vehicle models for the mattress you are considering. If they don’t, make sure you read the size specs on the air bed you are considering and compare them to the interior specs of your truck bed. Remember that some air mattresses allow for the tailgate to be down in their sizing.
Where automotive camping has often been the domain of RVs, a good truck air mattress bed can have you living in near equal comfort for just a fraction of the cost of those houses on wheels. They will allow you to combine comfort and convenience in any outing.
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Air Mattress Beds for Camping
It isn’t always easy to drag your significant other into the wilderness for miles of hiking followed by an overnight stay in the middle of nowhere. It’s even more difficult to include the entire family. Little legs have a tough time keeping up over the long haul. A common solution worldwide is to forgo barebones roughing-it and accept a comfortable middle ground. Enter camping and the thousands of campgrounds that support the habit.
Whether dwarfed in a sea of behemoth RVs or standing humbly by the family minivan, tents packed with family and a few amenities are all the rage. This method of semi-roughing-it allows for more luxuries than could be packed on backs and hauled into the wilderness but still affords the benefit of proximity to the wild. Campers simply park at the campground, setup the tent (or tents), plug their tiny tvs into campsite outlets and then do in day hikes what your real Grizzly Adams types would spend all weekend accomplishing.
This kind of excursion lends itself supremely well to the inclusion of less portable but infinitely more comfortable air mattress beds. As your gear gets packed in your car or RV rather than on your back during transition, stowed size isn’t as big a concern. That allows for greater focus on comfort rather than convenience.
When picking air mattress beds with camping in mind, start with 4” thick models as your absolute low end thickness (this is also the absolute thickest you should consider for backpacking). Coleman offers a self inflating 4” air mattress bed but as noted before, even the self inflating models benefit from a few extra puffs of air to be truly comfortable.
Thicker models (+/- 8”, 9” or 10”) are your real luxury options. If you’ll be spending your nights at a campground, pick air mattress beds with inflation and air retention in mind. The literature should mention features like double lock valves or other gimmicks designed to retain air once inflated.
Another important consideration is the inflation system. High-flow manual foot pumps are a great feature as you won’t always have electricity available to use an electric pump. Your model would ideally accommodate both manual and electric inflation options. If electric, try to get a system that includes a cigarette lighter adapter to allow you to inflate it from your vehicle.
Finally, there are a variety of comfort options to consider. Independent air coils or other features such as heat retaining or no-slip suede surfaces are nice. Just remember that suede doesn’t respond well to moisture and you’re likely to encounter plenty of that in the great outdoors.
Air mattress beds for camping are one of the great creations no family camping trip should do without. The fresh outdoor air lends itself to a great night of sleep but removing yourself from the cold, hard ground and floating on a cushion of air ensures that you’ll be well rested and ready to face a great day of fishing, hiking and exploring.
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Air Mattress Beds for Backpacking
Camping in the wilderness is one of my favorite pastimes and there are only a few things which can detract from the experience; relentless rain, biting insects and sleeping on the hard ground with a rock or root poking me in the back all night. You can do nothing about the weather, little about the insects but there is a solution for the pesky “stuff” on the ground.
Back in the day (I’ve been around long enough to have earned the right to say that) your options for dealing with rough sleeping conditions were limited. Truly comfortable “mattresses” were simply too cumbersome to lug along on anything but the shortest of trips. When all your amenities have to pack manageably on your back, a thin foam roll-up was about all you could hope for. While an improvement over bare ground sleeping, foam mattresses eventually mold themselves to their surroundings (including rocks and roots) and, while taking the edge off, still leave you with an uncomfortable lump poking you in the back.
By comparison, today’s air mattress beds are a modern luxury. Generally called “sleep pads” the inflatable varieties compress into a convenient roll as small or smaller than the foam models. They come in self inflating models, as well. When the valve is twisted open, “shape memory” makes the pad want to reform into its inflated shape. The pad draws in air as it expands and simply twisting the valve closed leaves you with a mostly inflated air mattress bed. But be warned that even the self inflating variety can benefit from a few extra puffs of air from your lungs to be truly full and comfortable.
As mentioned already, inflatable air mattress beds for backpacking are wonderful in that they do not “learn” the shape of the ground or debris under them in the same way a foam sleep pad would. Ensure, though, that you purchase a pad thick enough to keep you comfortably elevated or you will definitely compress the pad when you roll around. Super compacting models come in different thicknesses and measure in anywhere from 1” to 4” inches (becoming less compact for travel as you increase in thickness). I personally own both a 1” and 2” model. The 2” is definitely luxurious but if I’m packing in so much climbing gear that inches and ounces count, I sometimes opt for the 1” model.
The last point to make with backpacking in mind is that air mattress beds or inflatable sleeping pads go a long way to helping you keep warm. Air is a surprisingly good insulator. Being elevated off the ground with an inch or two of air between you and the cold ground goes a long way to keeping you toasty (or at least warmer than you’d be without). Some manufacturers, such as Coleman, take things a step further and include reflective coatings that reduce the loss or transfer of body heat from you to the pad.
I’ll close by recommending that you visit your local outdoors supplier and try out any air mattress beds you’re considering buying. My local REI keeps inflated floor models of their sleep pads handy so that customers can try before they buy. It’s best to know what you’re getting upfront rather than discover any inconveniences or dislikes when you’re already miles into the wilderness.
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