By: Blonde Two
One of the aspects of wild camping that doesn’t get easier as you get older is the comfort factor. Inflatable thermal sleeping mats make life a lot warmer but an inch of mat (even a £70 one) doesn’t always stop bits of you hurting and waking you up.
It is usually hips with me, or my back. It often feels like I spend the night on a constant slow-spin cycle. I think Blonde One does too although we are rarely awake at the same time, so are probably not Synchronised Spinners!
On Saturday night we were wild camping with our (very impressive) Ten Tors youngsters. We were on North Dartmoor and not in one of our usual spots. It was bone numbingly cold in the wind and very bleak looking; but our new site had one unexpected advantage, the most bouncy of long grass mattresses.
My mattress was conveniently shaped like one of those posh lay-back recliner chairs, with a hole for my bottom and a bulge for my pillow. A palliasse without a bag to contain all of its lovely hay-ness.
What a shame I was too cold to fully appreciate it!
At my age the ultimate comfort is a b and b, but forthcoming plans for the summer will necessitate carrying the tent just to keep the costs down.
Camping is great but when it is very cold and when you have to be up and at it at six the next morning, it isn’t the best thing in the world!
Mattress. Oh, the standards of education today, etc etc… 8) Camping / cold / 6AM = not the best thing in the world. Hmmm. Well, perhaps it will help to consider that a) there are less attractive circumstances, and b) there are many people in the graveyard who would be glad to see it anyway. I find these cheering thoughts when I’m camping and it’s cold at 6AM… All a matter of perspectives y’see. Finally (may have mentioned this before) have you ever tried your sleeping mat inside a sleeping bag? I have a 25mm shortie and find it much warmer this way, I think because the air inside is kept warmer and thus more insulating than if the mat were cooler being outside it and in closer contact with cold ground. And, of course, you’ll never slip off the thing. Feels a bit weird at first but you’ll get over it after a better night of sleep. Keep up the good work.
Definitely not cheering thoughts! Can’t fit me and my mat into my sleeping bag but both go into my bivvy bag (this takes a lot of wriggling which warms me up).