ALERT!!! Camping virgin daft question....

[nobodysfool]

We are going to buy a tent off a friend and are getting a stove, coolbox and the tent footprint but i have a really daft question.......what do you slepp on?Airbed and blankets or sleeping bags?I really feel the cold and have a 2 year old and a 5 year old.Any advice will help me no end as i really dont want us all shivering in the cold at night time .
Thanks.

We have tried regular air matresses and self inflating matresses, both were pretty shit.

On a mn and RL friends advice we bought an aero matress - dual thingy. Have only used it once so far but the best nights sleep camping ever! Though I will be keeping the receipt just in case.

Not sure why its any better than the others but so far so good.

We used tohave the mmmy typr sleeping bags but I hated frrling so constricted. DH talked me into 2 singles that zip into a double and he was right, very comfy and the body heat helps keep us warm. Though I have since discovered that you can you an air matress inflater on the deflate setting to suck the air out of vacuum bags - not brilliantly but enough to take a duvet camping. Will be trying the bank holiday weekend so will let you know.

Also and this is very important - wear a hat in bed, not sexy but hey there you go!

Thanks needanewname, had a look at the aero mattress thingy, how is that different from a normal air bed (see i told you i was daft).Whats the dual thingy? Good idea about a hat im sure it will set DH pulse racing ;-) Double sleeping bag?.....hhmmm.....may look into that.Thanks for replying.

so not a stupid question. get sleeping right and camping is your oyster (or something). i dispensed with sleeping bags along time ago. duvets for us. i like airbeds but you have to cover with blankets or you freeze. fat airics, thermarests are all v. welll but i like a bit of bounce.

you need to suck and see. good luck

I would try with airbeds. Make sure you put a blanket on top of the airbed first, then your sleeping bag, then blanket/duvet on top. Same for DC. Depending on what type of tent you have, you can also put a blanket down in the bedroom pod bit so you don't get out onto a cold floor.

I have no idea why its better (and costs so much more) but it is (and it does!)

The dual thing is that each side pumps up individually so you can have as a single and also lessons the bounce when one person gets up (or into bed)

Not a daft question at all

If you do get airbeds I recommend flat ones, rather than the ones with built-in pillows. They are excruciating. Take your own pillows.

The best tip I got about airbeds (from MN of course) was to have something on the ground between airbed and groundsheet, then buy fitted fleecy matress protectors (about £7 for a single in Wilko) and put them over the airbed, then sleeping bag on top, then blanket. Warm as toast :)

We have a carpet and then another groundsheet so will hopefully be toasty!

thanks ladies for all your replies....does your car end up looking like a mass of bedding . Fleecy mattress protectors sound snug.
So in an ideal world......ground sheet, blanket, airbed, matress protector, sleeping bag then duvet.
No chance of any nookie then as we wont be able to move under all the weight of the bedding .
Any other advice what to take?

Bedsocks!

Brandy!

Thermal top and leggings under very fluffy PJs (so, Amistillsexy now? )

I second the thermals, put on earlier in the evening so you stay warm round the campfire and your body doesn't get chilled (harder to rewarm than to stay warm in my experience). Then swap outer clothes for pyjamas, proceed immediately to burrow into your mountain of duvets, sleeping bags and blankets and use the tiny amount of face poking out to pout sexily at your DH/DP. He will be unable to resist particularly if you top the whole look off with a woolly hat!

Get those vaccuum pack bags for transporting all the bedding it - it's hugely satisfying to discover just how small much you can squuze them down - made a huge difference to our packing

great ideas....Brandy ...check....bedsocks....check......vaccume bags...check....thermals....check...sexy pout...hhmmmmm i may end up looking like a fish!

We have 10cm self inflating mattresses - love them. Two singles with double fleecy sheet on top and then duvet. It has taken us three years to get our perfect combination.

How do you vacuum pack stuff back in for the return journey without the vacuum cleaner?

Aha I can help you there Bella!

YOU know the blowy thingy (yes that is its technical name!) that you blow up your air beds with - get one that has a deflate setting (and various attachments) so you can suck the air out. Try before you go that it actually works. I did this the other day and whilst it isn;t anywhere near as strong, 'twas good enough in my books!!!

Aha

OMG, vacuum bag/air bag pump? Why did I never think of that?

Its taken me 3 years of wondering how I could fit a duvet into the car with everything else!!!

Moid- do you still have a sleepingbag as well as a duvet?

Needanewname, can you recommend a really good blowy thingy? I had the vac bag brainwave last year but was really disappointed that our blowy thingy didn't make much of a difference to the bedding volume when we used it to pack up at the end of our stay. I wondered whether a hand held vacuum cleaner would be better (one of those little ones) that plugs into the lighter socket of the car - or I guess I could 'borrow' a kind fellow camper's EHU for 5 mins... :) Recommendations welcome!

Mmmm - will get it out and have a look. It isn't that great if I'm honest but its good enough (I hope - will let you know after half term!)