Bedding options

[dr.placebo]

I love it that today this thread showed up directly above "giant vat of non-newtonian fluid".

[Token]

I like a skinny blond and a voluptuous brunette. Best of both worlds and comfy no matter what.

A redhead is a total jackpot bonus.

[ellorbito]

blow up bed. all the way. first year no bed....every year after, blow up bed.! Or someone else's bed!

[CapSmashy]

We sleep on this.



Ikea King sized bed with lots of available blankets to snuggle under after a hard day (and night) of burning. Of course, it helps to have a school bus wrapped around it to haul it out there.

Of course prior to this opulent luxury, we utilized a 10x14 Kodiak canvas cabin tent (6'6") ceiling and the XL outfitter's cots from Cabelas with sleeping pads, sheets and blankets.

[VeganChoirGirl]

I use an XL cot with:

1st a dollar store window reflector
2nd a down sleeping bag
3rd an extra thick feather bed

These three items are covered in a modified fitted sheet that holds the whole kit a caboodle together and prevents slipage

Then I use two down pillows covered in old pillow cases, a flat sheet, two blankets (1 wool, 1 cotton), a summer quilt, and an old down sleeping bag.

With this bedding, I can DEFINITELY layer and change it up depending on weather.

If you would like a double bed, get TWO XL cots (these babies can hold LOTS of weight, so feel free to have a whole party in your bed!), put a double wide self inflating pad over the stop, then 1 or 2 down sleeping bags, then a full or queen sized feather bed. Then continue with whatever covers you'd like.

Air mattresses are the devil. They always deflate. Totally pointless.

[Herring]

Has anybody here bothered to bring a futon? When I go camping I just use a foam pad, but I usually don't camp more than a couple of nights. Since we're driving out anyway seems like it wouldn't be too much trouble to tow our Ikea futon in the trailer with everything else, or maybe just the mattress.

My main concern is that even with a zip-up cover, we might never get the dust out of the futon mattress. Thoughts?

[unjonharley]

Has anybody here bothered to bring a futon? When I go camping I just use a foam pad, but I usually don't camp more than a couple of nights. Since we're driving out anyway seems like it wouldn't be too much trouble to tow our Ikea futon in the trailer with everything else, or maybe just the mattress.

My main concern is that even with a zip-up cover, we might never get the dust out of the futon mattress. Thoughts?

The dust will go right through that cover..

[moonrise]

Has anybody here bothered to bring a futon? When I go camping I just use a foam pad, but I usually don't camp more than a couple of nights. Since we're driving out anyway seems like it wouldn't be too much trouble to tow our Ikea futon in the trailer with everything else, or maybe just the mattress.

My main concern is that even with a zip-up cover, we might never get the dust out of the futon mattress. Thoughts?

I have a very bad lower back, bring the futon mattress if you can, leave the frame. You'll be glad you sacraficed a mattress. I've reused my upholstered pads from BM 2010, they seem OK.

I brought the above ^^ foam pads but too narrow, I will probably need to haul my used but cherished tempurpedic out there too, in my Yukon, it'll work out very well. Schweet!

Seems for travelers from afar, an air mattress and a 2 to 4 inch thick memory foam pad over that and finish with some good sheets and sleeeping bags, the kind that zip together are great...most brands zip to eachother if I recall correctly.

In my costco carport, the dust would get over a 1/4 inch thick in wind storms after a day or so.
The tent inside the carport was fairly dust free, with more diligence I could've shieled it better but wtf, it's epic BRC desert camping afterall!
Rubbermades kept the gear dust free, a broom or towel helped too

[Herring]

Yeah I guess I could just get a dedicated camping futon mattress off of craigslist and keep it in the garage. That way i dont have to worry about long term effects of playa dust. My significant other would certainly appreciate better support at night when we go on our weekend camping trips, maybe a camping mattress would get us outdoors more often.

[gypsy68]

My friend takes a mattress that she covers with a plastic mattress bag. You can get them really cheap at moving stores, or places like Target, or Walmart. She just puts it over the mattress and tapes up the open end. It works really well. They should be big enough to go over a futon mattress.

[unjonharley]

My friend takes a mattress that she covers with a plastic mattress bag. You can get them really cheap at moving stores, or places like Target, or Walmart. She just puts it over the mattress and tapes up the open end. It works really well. They should be big enough to go over a futon mattress.

Might not want to sleep on plastic on the playa..

[gypsy68]

My friend just put sheets, and regular bedding over it. (she might have had a unzipped sleeping bag between the plastic and the sheet. She slept well enough on it, that she used a cover mattress 3 or 4 years out there. For the 4 or 5 dollars it cost for the mattress bag, it's cheap enough to try out at home to see if you can sleep on it.

[Turnip]

A pallet in the Old World was a mat fashioned out of papyrus or bamboo. Still see them used in Asia.

A more modern version of a sleeping pallet would be a shit ton of blankets layered on top of each other as to give you the illusion of some sort of padding that is worth a damn.

I had something like 3 blankets and a sleeping bag going on. Might as well have slept on the floor of the tent.

[Oldguy]

4 inch foam, mattress topper, 2 bags zipped togeather, quilt,sheet,cover sheet.
after rising, roll up sheet to shake outside tent. recover bed and then rollup and cover roll during day.
you still get dusty, but you wont be rolling in grit.

[CapSmashy]

In my costco carport, the dust would get over a 1/4 inch thick in wind storms after a day or so.
The tent inside the carport was fairly dust free, with more diligence I could've shieled it better but wtf, it's epic BRC desert camping afterall!
Rubbermades kept the gear dust free, a broom or towel helped too

My first year, I was going with this kind of set up, tent inside a car port. Everything was great until the ridge pole suffered a blow out during set up.

So, I spent 12 days sleeping on my cot in the carport. Got a little dusty to say the least and I got used to sleeping with my entire head wrapped up in a scarf.

Awesome fucking year though.

[VeganChoirGirl]

I am looking for a unique collection of fancy Bed Sheets. Which made up of superior quality materials and reasonable in prices also. Please recommend me.

Sheets

WTF??

[FIGJAM]

spam!

[VeganChoirGirl]

spam!

No doubt.

[junglesmacks]

I think this year I'm going to try and grab a free mattress off of Craigslist and just get a cover for it. F it. Throw it in the back of the box truck and be done with it.

[AntiM]

Larry brought home a brand new trucker mattress. A single, but this one folds lengthwise down the middle. We may be persuaded to haul it out to the playa for someone....

[jcliff]

I'm trying a Coleman Big Sky folding cot for the first time this year. Packs up reasonabley small and it's about 15 lbs. Had it out and it seems pretty comfy. I have had enough of the air mattress taco situation.

[MoonSplash]

I found one of those thick foamy swimming pool floating mattresses for dirt cheap at a discount store several years ago. I take it wherever I go camping. I stick the mattress inside a thrift store sleeping bag (inside out, so the flannel is on the outside), then wrap THAT with another cheapie thrift store twin sized quilt (ugly as sin, but great for extra padding), then throw another sleeping bag on top of that. Depending on how cold it is, I either sleep inside the top sleeping bag or unzip it and use it as a blanket. It's narrow, but all those layers are great for warmth and protecting me from the hard ground.

Next time I might cannibalize a full-length summer lounge chair (the kind people have at the pool to nap on) and use that as a cot with the above set up. A lot cheaper than a cot and just as sturdy.

[Dust Becomes You]

Back to the painful sexual experiences while mashing on a cot...whats wrong with that?

I personally see it as a challenge to pretzel any cot i'm invited onto.

[Elorrum]

If you are going to sleep on the ground, say with a thin thermarest or non-inflatable pad, dig out a couple depressions under your pad, or tent floor, where your hips and shoulders are going to be. this helps a lot. I use a cot, and have tried a few... byers of maine allagash cot packs up flat, takes up little space, but is low to the ground. Just got back from a trip with a cot tent by kamprite. A neat gadget, still considering it for burning man. Main fave is a wide and long cot with an extra thick thermarest type pad. I've also slept great on an air mattress. a sturdy floaty size type, and liked the coleman twin size too. I just don't enjoy sleeping so near the ground anymore... it's not the sleeping part that bothers me, it's the getting up in the morning part. I found the cot without the pad was hard on my back.