HIDDEN PULSE

People have different ideas of roughing it. For some of us, anything short of sleeping under the stars without even the slightest hint of modern conveniences is taking it much too easy. Others want to bring along elaborate tents or even gigantic recreational vehicles complete with a refrigerator, flat screen TV, laptops, portable WiFi, DVD players, and just about everything else you have at home. Both approaches have their pluses and minuses.

Even for the most dedicated fan of roughing it, however, it’s worthwhile to investigate an inflatable camping mattress. The fact of the matter is that a good night’s sleep is essential to fully enjoying your camping trip. These lightweight, easily portable air beds can seriously improve the quality and duration of your nightly slumbers and generally make for a more pleasant outing.

Of course, some of these beds have to be inflated electronically, so you will need a source of electricity. If you have this type of bed, you should check with your campground to make sure outlets are available, assuming you won’t have easy access to an RV.

Some types of camping mattress can be inflated by mouth. However, inflating this type of portable bed can at times be more challenging than you might imagine. High altitudes can make your breath a somewhat precious commodity, so you might want to practice inflating your mattress by mouth while you’re still at home to make sure you can do it.

Believe it or not, some mattresses are also appropriate for backpacking trips. These products are obviously going to be lighter weight and non-electronic, but after a long but fun day of tramping through the wilderness, having a comfortable bed to sleep on will be all the more heavenly. There’s no sleep quite like the sleep you get on a camping mattress after a long day of hiking and a delicious outdoor dinner.