Poll: What do you sleep on mostly when canoe camping?

[Bob B.]

Not wanting to thread drift too far here, but there are greenbriar thorns and sharp shell fragments aplenty in some places I trip. I inspect the tent area, but even a sharp pine cone prickle fragment could be weighted pad deflation deadly. I’m thinking about incorporating a secondary puncture resistant ground cloth, to use as extra protection when sharps conditions merit.

Great point Mike. I use a heavy but effective 7x7 ground cloth in my bed roll, egyption cotton high thread count and water proof, it keeps wet, damp ground off me and protects from sharp stuff. Also, my Lean 1 plus has no floor, nor does my Wintertrekker.

 

[BWCA66]

I almost always hammock now but I do have a closed cell foam pad in it.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I use a 3” foam pad that was originally for my cot these days. I used a thermarest pad or air mattress hybrid for years, but lately have found I sleep best on a foam pad on the ground. It is bulky and fills a 70L pack, but is worth it for me. I enjoy hammocks, but not for a long period. The cot only goes on hunting trips in my truck. Getting older isn’t fun. Too many years of abusing my back. Dirt bikes, college football, manual labor etc.

Bob

 

[scratchypants]

Once you hang you'll never want to go to ground again.

And spring for a good Under Quilt

I'm going back. I have a Canadian, cottage-industry "Little Shop of Hammocks" Warrior Lite as well as a Warbonnet Blackbird XLC. I am lucky to have a small wooded area at the back of my property and I basically slept in each of them over the course of a couple of summers. Never comfortable - either hyperextended knees, numb heels, or a devastating headache. I could mitigate the effects with strategically placed pillows, but that was a PITA and not to mention made getting out for a pee even less enthralling. And before the typical barrage of recommendations start flowing in - I have tried all manners of "pitches", I own a well-read copy of "The Ultimate Hang," and I am not interested in bridge hammocks. It sucks, because I really do like the concept.

As for mattresses, I have an old-school, self-inflating Thermarest that I need to replace - it's old and went flat on me during a trip. As such, I have a distrust of things inflatable. I'm contemplating a closed-cell foam model - leaning towards an Exped Flexmat. For couples trips, my wife and I share a Klymit insulated Double V (bought before my flat mattress experience) under a North Face Dolomite Double down bag. The Klymit gets mixed reviews but we like it. You use the bag to inflate it, which can be a bit of a faff at first. Of course now I fully expect it to spring a leak in some unrepairable location.

 

[lowangle al]

I recently used my old Thermorest base camps and they were comfortable. The problem is they are way too bulky and they could be easier to squeeze the air out and roll up. I switched to inflatables a few seasons ago and love them, one is a Klimat and the other an Exped. They seem to be just as comfortable as the Thermorest but much easier to roll up and especially pack. Two Base Camps almost need their own pack.

 

[lowangle al]

Scratchypants, I just repaired a Thermorest with some stuff called Tear-Aid "Type B" It's a tape and worked on an almost half inch tear. I did leave it set for a day before I inflated it. I got it at Dicks.

 

[Odyssey]

Picked up a couple gently used Therma - Neoairs and have been sleeping like beauties ever since.

Thanks Al for the heads up on the Tear Aid tape, much appreciated.

 

[goonstroke]

...
As for mattresses, I have an old-school, self-inflating Thermarest that I need to replace - it's old and went flat on me during a trip. As such, I have a distrust of things inflatable. ...

That's where I am too. Balloons are fun until they pop.

I use two ridgerests, one in the tent and one between the footprint and the tent floor. This seems to work well enough for warmth and padding, and it protects the tent floor from knee-on-pinecone type damage when I'm crawling around. It's not posh, but they're light enough (14-16oz ea) that I could even bring a third.

The rolled up ridgerests stay in the boat for portages, are extra floatation, and make a decent seat at a shore lunch stop. They could come in handy blocking a wheel while changing a tire ... I like gear that isn't fragile. I have about 4.5 of them, two for me, two for the wife, and the remnants of the one I cut up for tractor seat padding.

 

[Misreadingtheriver]

I use a Walmart yoga mat. It works. I tried a klymit static v? But it popped right away, and the pressure drops with freezing Temps. The yoga mat is fine.

 

[Johnny 5]

Once you hang you'll never want to go to ground again.

I prefer air mattress on ground.

I own several Therma-Rest air mattress.

 

[Thestripper]

I always bring a solid foam pad as well as a lightweight Exped air mat. The exped punctures so frequently (or worse yet, the interior walls come apart creating a balloon instead of a pad) so I always bring a closed cell foam pad. I use it doubled up in the canoe as knee kushion when kneeling. It dries quite fast in the sun or by the campfire so you have something to sit on before it's time to go to bed and then I use it under my air mat in the tent.

 

[yknpdlr]

More than anything else, the hammock allows me to not be very picky about selecting a campsite when canoe camping. I have set up over viirtually every type of ground, uneven, brushy, rocky.wet, on steep slopes, you name it, it can be done comfortably. As long as I can find two trees between 9-15 feet apart, I am good.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I always bring a solid foam pad as well as a lightweight Exped air mat. The exped punctures so frequently (or worse yet, the interior walls come apart creating a balloon instead of a pad) so I always bring a closed cell foam pad. I use it doubled up in the canoe as knee kushion when kneeling. It dries quite fast in the sun or by the campfire so you have something to sit on before it's time to go to bed and then I use it under my air mat in the tent.

Welcome to site membership, Thestripper.

It would be of interest if you included your location in your profile so it shows up next to your posts, given that you appear to be outside of North America.

 

[Thestripper]

Welcome to site membership, Thestripper.

Thanks Glenn. I'll get some more info up on my profile. I should have mentioned that I'm in northern Scandinavia. Thanks.

 

[ppine]

I have used a Basecamp Thermarest for years. Now I like to put the small collapsible TA cot under it.

 

[Danny]

What type of cushioning/insulating product do you mostly sleep on these days on a canoe camping trip—nothing, a foam pad, a foam/air hybrid like ThermaRest, an air mattress, a cot, a hammock, or something else?

I don't believe I ever used a foam/air hybrid. I began with a simple roll of Ensolite foam, and then as I recall I moved to an air mattress. For a while I used a very comfortable Lafuma cot, which however is quite bulky and heavy. For the past decade, as I've aged, I've become much more weight and bulk conscious in my solo canoes, so I have returned to a very lightweight and non-bulky air mattress. I also use an air pillow. Lots of heavy breathing involved.

Never had a hammock.

If I am canoeing from a base camp, I have usually slept in a van for 40 years, but this poll is focused on camping out of a canoe rather than car camping.

I use a hammock with the top quilt and and under quilt sometimes I double up on the under quill.. when I take two Advil PM and all is good till morning

 

[Seeker]

I chose "air mattress" in the poll, because that's mostly what I use. Other trips, it's a hammock, and still others (in colder weather), it's an air mattress with a foam pad on top.

My favorite mattress is a ThermaRest NEO Air, full length. I also have a Klymit V Insulated, which is better for colder weather (but I still really need a foam pad on top of that to be really comfortably warm.)

The hammock setup is heavier and fiddlier, so more suited to fewer portages or camping in a new spot every night. Given my druthers and working from a nice base camp for a few days, fishing the local area, I prefer a tarp and an air mattress.

 

[Erica]

Originally, I used a Ridge Rest. I still have one, cut in two, for kneeling on or sitting on or whatever.

My first thermarest - the kind that automatically inflate - was a 3/4 inch, 3/4 length. I was quite happy with that. My feet would get cold, being essentially on the ground, so I would push some extra clothes or coats or whatever beneath them and that worked fine.

It has developed a slow leak. I thought I had it fixed, but apparently not. It will inflate, but then slowly deflates during the night. That doesn't seem to bother me though.

I don't like the pads that have to be inflated by mouth or small pump. Yes, it is difficult to force the air out and roll up the original kind, but in the morning, I have some energy. I generally am low on energy at the end of the day and don't want to have to blow up a mattress. I've tried sleeping on the new air mattresses, but I do not like them at all. Yes, they are cute and easy to pack. But I don't want to be blowing them up at the end of the day.

I love hammock sleeping, as long as there are trees the proper distance apart. I still sleep on the pad in the hammock for warmth. Was just gifted an under quilt. Which is nice. On the other hand, it is one more thing to bring along.

I have a 3 inch, x 72 inch thermarest, but that takes up an incredible amount of room. I look at the photos posted here of canoes and gear for a trip and don't know where you all put everything, including these large mattresses of one type or the other. Makes me wonder, what am I taking that I don't need to be?

 

[Traveler]

Nemo Tensor Ultralight air mattress for me. Bought it when I was more into backpacking so it’s 1 pound weight combined with 3 inch thickness was key. Bought a Hennessy Hammock during their odds and ends clearance last fall, so will give that a try this summer.

 

[devils son in law]

Personally I'll take an air mattress and a Ridgerest pad. Like others here, I've woken up more than once on a inflatable that was no longer holding air.