Little Darwin

I have spent the night with friends at various events recently, and have found that the sofa beds that I am usually assigned to are only marginally better than the bare floor, due to the fact I have yet to sleep on one where I didn't have to deal with sagging between the support bars . So, I started thinking...

I would like to have something in those cases, and also in case I spend the night somewhere on a bike ride. I am not too concerned with it being too large, as I would use bungie cords to strap it to the top of my trunk bag.

I see that self-inflating foam pads exist, and they are drawing my attention... but I am mostly concerned about durability and supporting my weight. I have not seen any weight limits listed, but I suspect that most manufacturers assume that anyone my size never does anything but sit on the couch and eat (which I admit I do too much).

For a person 6' tall, and over 300 pounds, what sort of sleeping pad/air mattress would be reasonably comfortable, not too difficult to pack, and very durable?

In case I finally follow through and lose some weight this year, what are the best options at 250 pounds, or 200?

chowtownsfinest

I do a lot of backpacking and travelling around for work. The most comfortable easy to pack pad I can think of is the Double-Z from Big Agnes. It comes in 72" and 78" lengths, and even comes in a double size 50" wide (instead of the standard 25"). And at 4" thick it is plenty comfortable.

jsigone

I use this pad when camping in the mts or desert, but never tried to mount it to my bike

https://www.rei.com/product/810386/t...e-sleeping-pad

I never tried the air pads and how well they work.

DarthMonkey

For camping I have both Alps and thermarest, and both are pretty good. I would make sure to get a "comfort" model as opposed to lightweight or travel models. They are generally bigger in width and\or length, as well thicker. Furthermore the bigger comfort models (tall, XL, or XXL) are thicker still. If you lose weight the thick pads are just more comfortable, only down side is possible hauling more size/weight than necessary, which might be an issue if hauling long distances on a bike. I find 1.5 " foam is the absolute minimum for me on hard ground, but even thicker (like 3") is sooooo much nicer. I have used a .75" thick unit when i was younger, but the last time I had to put a blanket under it get it soft enough to sleep on.

Which one works best will be a personal decision, obviously, but as a starting point I would suggest the ALPS comfort in XL:

Comfort Air Pad **/** ALPS Mountaineering

showing as $82.50 right now on amazon

Amazon.com : ALPS Mountaineering Comfort Series Air Pad : Camping Sleeping Pads : Sports & Outdoors

fietsbob

Air mattresses will loose heat as the air in it moves around, But fill the tubes with Insulation and then it will retain your body Heat.

Self inflating air mattresses have open cell insulating Foam in them .

Camp rest by thermarest is their . tall wide thick Model.

brawlo

If you've got the room, then the thicker 8-10cm self inflating models are possibly the best. Nice and thick for comfort, but they don't pack down to very small. I use a thermarest 5cm self inflating for camping kayak trips where space is at a premium and it's small enough to fit through my kayak hatch to stow inside. I'm anywhere from 125kg and down for weight and I get a decent night's sleep on it

TrojanHorse

Are you packing it on your bike or packing it in your car?

If car, get a cot. I gave up on air mattresses. Too leaky and damn heavy.