Home Sweet Home

However little space there is in the car, there are a number of items that are essential for a comfortable camping holiday and unless these are being hired at the campsite — which is only rarely possible — they have to be obtained in advance and taken along with you. At the top of this list of essentials are beds and bedding.

So shall you lie

People who have never been camping before have visions of spending cold, sleepless nights on the bone- hard ground and indeed this is a hazard that must be avoided at all costs. Nothing is more likely to ruin the enjoyment of an outdoor holiday than lying awake in the dark feeling frozen and imagining that every unfamiliar sound means that your tent is surrounded by abominable snowmen. Not only is this kind of martyrdom unnecessary, but snuggling down into a warm sleeping bag at night and waking up slowly in the morning with the sun turning your tent into a cosy cocoon must be one of the most luxurious experiences on earth, so it makes sense to take along comfortable bedding and give yourself a chance to enjoy it!

The main difference about sleeping in a tent from sleeping in a house is that the thin tent walls do not retain any of the sun’s daytime heat, so bedding needs to be rather warmer than at home. The ground underneath the tent also becomes quite cold at night, so you will need to insulate yourself from it as much as possible. One way of doing this is to take along a type of bed that raises you off the ground. The alternative is to use a mattress that lies directly on the floor of the tent but which insulates the sleeper by placing a layer of air or air-filled foam between him and the cold ground.

Of the various types of mattress, box-sided airbeds are probably the most satisfactory of all. They are deep enough to provide good insulation and wide enough to allow the sleeper to move about on them, and if they are not over-inflated they provide the same combination of softness and support as an ordinary domestic bed. Because of their large surface area, they are also less likely to slide about on top of a smooth groundsheet even if the ground where the tent has been pitched happens to have a slight slope.

Dealing with inflation

Airbeds do, however, have to be pumped up, so an extra piece of equipment is needed : it is not wise to inflate them by mouth because moist breath may eventually cause them to go mouldy inside. Inflators come in various styles and sizes and a selection is shown below.

The type which runs off the car battery saves a great deal of effort, especially when a whole family is touring and several beds have to be blown up afresh each evening, but it is as well to have a non-electric pump as a back-up system. The leads connecting an electric inflator to the car battery may not always be long enough to reach into the tent from where the car is parked, and this makes things difficult when it is raining. Some inflators of this type are also rather noisy, which makes them unsociable to use late in the evening on a quiet campsite.

Finally, in case an airbed becomes damaged it is sensible to carry a small repair kit — some manufacturers supply one, and a spare stopper.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Camping Beds and Mattresses, I love the comfortable and convenient one!

• Quilt-type Sleeping Bags and Inflation Pillows, better than the Slippery Nylon ones!
• How to Select the Best Buys For Your Bedrooms
• Reducing the health hazards
• The master touch
• Sleep on Good bed
• How to choose bedroom furniture
• Bathroom Furnishing Touch
• Home Energy Conservation
• Natural House Natural Fibres continue...
• How to Select the Best Buys For Your Bedrooms continue...