There are many types of camping beds. Some appear as a hammock tied up between the tent poles, but I doubt that arrangement would last through the night. Others are on a more traditional canvas and wooden or metal frame. Those campers who really like to rough it find that a simple closed cell foam pad is sufficient to do the job. But probably the finest sleep available in a tent situation is to be had on an inflatable camping bed.

An inflatable camping bed is generally in three types: a luxurious pillowtop twin airbed mattress; a typical inflatable air mattress of various sizes; and a self-inflating pad. All three do an exceptional job to give you a better sleep experience than sleeping on the ground. However, each one is an improvement on the other in offering more comfort.

The self-inflating pad comes in several sizes depending upon the height and build of the camper. It is lightweight and should suit the hiking crowd in a big way coming in at only five pounds average weight. Once it inflates it gives the sleeper almost four inches of comfort to ward off those pesky stones that always try to poke you where you can’t reach. The self-inflating pad also has foam insulation for more comfort and to increase the insulation of the unit to an R-value of 7.0. As a camping bed it just barely meets the definition, but it is far better than stretching out on the ground.

The typical inflatable air mattress is usually made of a PVC vinyl plastic with inner air chambers. Air mattresses take on the general shape of a regular mattress for the bedroom. They are inflated either through an external air pump or a good set of lungs and some even have built-in air pumps that are battery powered or are powered via an AC adapter. The lift provided by the typical air mattress is generally eight to ten inches. Depending upon the number of inner air chambers the mattress can be firm or soft. For an inflatable camping bed firmer is much more desirable.

In the past few years a company by the name of Intex Recreation Corp. of Long Beach, California, has introduced several innovative new luxury types of airbed mattress. They offer twelve different models and sizes to give the consumer the finest inflatable mattress money can buy. Their basic ‘Classic Downy’ comes in twin, full, or queen sizes and features a 20.8-denier waterproof-flocked top with a heavy 15-gauge vinyl bottom. The mattress when inflated is 8.75-inches thick.

The top of the line model for Intex® is the ‘Deluxe Frame Bed’. The inflatable camping bed features an inflated frame wherein the inflated mattress suspends. There is also an inflated backrest. A special bonus of this bed is that the mattress comes out of the frame, which then can be one bed while the mattress becomes a separate bed to be used in another area of the tent. This bed only comes in a queen size and raises the sleepers to sixteen-inches above the floor of the tent in complete luxury. The weight capacity for the bed is six hundred pounds.

So whether you like to hike the mountain ridges or like to stay at the old reliable campground, you can find a better night sleeping in an inflatable camping bed.