Tent cots with bedding inside?

[trae]

Hey folks,

I've been intrigued by the tent cot concept as an alternative for RTTs/ground tents for a while. I'm curious -- is anyone able to leave their bedding inside the tent cot while folded -- or partially folded? I ask because we typically move frequently when car camping. It would be ok if the tent cot didn't fully close as long as I can stuff it in the back of the truck.

 

[m-l_johnny]

I have both a single and double. (The double I would like to sell, don’t use it)

With the single, I can leave an inflatable thermo- rest pad inside, but not any bedding or pillows. The double essentially beaks down to the tent that gets rolled and the cot portion folds, then the whole thing goes into a carrier bag that’s about 12” square and 3’ long. No bedding would be able to stay in that.
That all being said, I suppose it’s possible to do if one forgoes packing back into the carrier bags, though I don’t think it’s worth the sacrifice in the amount of space it would then take.

 

[ventura911]

When I used my Tentcot Oversize as my first RTT, I left my sleeping bag in it with only one problem…it looked a bit like a body bag in its stored configuration ?:

 

[billiebob]

Depends on the sleeping bag more han anything. A light summer bag, sure. A 3 season synthetic will be bulkier than a 4 season down bag.

 

[rnArmy]

As already mentioned... maybe something thin. Otherwise it won't fold flat.

Mine is a Cabela's double tent cot, and is currently mounted on the top of my trailer as an RTT with a custom cover made for it. Before that my buddy and I took two of them (double tent cots) on an extended trip. Opened up and such they are nice, but setting up and taking down they were very bulky, heavy and unwieldy, and they took up a lot of storage space. The single ones might be a little better.

You might be better off (if doing a single one) to get a large military type aluminum folding cot with a separate swag on top. Lots of swags are designed to roll-up with your sleeping bag inside.