The Best Camping Beds

Campground and Car Camping

Car and campground camping means not having to worry about weight, and often, space. The best choice for campground camping and car camping is an inflatable air mattress. The Aero brand of inflatable mattresses includes one made specifically for camping. The mattress comes in twin, double or queen size and includes an electric pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter in cars and trucks. Aero mattresses are available at retailers like Target and Walmart.

Backcountry and Backpacking

When you load up for a long and extended backpacking trip, you need to worry about space and weight. Solid choices for backpacking in summer and warm weather include the Thermarest line of sleeping pads. Thermarest uses a self-inflating open cell foam pad encased in a reinforced nylon shell with a valve. Simply unscrew the valve when you're ready to sleep, and the pad puffs up to between 3/4 of an inch and 1 inch, depending on model. To pack up, unscrew the valve to let the air out and roll up the pad.

Mountaineering and Winter Camping

If your backcountry pursuits take you up into the snowy alpine environment or you camp in the winter, your best camping mattress and bed choice is a combination of an open-cell pad like a Thermrest and a closed-cell pad. Place the closed-cell foam pad on the tent ground and the Thermarest on top of the closed-foam pad. This combination provides a heat retention and insulation from the cold ground. The closed-cell foam acts like Styrofoam, keeping out the radiating cold from the ice or snow. A range of both types of pads available from Trails.com receive good user feedback.