First Camping Trip with Wife and Kid... Not so good...

[rcintx]

Great information!

I am interested in the Thermarest line, as well as the Exped Megamat. I am also curious to some of the more budget friendly examples.

My son is 4 and fairly small for his age, and my wife is tiny (barely scratches 5'). I think we could fit just fine one something roughly the size of a queen size. If you couple the Exped or Thermarest together, is there a hole there? Or do they seal up nicely?

I also really like the idea of putting something soft under the mattress. We will definitely be trying that one if I put several hundred dollars into the setup.

Thanks for all of the replies.

 

[dwh]

Heh. Well budget friendly wasn't the reason I did it. Unbreakable, never fails, easy to maintain and works great was the reason I did it. It lasted a long time - went through a few El Cheapo sleeping bag "mattress covers" - the industrial washing machines are ROUGH on sleeping bags...even good ones.

 

[dms1]

I also use Exped Mega Mats. My wife use to use a cot while I had the Mega Mat, one day she took a nap on my mega mat and decided she wanted one also, haven't used the cot since. We are going on two years with the mega mats and so far no issues, but I also bring my old REI air mattress if we are sating more than 2 nights as an emergency backup.

 

[TRegasaurus]

Don't let one little disaster put you off to camping.
You guys had a great time otherwise, now you know to put some money in a better mattress.

 

[rcintx]

Don't let one little disaster put you off to camping.
You guys had a great time otherwise, now you know to put some money in a better mattress.

I've done a lot of camping, and this in now way puts me off. I think if we can fix this, we will be ok. My son is already asking to do it again, and I fully plan to a few more times before winter. Work and other commitments are going to keep us at home the next few weekends, so I have a little time to pick a plan of action.

 

[nwoods]

I have a REI 3.5 XL self inflating pad and its awesome. Only other one I would consider is the exped megamat you mentioned. I have been camping all through out my childhood using air mattresses, blankets, etc. I cant believe what I have been missing...

X2 on all the above. We camped on air mattresses at high altitude and had the heat sucked out every time. Duh!

The REI 3.5 XL is the bomb

 

[LilPoppa]

I bought four of these for the family this summer and they're great. Like mentioned above, I probably spent more over the years on cheap subpar mattresses that were heavy and leaked. These little things pack down very small, and are surprisingly comfortable. My kids are 4 and 6 and they were fine.

//www.mec.ca/product/5035-165/therm-a-rest-neoair-trekker-sleeping-pad-unisex/?h=10+50130+50050+50876&f=10+50050+50130+50876

 

[dlh62c]

My son is already asking to do it again, and I fully plan to a few more times before winter. Work and other commitments are going to keep us at home the next few weekends, so I have a little time to pick a plan of action.

There's no unwritten rule that says you can't camp out in the back yard!

Its a great way to check out gear and the processes required to setup camp, break down camp and prepare meals. Don't let the weather hold you back either. The backyard is the perfect place to learn how to setup and take a tent down in the rain, if you haven't experienced the thrill yet.

 

[UK4X4]

"I am really thinking about 2 Exped Mega-Mat's.

But man... That is an investment. Any experience with those? "

Bit the bullet 6 months ago..........I'm a side sleeper and finally get a good nights sleep.

we've messed arround with air, bought upholstery foam and made our own , but finally got out the check book.

Very happy so far, but now the wifes nagging me to upgrade my daughters !...

 

[Kharn]

When my wife and I were planning our first car-camping trip together (it had been ~12 years since either of us went camping), I borrowed my brother's tent and bought a Walmart-branded air mattress and Coleman manual pump. Our problems were numerous:
1) It was pouring rain and dark when we were trying to set the tent up, which I had done alone previously and I was very bad at communicating with my wife about how it went together (it was way too big/complicated for our needs and not one of the easy clips-on-poles designs), so the entire tent was soaking wet and full of water before we got the rain fly on it. I'd ignored our friends' suggestions to get an Easy-Up, not realizing how useful they were, or how you could put one up and then assemble a tent under it while keeping the tent interior dry.
2) We only had our two bath towels for cleaning up the water in the tent.
3) Our camp site was a crushed stone pad meant for RVs, but it turned out a river to rival the Mississippi runs through that site when it rains, and it ran right into the side of our tent.
4) I hadn't tested the air mattress's inlet valve vs the Coleman pump, figuring they would be a standardized size. The best-fitting pump nozzle was 1/8" in diameter too small to seal against the mattress's valve and we didn't have any way (no duct or electrical tape) to increase the nozzle's diameter, which lead to a half-inflated bed (aka, sleeping on the ground with the mattress forming a wall around us to keep the water out).
5) The road out of the park was flooded 10" deep and one of our group's vehicles was washed off the road, so we were stuck in the campground when we wanted to go to the nearby Walmart to get a carwash sponge, a new mattress or inflator, new towels, Easy-Up, etc.
6) Our friends mainly had tiny campers or teardrops so they didn't have much gear suitable for helping with our problems and couldn't offer a dry place to sleep
7) The dog's crate and our excessive amount of gear took up way too much space in the truck for us to consider sleeping in it.

We stuck around with our friends the next day, but packed up and headed home before dark figuring we'd try again instead of staying another night.

Surprisingly enough, my wife still likes going camping (more to hang out with our friends than being in the wilderness) and we've gone on tent trips since, but we agreed to build a teardrop so we'd be more comfortable.

Disasters are what you make of them, and in every rain storm since that one, we've joked about how it could be worse.

 

[Vaga]

Whatever you get use a good liner under it. Think waterbed liner. Even a tiny twig will pierce a cheap pladtitaprp.

When ground camping I use a self inflating roll just thick enough to sleep without bruising a rib.

 

[Two-Wheeled Explorer]

We have taken to using cots summer and winter, when camping, since my wife had back surgery about 10 or 12 years ago. In the summer we put a Thermarest pad on the cod for padding and in the winter we will use an ensolite pad under the Thermarest and it works just fine. Kids are more resilient. Our granddaughters still have no problem with sleeping on the ground.

 

[Renntag]

I have had mixed success with air mattresses. To be fair though, we purchased the cheap examples. One that made the grade has been good for 3-4 years and still holds air for weeks at a time. This year I purchased one with two built in pumps that maintains a set level of firmness. So far so good. We'll see how it goes.
I will echo the cautions above as to avoiding punctures. To that end we will be cautious with this in the field.

I checked the exped mag site and my local REI has them. Hopefully we can check it out in store. That might be a good back up plan.

Good rest is paramount and a flat mattress or heat being sucked away are the worst.

 

[rcintx]

My wife informed me on the way home that night, that if I would just buy her a camper (pop-up or greater) we would all be much happier. I think I believe her, but still want to give the tent idea a few more goes.

 

[dlh62c]

A ShamWow towel can work wonders picking up moisture in a tent. They work great for wipeing dew off a tent in the morning.