portable camping mattress...

Therma-rest. I have one of the ultralights, full length, that rolls into a very tiny package and is very light weight. It isn't as comfortable as a full sized therm-a-rest buts its packability and weight make it worth it. Blowing a bit extra air into it via the valve helps rather than just relying on the self-inflation method.
 
I'm happy enough using Karrimats, either one at a time or in pairs. I have a pair of cut down ones that live in my day-pack just for sittin' or whatever other imaginative use you can put then to. Invaluable for the spontaneous picnic shaftie too. Who wants her getting housemaids-knee.

The only useful comment I have is to avoid the budget chemically blown ones, despite superficial similarity to the good ones. Pressure blown ones don't compact under your shoulder and hips like the chemical ones, and are harder to rip.
 
If you're using a tent, pile the leaves, boughs, grass, whatever in a bed area and then pitch the tent on top. We used to do this with cedar boughs when I was a kid to make the ground a bit more even and cushy. Smelled nice, too!

J-
 
FLIX said:
Ron Hood demonstrated this for both a mattress and for blankets in the Woodsmaster 2 (Shelter) DVD. IIRC, in the middle of the nite he got sick of the bags rustling around and he just dumped them over him.

For backpacking & camping, take a pad. On a canoe outing, bring a 4 poster bed! On dayhikes, a small bit of closed cell foam or aluminized bubblewrap insulation pack up real small and will provide (some) insulation from the heat-sucking ground.

-- FLIX
Click to expand...

Okay, I stand (hunched over in pain) corrected o this one! :mad: I went out for an impromptu "unplanned night out" last night and decided to try this out. I'll start a thread later with more detail, but in short, IT SUCKED!

-- FLIX
 
This is by Tom Brown Jr.....

By taking two old and well worn blankets and sewing them together you can make an excellent sleeping roll that is lightweight and will keep you warm no matter how cold it gets. When you sew the two together, leave an opening in one end so that it can be easily stuffed with fiber during a survival outing.

As you get into the camp area stuff the blankets with leaves, cattail down, thistle down, or bark fibers, then roll the blanket around you. The colder it gets, the more stuffing you can put into it.

When you break camp, dump out the blankets and roll them up into a light ball on your back. This type of blanket sleeping bag will take care of you in style without having to carry in a big conventional sleeping bag.
 
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