What's your dream sleep system?

[AERONAUT outdoor]

Hey there!

We're a pretty new brand on the scene, and hyper focused on making the best sleeping gear for overlanding adventures. I'm super passionate about this industry and love adventuring with my family, and I've decided it's time to couple that passion with my experience of designing sleeping bags and gear as my full time gig with some major outdoor players the last 13 years.

Our first product is a 2 person quilt that is much warmer than other camp blankets (other brands would rate it at 15F / -9C) , and much less constricting than sleeping bags. Premium quality and no cold spots.

But I'd love your help to know what to design next! I'm doing some research on how to make sleep better for everyone outside, especially vehicle based adventures.

** What would you most like to see designed specifically for your setup and the conditions you sleep in? **

Brainstorming some new ideas for products, whether it’s pillows, sheets, mattresses, “pillowtops”, expanding our quilt line with synthetics or other temps, colors, etc.

For our family setup, we’ve been stoked on our GFC platform mattress and hoverquilt, good on its own til about 30-35F ( 0C ), sometimes when it gets into super cold temps below freezing I add in a 15F or 0F sleeping bags I worked on in my old jobs. For now we use regular down pillows from home, although I might have something up my sleeve for a deluxe packable camp pillow ?. Kiddos usually steal the camper and my wife and I and pup sleep in the truck bed or a ground tent.

Thanks!

 

[grizzlypath]

One thing I've been keeping an eye out is a hybrid air/pad mattress and maybe even pillow. Padded mattresses are awesome, but take up a lot of room. Air mattress aren't as awesome, but pack up to the size of a pair of pants. What about a hybrid? Like a 1.5" pad with maybe 3" of air mattress below it?

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills. I thought it was a nice idea.

 

[BritKLR]

Interesting...... following.

Been through pretty much everything but, always looking for a system that will give a comfy night's sleep.

 

[BLand Cruiser]

Something that pairs with a twin size air mattress.

 

[AERONAUT outdoor]

One thing I've been keeping an eye out is a hybrid air/pad mattress and maybe even pillow. Padded mattresses are awesome, but take up a lot of room. Air mattress aren't as awesome, but pack up to the size of a pair of pants. What about a hybrid? Like a 1.5" pad with maybe 3" of air mattress below it?

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills. I thought it was a nice idea.

Hey I really dig that idea! HEST makes some great mattresses with that concept, but they're still quite bulky for the sake of durability. I wonder if we could knock out a lighter weight / more compactable version ...

 

[emtmark]

The megamat by exped is close

Something along those lines but sizes for the rtt

The Kelly double sleeping bag is freaking awesome but needs a neck baffle desperately as well as a way to connect the “middle” quilt wing thingys. They are also cold to the edges and foot box. Many tents the outside rain flap zips down the sides but not along the bottom which allows wind and cold to sneak up and in and without extra layer toes get chilly. Snugpak has a killer synthetic in their special forces bag and jungle blankets. Super compressible and water resistant shells for worst case scenario ive toyed with calling incessantly until somebody made me a Kelty bag out of their materials. Lol

Kelty bag s called tri comfort and it fits a 3 person tent perfectly! Withthe zips on the top you can get in and out of the bag easy without waking your mate but again no neck baffle to keep the farts in and the cold out I end up stuffing a woobie in there for the win. Head pocket is perfect for holding pillows.


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[dcg141]

I have a rooftop tent with a 2 inch memory foam inch topper and a Teton Mammoth sleeping bag. It sleeps better than my bed at home. When I don't have the rooptop I use a Exped Mega mat double with the same topper and sleeping bag. I know that Teton is not the top of every ones list of great sleeping bags but I really can't find any issues other than its huge stored. It will not go back in the bag it comes with and I'm really good and getting things back original bags. I got what looks a body bag and its still a tight fit.

 

[Errant]

I have a mix of UL down quilts, bags, and air mattresses that I use when backpacking, but for vehicle-based camping I prefer a system that is more like my bed at home... real sheets, down duvet, down pillows, memory foam mattress. Your Hoverquilt does look nice, but I don't see a reason to switch my current duvet for it, at the price point.

 

[AERONAUT outdoor]

I have a mix of UL down quilts, bags, and air mattresses that I use when backpacking, but for vehicle-based camping I prefer a system that is more like my bed at home... real sheets, down duvet, down pillows, memory foam mattress. Your Hoverquilt does look nice, but I don't see a reason to switch my current duvet for it, at the price point.

Nice!! Those sound like amazing and curated setups for backpacking and for your rig. "Making it more like home" I love that. Where do you store your duvet and setup while on the road? Most folks I've talked to who take their home setup complain about storage space and packability. Or who use sleeping bags complain about the restricted movement and zippers. And those who take camp blankets need to take a few at least since they're pretty cold on their own.

With that in mind, the hoverquilt was designed to hit the best of those worlds. Comfortable like your home setup, super warm like a solid backpacking setup, but also really packable and weight saving (just 2.5lbs for the quilt). And easy to care for, machine wash and dryable.

Also forgot to mention! EXPORTAL10 is a code for 10% off on our site.

 

[AERONAUT outdoor]

The megamat by exped is close

Something along those lines but sizes for the rtt

The Kelly double sleeping bag is freaking awesome but needs a neck baffle desperately as well as a way to connect the “middle” quilt wing thingys. They are also cold to the edges and foot box. Many tents the outside rain flap zips down the sides but not along the bottom which allows wind and cold to sneak up and in and without extra layer toes get chilly. Snugpak has a killer synthetic in their special forces bag and jungle blankets. Super compressible and water resistant shells for worst case scenario ive toyed with calling incessantly until somebody made me a Kelty bag out of their materials. Lol

Kelty bag s called tri comfort and it fits a 3 person tent perfectly! Withthe zips on the top you can get in and out of the bag easy without waking your mate but again no neck baffle to keep the farts in and the cold out I end up stuffing a woobie in there for the win. Head pocket is perfect for holding pillows.

Some great nuggets in there, thanks!

 

[AERONAUT outdoor]

I have a rooftop tent with a 2 inch memory foam inch topper and a Teton Mammoth sleeping bag. It sleeps better than my bed at home. When I don't have the rooptop I use a Exped Mega mat double with the same topper and sleeping bag. I know that Teton is not the top of every ones list of great sleeping bags but I really can't find any issues other than its huge stored. It will not go back in the bag it comes with and I'm really good and getting things back original bags. I got what looks a body bag and its still a tight fit.

Yeah that's definitely the trick, a lot of those bags are beasts when trying to store away! One of our buddies used to have that same setup and switched to the aeronaut and it's made a huge difference. One reason we chose high power goose down so it could pack down nice and easy to toss under a seat or store in the RTT

 

[Errant]

Where do you store your duvet and setup while on the road? Most folks I've talked to who take their home setup complain about storage space and packability.

I don''t store it, my bed usually remains made up while traveling. I'm just one person, so I don't need to pack a ton of extra stuff.

 

[PlacidWaters]

For a tent camper the sleep system consists of tent, cot, mattress, and sleeping bag. I have the perfect cot, mattress, and sleeping bag. It's the tent that doesn't exist on the market today.

For a solo camper using a cot, a 3-person tent is ideal. 2Ps are never going to be tall enough. 4Ps are too heavy and bulky and difficult to set up and fold up. A 3P has the ideal floor space of about 45 sq ft. The required tent height for a 15" cot is a minimum of about 55". Close to 60" is better. You need to be able to sit up on the cot to change your clothes. The sides need to be fairly straight, not slanted in toward the center. Otherwise the cot hits the ends of the tent. That rules out a dome design. The weight should be under 8 lbs---one person doesn't want to deal with a tent in the 12-lb range.

It should have a porch awning, meaning that the front door has two zippers and can be supported by poles. Make it dark green or tan---not everyone wants to be seen in the woods in a bright orange or yellow tent.

As for the cot, the Helinox Cot One Convertible is excellent but very expensive, so if you can make a similar cheaper cot that would be good. There are a number of Chinese knock-offs of the Cot One now. The question is whether they're durable. I don't know the answer to that.

I would not focus on designing a new sleeping bag. There are just too many decent ones available.

Exped makes fantastic mattresses. I use the Exped Synmat 3-D7---incredibly comfortable on a cot and good down to about zero degrees Fahrenheit. Making a cheaper mattress than Exped that's durable and well insulated mattress would take a lot of knowhow.

In summary: Design a tall, light 3P tent with an awning. There is no such tent on the market today.

 

[AERONAUT outdoor]

@PlacidWaters

I dig it, and thanks for the detailed reply! I LOVE designing tents (have engineered about 150+ in my career), so that might just be on the horizon. But it'll take a while to develop. In the meantime, yeah there are tons of sleeping bags, but I haven't seen many packable quilts (that are super warm) to allow for unrestricted sleep. Fingers crossed we do well and can expand to new categories!

 

[billiebob]

My dream system is my grandsons old double mattress, 8" thick. 2 hunter/wilderness 4 season sleeping bags, a 3 season on top.
Summer sleep under just the 3 season bag. Winter sleep under 2 layers. Plus 2 synthetic pillows. I find down gets wet from ones breath.

But budget is the biggest consideration for me. The mattress was going into the dumpster. The 3 season bag is 40 years old. The pillows rejects from the guest room. The wilderness bags were under $100. And very heavy.