camp beds or airbeds?

[applegate79]

Hi, we are a family of 5 and have camped in the UK a lot but never abroad, mostly due to space but with a larger car we are heading to southern france this summer.
we have always used airbeds but I need to replace all 3 of the kids ones, as they all leak! When I was looking i saw lots of campbeds, I liked the thought of them being slightly higher (bags etc could be stored underneath them) But....are they comfortable, durable. ..do they last? I dont want to spend a huge amount so would be looking at more basic ones....any thoughts welcomed!!

In my experience they are not comfy to sleep the night on. I use an air bed myself, but my DCs have always been fine with simple cheap roll mats.

DD has a camp bed and loves it.

This one

www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/vango-4-leg-camp-bed-99320008?channel_code=110&id_colour=124&product_code=73493392&utm_source=google&_$ja=tsid:45886&gclid=CNj9iJbSw8QCFaHKtAod6BgAaQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

It is fairly narrow, folds away to nothing. We also have decent SIMS, 10cm, but they take up more room in the car than our airbeds.

Grown ups have a aerobed active which is great.

I do think that you will get longevity with a camp bed vs an airbed, would get it with a SIM too but they are not as small when you are travelling.

Also, our camp bed has now been used for six solid months of camping.

I hadn't really thought about space but thats a good point as i suppose camp beds will take up more room in the car etc than air beds.

The camp bed I linked to is tiny when packed away, smaller than an airbed. It is just the canvas, four wavy legs and a few pole sections that you twist together to make the sides. It is our SIMS that take the room up.

SIMs are far comfier than either airbeds or camp beds. When we tried them a couple of years ago it was like a revelation!

I don't like our SIMS and they are the 10cm ones. I wake up with an aching hip/back and limit their use to weekends only, our aerobed active is another story, I love it to death.

I know that an air bed is more likely to develop a leak but we camped for three months last year alone without issues and they are now three years old.

I will probably replace the air bed with the same when it goes - I would like to try thermorest dream air or whatever the name is but really unsure about spending £300 plus without trying them first and obviously you can't do that!