Airbed or Sleeping mats?....

[durulz]

Sounds like a good option, do you know where you can easily get them at all, online?

Blacks do them for a tenner.

 

[Chinkapin]

Don't get me wrong, I never said the Thermorest was the best mattress or the only way to go. In fact, I agree they are too bulky and to heavy. I only began using them after suffering a ruptured disc in my lower back that made sleeping on anything difficult. They were never used under anything resembling "nice conditions." They were used under ordinary outdoor camping conditions, from Arkansas to Washington state and back. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[forestwalker]

They were never used under anything resembling "nice conditions." They were used under ordinary outdoor camping conditions, from Arkansas to Washington state and back. Maybe I'm just lucky.

I think we might mean different things by "nice". Nice is ground with a minimum of pine comes and pointy twigs, not nice is s small, cramped shelter built from spruce boughts on a frame of standing dead pine, brances broken off by hand, or right next to a log fire for warmth. Burning spark-throwing pine and spruce.

But they are nice and soft, no discussion of that. And as opposed to the old-fashioned air mattress they are not a heat sink.

 

[nige7whit]

Hi,

I want to get my girlfriend into camping then onto wild camping. So I know that I will need to keep her in the luxury that she is accustomed to so she can ease into it.

I want to get to to point where we can go hiking and be able to wild camp. My dream is a week or two in the highlands hiking around the lochs and coastline and setting camp wherever we feel.
.

Dude, if she isn't already into it, either take it slow, or think of something else.! When my (now ex) wife decided she's like to go camping, I found a 1 day route (Patterdale-Red Tarn-Hellvelyn-Striding Edge-Patterdale) and split it into a 2 day walk, so we camped at Red Tarn, and she was exhausted then ! Half way, she was 100% exhausted, we camped, I set up all the tent/kit. Next day, I even carried her light rucksack on top of my own heavy bergan.

Thankfully, my kids seem to have inherited my spirit of adventure, and at 4, they both climbed a local but quite steep hill to see the view from the top (Hoad monument, Ulverston, if you're interested).

Closing advice..... Try something low level and easy, if she finds it hard, then it's not for you (as a couple).

 

[Chinkapin]

Leigh Robinson, listen carefully to nige7whit above, about taking it slow. One bad experience, particularly a first one, and most people are finished. My wife and I and our two girls went hiking in the Colorado Rockies and just about everything went wrong. We were beginners at the time. On arrival three of the four of us had altitude sickness. Our kit was too heavy. It rained all day everyday. I came down with Guardia. Eventually we packed up and moved to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, where we all dried out, but I laid sick with Guardia.

After returning home I never got the girls out into the wilderness again. My wife and I both took it in stride but to this day you cant get either one of them out of the house for anything more than a picnic. This was all the fault of ignorance of beginners, poorly chosen kit, bad judgment, and poor planning.

 

[Prophecy]

Over here Tesco are doing inflatable camping airbed things for less than a tenner.

 

[sirex]

i have 2 alpkit wee's, an alpkit regular, and a thermarest. - bang for buck, the alpkit are streets ahead. The wee's are perfect for hiking - esp if combined with a foam mat.

Dont forget a blow up pellow

 

[Nagual]

i have 2 alpkit wee's, an alpkit regular, and a thermarest. - bang for buck, the alpkit are streets ahead. The wee's are perfect for hiking - esp if combined with a foam mat.

Dont forget a blow up pellow

I'm curious, apart from the obvious cost difference, what are the differences between a thermarest and Alpkits gear? I ask as I tend to like their stuff, but haven't got anything much to compare it too. Thinking of getting one of their mats anyway, but would like to know and I think others would be interested in the differences in size, quality of build, design, shape, weight and everything else? Perhaps a seperate thread would be more appropriate with picures ? Probably pushing my luck there.. Seriously any information on the differences would be good to have.

 

[adderrustler]

Selfinflating kip mats are best if you buy an inflatable bed and it goes down she will only moan

 

[Toddy]

We used the closed cell mats for years, but they're only comfortable on top of lots of springy heather or the like. They're pretty much indestructable though, lightweight and don't mind getting wet.

Then I got sore and stiff and achy with arthritis, and I bought the self inflating thermarest clones.......not much better than the others to be honest, and they were short; and since I'm only 5'2" that's relevant.

So I gave in and bought the blow up airbeds. Comfortable, heavy, the pump is bulky and it's hard work blowing them up, and they can be surprisingly cold Fine in a dry tent in Spring, Summer and early Autumn I reckon. Handy for a spare bed if needed though.

Then I found out how to stop the pain and the aches and I saw the Exped down mat and I tried one. And I wanted one, 'cos it's easy, it packs small and opens up big, and it's warm under me.......and I do mean it's warm under me
Not cheap though, but if it died tomorrow, I'd buy another one

Scotland in Summer for a newbie ? Go East, fewer midgies and clegs, and there's still stunning scenery and lovely places to wander.

atb,
Toddy