Doing the Outdoors Right with a Camping Air Mattress

If you’re a fan of camping (of course you are) then you know that it’s an unpredictable pastime. Warm sun, gentle breezes, bird song and sleeping under the stars breathing fresh air is the intent but not always the result. Equipment failure, cold ground, bugs and tempestuous weather are what we sometimes get. The only sure way to avoid the bad that sometimes comes in lieu of the good would be to stay home. But then, who would keep the tics, spiders, snakes and poison ivy company?

For some folks, that stuff is what turns a trip to the outdoors into something memorable worth talking about. These folks are happy as long as they aren’t eaten by a bear (mild mauling acceptable providing it contributes to a good after-story). They’re as content to eat grubs and roots as they would be to eat steak and potatoes; arguably happier, as the former menu option places them more in the experience. Of course, we’re not all masochists.

The polar opposite of the people who like a bit of dengue fever, F4 tornados, white-out blizzard conditions and one wet match and a roll of duct tape to get by on are the urban campers. These are the folks who include an RV in their camping supplies. Nothing says roughing it like a luxuriously appointed fiberglass shell traveling at an oh-so-green 12 miles per gallon from one destination to another in order to share the, um, wilderness experience with 40 strangers. The only things that can ruin the great outdoors experience for these folks is poor satellite TV reception and a shortage of hot, running water. Can you blame them? Who wants to miss an episode of Survivor or I’m a Celebrity, be Disgusted (name changed to more accurately reflect content)? After all, why immerse yourself fully in nature when the flat screen TV mounted on your camper’s wall can simulate the environment you’re currently parked in?

So there are your fringes, but what about those of us in the middle? Well, if you’re like me, you try to find a balance between being removed from all that electric beeping nonsense that seems to dominate our daily lives but not quite auditioning to be a Bear Grylls stand-in. You don’t need the RV, but you won’t turn your nose up at a tent that doesn’t leak. You accept that there will be bugs, but you include a small bottle of insect repellent in your backpack. You left the goose-liver pate at home but allowed for some high-end perishables at the start of the trip before you’ll be forced to turn to your freeze-dried edibles. You may have even packed a couple beers. Your mileage may vary.

For us “tweeners,” there’s a comfortable spot between tortured and pampered. The criteria is usually pretty simple. If you can carry it in on your back, it’s fair game. That means being pretty selective about what amenities are of sufficient importance to haul so many of us have narrowed down our list of absolute must-haves. Mine can be summed up as great food and great sleep.

The good food part is actually easy to accomplish. I cheat. I always try to go camping with my buddy who happens to be a chef who missed his calling in life. This guy could turn week-old road-kill into something palatable if he set his mind to it. The second part, great sleep, requires me to actually haul something; an air mattress bed.

Now, I’m not talking about having a Select Comfort Sleep Number bed air lifted to our planned camp site or anything. Mind you, I own one and if it were in the budget, I might try to find a way to get it there. But money isn’t that plentiful, unfortunately. What I am talking about is a self-inflating camping air mattress. If it were up to me, the guy or gal who invented these things would be up for a Nobel Prize.

Back in the day (yes, I’m old enough to say that) a cozy night sleeping on the ground meant a comfortable sleeping pad. It was neither cozy nor comfortable. At best, every sleeping pad I used kept the worst of the discomfort away but never failed to leave me with something poking me in the ribs or shoulders regardless how diligent I was in my ground clearing effort. We called them better-than-nothing pads. The first air mattresses for camping were little better but came with the bonus of being bulkier and prone to puncturing or deflating.

As it tends to do, technology moves forward and, today, we have modern air mattresses for camping that are light years ahead of those first efforts. Today’s air beds are made of astoundingly durable materials. Even better, they are almost entirely self-inflating, though I still add one or two lungs full of air to them for that extra plush feel. Despite the comfort they afford, these beds also compact down to as small a size as their foam counterparts. Perhaps most important, they are substantially more comfortable than foam models which can compress to virtual uselessness through the night which entirely defeats their purpose.

Variety and luxury are the name of the game with modern air mattresses, making them a wonderful option for even the most discerning of campers (you RVers know who you are). Whether you’re camping out of the back of a pickup truck, an SUV or need a guest bed for your maid, there’s a cozy air mattress bed out there for you. Custom styles are made to fit a variety of trucks and SUVs, allow you to stay off the cold ground on 4, 6 or even 8 inches of comfortable air.

But there are always going to be those folks who frown on air mattresses. The hard men and women of the camping world would prefer to sleep, as nature intended, on the cold hard ground. They are welcome to it. In fact, they are welcome to go camping with me. Should some rabid critter attack in the middle of the night it will have two potential meals from which to choose; a spry and well-rested air mattress bed sleeper and a groggy, sore and slow-to respond tough guy/gal. Guess who wins in that equation. But, hey, they’ll have great scars to show off if they make it home to tell the story, right?