Saturday, Mar 28, 2009 at 14:10
Agreed x 3.
I have used self inflating matresses for over 20 years, specifically the lightweight ones when bushwalking and for that purpose they're great.
For car camping, you cannot go past the THERMAREST brand. These are the ones you want:
THERMAREST LUXURY CAMP SERIES
You will pay nearly twice (or more) money for one of these, but they are incomparable to the cheaper brands. Don't listen to those who have the rubbish ones who tell you they are cr@p....they haven't used one of these. I reckon they're more comfy than my bed at
home.
They do take a little effort to roll up, but IMHO it is worth the extra $$ and they DO roll up to a reasonable size for packing in the car...again MUCH smaller than the el-cheapos. Don't even bother with the cheap ones as you will end up chucking it away and eventually getting one (or more) of these for your camping comfort and the initial purchase will be wasted dollars.
I'm not always about spending big on camping gear, but in one's bedding I think it's worth it. Another point about the cheaper ones is they don't last anywhere near as long. I still have a Thermarest that I used for bushwalking whilst teaching outdoor ed and it is over 18 years old now and apart from one minor repair from a stray thorn, it is still as good as the day I bought it....not bad value for about a hundred bucks at the time!
I'm sure there will be others who disagree and reckon the cheapos are fine, but if you intend to do a lot of camping and want it to last, you will be most happy with the Thermarest.
Cheers,
Mark
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