Camel

-Not sure if anyone has mention these yet.

I bought a Luxurylite cot a few weeks ago. I used it for a week while family visited, and sleept as good as in my bed. I haven't used it camping yet, but will definitely take it if base camping (car camping). I'm not quite sure if I'll take it cycle touring or not, but likely will.

Expensive? Definitely, but IMO has allready paid for itself in the one week I used it.

Worth it for the OP? I can't say, a lot of factors go into gear choices.

Pillows: I think I recall seeing either a thread here, or on CGOAB reviewing a couple types of the blow-up type pillows. One type had poor reviews, while another type had rave reviews. IIRC the well recieved pillow had a cutout/curverature for your neck, or was shaped just a slight wedge (or both).

djb

re: Luxurylite cot--while it weighs the same or even a little less as a thick thermorest (the 2 inch thick ones, 5cm) I see the main downside as being it being hard on a tent floor with small sticks, stones, anything sharp under the tent--which could and probably will end up with some puncture holes happening to your tent floor, which aint a good thing as zee water she a come in.
Its so important for a tent floor to keep hard objects off it on the inside, especially something so narrow as these support rings with your weight on it.

Also, Im a keep it simple sort of camper, so couldnt be bothered putting it together (Im thinking more travelling, where you have to do it each night)

for me the thick thermarests are very very comfy, so that would be my "total luxury" thing. I recently was car camping and biked about 80k to a friends place who lives in a nearby small city and I put my big thermarest on my rear rack to sleep on at his house. They roll up still quite big, about 2 feet long and the roll being at least 6 inches thick, so it takes up an entire rear rack and more hanging off the back. But I did sleep well at his house as my back had been sore from helping a relative move some furniture a few days before and I didnt want to sleep on his droopy couch.

antokelly

i would like to see a video of that bed before i commit to spending all that dosh.

meaculpa

This is not so farfetched as it first appears. My first, new tent is one of those geodome style setups that you can pickup with one hand. So next time I go on an overnight, I'm going to dent the ground with my heel to create the hip-shape cavity & just lay the tent on it. If it doesn't feel right, well I'll pick it up and move it off that spot. Nice suggestion.

antokelly

yeah if you had a tent you could do that with i dont.
just on that luxurylite cot would it be possible to take in on the bike like does it pack up small enough to fit in a pannier how long does it take to set up.

Camel

I agree. There are a bunch of solutions to this problem folks have had success with:

-Use the cot under the tent floor. (I don't think I would do that)
-Put something under the plastic feet. (I'll likely do this-I've read of a person using 2"x2" or 4"x4" cut up foam pieces which pack up niceley into the original bag)
-Don't use a tent with a floor-ie tarp, Henry Shires tarptent, Megamid etc. (Unlikely I would buy a tent just based on the cot)

It takes me a couple of minutes to set-up. Probably will get faster the more times used. Likely will allways take at least a minute.

It would fit in a pannier, and the poles/plastic bases could be split in 2 panniers (or 4). I would likely put it on a rack top, or 2 panniers-but not sure. If packed as from the manufacturer it is a little bulky, but faster to set up. ?About the same size as a packed 2 man tent.

As to an earlier question regarding video of the Cot: I'm not currently photo/video capable, but the manufacturer has You Tube examples.

fuzz2050

Not that I disagree with the bulk of your post, but I'm pretty sure most of the Tarp-Tents come with a bathtub floor.

fietsbob

Megamid offers an inner mozzy tent and floor as a single unit,
bound to be a well ventilated shelter from the flying/crawling bugs ,
or buttoned up tight against heavy weather , changing set-up as needed ...
what a 4 season tent, should be.

antokelly

camel thanks for the link showing the video, to be honest i would say my exped down map is as good and a lot less hassle think i'll just keep searching for the perfect compressible down pillow, i know there's one waiting for me somewhere.

staehpj1

I gotta say again that the perfect down pillow is a down vest or jacket in a small custom pillow case or an appropriate sized stuff sack. I think Cabelas has a nice cheap goose down vest on sale for $19.99 right now. I have the same model and find it makes a nice pillow. That also means that in a pinch I can put it on as a vest to sleep if I find that conditions are colder than the sleeping bag I am using is good for. Ditto for wearing it in camp or even on the bike if it gets way colder than expected.

If you need a bigger or firmer pillow use a down jacket instead of a vest.

antokelly

the cheapest down vest i seen was with alpkit around£60 bit expensive for a pillow.
but yes i can see you make a great point kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

staehpj1

Yeah at £60 it would be a bit much unless you were in the market for a vest anyway. The Cabelas deal is way cheap, but I guess ordering from your side of the pond might not work.

blaise_f

Ambien.

Heatherbikes

Hello Ambien Walrus, can we be friends?

Oh, I have never been able to sleep when camping-ever. It's horrible and always end up a nervous wreck because I have gotten little to no sleep. I just can't do camping which is weird since I love nature, stars, trees and live in the country. I feel like a primadonna, but it's true. I once had to sleep in a car with blankets and a pillow, but still could not sleep. Even if exhausted I will still be unable to sleep. Even worse is that I was in a major car accident some years ago so my back is a bloody mess so the inability to sleep is compounded by absolute agony. I feel I would have to carry some heavy duty bed thing which would weigh a tonne. I'm all for credit card touring. I wish there were more inns and places to stay that are geared for cyclists and affordable.
The advice is all valid and useful, but some people just can't sleep very well.
It is probably disappointing to my husband who loves camping and wants to bike tour everywhere and stay in a tent.

I have a great tent though. Once I did put a single kids mattress in my tent with nice blankets and I almost slept...but got freaked out by the sound of an animal nibbling something. I currently live in wild animal country and actually do not understand why people would choose to sleep in a flimsy tent in the proximity of bears, cougars, coyotes...

Heatherbikes

Well, I know staying in hotels, bed and breakfasts etc seems counterintuitive to the concept of touring. But, I do not necessarily think it is pointless or wrong to stay in a motel or B&b while touring. If you can't sleep, maybe camping is just not for you. I have trouble sleeping in different places, but a cozy enough bed will do the trick. When I was younger and stayed in hostels, I usually was able to sleep(except for the hostel in Lake Louise-never ever could sleep there) and that's just a bunk in a room with strangers! But yes, as my husband keeps pointing out, it is expensive compared to camping which can be practically free. However, from my perspective, several days without sleep while doing something very physically demanding costs my body and mind far more than money saved camping in the woods.

antokelly

heatherbikes i taught i was the only one here that couldn't sleep now i don't feel so bad .
i love the idea of ME sleeping under the stars sleeping in hotels i would not even consider unless of course i had no choice, no i'm sticking this one out, god loves a trier lol. i just ordered a thermarest compressible pillow hopefull this will do the trick .

Camel

I hope the thermarest pillow helps!

Here is the link to a thread I had been thinking about a while ago, likely you allready read it antokelly-but might prove helpfull for other poor sleepers (along with the wealth of info in this thread). Note that it looks as though "Exped" brand can't be shipped out of the USA, so this specific pillow is of no use to antokelly.

The perfect pillow thread-has well done review

antokelly

Camel i have that exped pillow along with another i cant remember the name, although there great pillows i just can't get on with them.last year i borrowed my granddaughters small pillow it was great .my last trip out i forgot to take it ,but it doesn't really compress very well takes up a lot of space . so I'm hoping the thermarest will do the trick soon find out i have ordered one and I'm off camping in another weeks .
if its no good i'll drop kick it over the nearest hedge.lol

djb

chuckle. Rugby player in the past or present?

jabantik00

I drink a lot of wine with dinner and sleep like the dead

SparkyGA

I have the opposite problem as a lot of people. I can't sleep very well indoors, but I sleep great when outside. Last night I slept on the floor of a Chinese train....

My best sleeps are when the temp is below -10C outside. For some reason my body enjoys freezing

antokelly

neither but what a great feeling to do it.lol

antokelly

folks just an update on my pillow problem.
well i went and bought the Thermarest compressible pillow large size, have to say it's only brilliant. best bit of kit in my panniers.i went for a few days touring in Northern Ireland 60 miles from my front door a campsite at the foot of the Mourn Mountains really beautiful spot.anyway glad to report i slept like a baby so if you guys are having similar sleeping problems i can truly recommend the thermarest pillow magic.

djb

glad to hear that ant!
cheers

Gotte

A drop in body temperature helps you sleep. It's a well known trick if you have problems getting off to sleep to have a hot bath before retiring. I'm not sure why the drop in temperature works, but it does. On tour, you could try putting on your warmest clothes an hour or so before retiring, then stripping off and getting into an open, cooled sleeping bag. Unless it's life threatening temperatures outside, you'll soon make up the temperature while asleep in your bag.

As for pillows, Valleygirl, I think, put me onto the trick of taking a down jacket (not so useful in summer, but in the UK, you never know). You can wear it if it gets cold in the evening, and then put it in a stuff sack to act as a pillow.