A couple of months in the past, I posted the above picture to my Instagram with the caption “we’d like not be pagans.” It received a surprisingly great amount of feedback, together with from Alaska woodworker and artist Zach LaPerrière, who mentioned I ought to share my sleeping setup. Right here goes.
Most necessary—and duh—it will depend on the situations, however my objective is at all times to sleep exterior, underneath the celebs, and to sleep properly. The night time in query, I used to be within the Mojave’s Turtle Mountains Wilderness, on my approach east to Arizona. The overwhelming majority of my nights tenting are within the arid Southwest, and I not often have to fret about rain or bugs. More often than not, the most important consideration is temperature, adopted by wind. My most popular situation begins with the Helinox Cot One Convertible, mixed with leg extensions that carry the mattress 8.5 inches off the bottom. I’ve tried plenty of cots and there are solely two I’d advocate. Probably the most snug by far is REI’s Wonderland Consolation Cot. It’s adjustable and well-padded and makes a high quality lounge chair. I slept extraordinarily properly on it with no extra padding. Nevertheless it’s like road-tripping with Chewbacca—even folded, it takes up a ton of room, it’s fairly heavy, and also you always remember it’s there—and I bought mine. The Helinox, in contrast, breaks all the way down to a small bundle and, at 5 kilos, is so compact and light-weight, I maintain it in my truck always.
Are you able to sleep on the Helinox with out padding? I’ve. It’s okay. However I desire to drift my princess physique both on the four-inch Exped MegaMat (inflatable, R-Worth 8.1) or, extra not too long ago, the Hest Foamy (foam, R-Worth 8.8). The Foamy has a water-resistant backside layer, and being foam, received’t spring a leak, which makes it a wonderful choice for floor tenting—if I don’t really feel like organising the cot, I simply toss it on the slickrock.
My insulation layer will depend on the temperature. If it’s good, I exploit the cotton blanket you see within the picture. If it’s cool, I exploit a wool blanket or a sleeping bag. No explicit choice on baggage—I’ve NEMO, Marmot, and Exped baggage and rotate between them.
A pillow is a should. I’ve lengthy used an outdated home pillow however currently have been testing Hest’s Camp Pillow, which inserts properly inside a sleeping bag hood. I’d prefer it to be just a little softer, however am getting used to it.
In terms of automobile tenting, I see no motive why you shouldn’t be snug. However I additionally admit to eager to discover a strategy to sleep properly in nothing however the garments I’m sporting or a easy poncho. Within the Nineties, on a mule-packing journey in Durango, Mexico, I watched one of many mule packers have an ideal night time’s sleep on the bottom with solely a wool blanket. Simpler, I believe, for a again sleeper than a facet sleeper like me. And each time I’ve slept straight on the bottom with out padding, my conclusion has been: no. Possibly I simply must tire myself out extra?
For backpacking or bikepacking, it’s been ages since I attempted a brand new pad; for inflatables, I stay a fan of Therm-A-Relaxation NeoAirs. My final backpacking in a single day, in a distant canyon in Grand Staircase, I used Exped’s Flex 1.5Rclosed-cell foam pad. On sand, it’s high quality. On onerous floor, I discover it just a little skinny. Exped simply dropped the Flex R3, which is twice as thick. It’s additionally, at 18 ounces, a lot heavier than a comparable inflatable. However that’s the tradeoff, proper? Inflatables could be very mild, however should be inflated and can even leak. Is foam value the additional bulk? Is a bivy higher than a tent? Is a quilt higher than a bag? A water-resistant bag by itself higher than all the above? I certain do like experimenting.
Ultimately, there’s no good setup. Each biome is completely different, each physique is completely different, each journey objective is completely different, and each night time’s climate is completely different. It doesn’t matter what, you make do, and lord, I’ve needed to make do by some depressing nights. However that doesn’t imply it isn’t value attempting to maximise your sleep high quality. Considered one of my objectives for the 12 months is 100 nights of tenting, which supplies alternative for every kind of setups. If there’s a pad, bag, combo, or one thing else you need me to attempt to write about, let me know. Identical if you wish to share your strategy to sleeping smooth whereas sleeping tough.
—Stephen Casimiro
