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Floor Friendly Cots

I used a cot (I believe it is was from Campmor) for a number of years in my two person (nylon) tent when canoe camping. The cot has a canvas top, three aluminum legs that detach and lengthwise aluminum supports that can be connected/disconnected so that the cot can be folded, rolled and placed in a large stuff sack. It is light enough to use canoe camping, but is too big and bulky to take backpacking. I ended going to a hammock because sleeping even sleeping on the cot did not produce a restful sleep as I got older and my back became more troublesome. Since I began hammock camping, I am able to get a great sleep and have no problem backpacking or canoe camping.
 
Welcome to the club! I tried a thicker pad, and that didn’t do much to help. So, for car/truck camping, I went with a Cabela’s cot, and a sleeping pad. No guilt, and a great nights sleep. The Thermarest Luxury pad makes a great pairing. What I did to minimize any punch throughs was glue some carpet scraps on plywood blocks. The cot feet by themselves may have been ok, but I was worried about soft ground. So far, so good. Haven’t tried the hammock yet....
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You can buy plastic disks with carpeting, somewhat along the line of what Yohawk posted, which are designed for putting under things like sofa legs to protect hardwood floors. I use those with a roll-a-cot when luxury camping, though had to tape some less slippery material to the plastic to keep the cot legs from sliding off the disks. I've also used squares cut from somewhat stiff foam floor mat under the cot feet. Don't have enough long term use to make any conclusions about wear on the tent floor, but with some protection under the cot feet I don't think the wear is too bad and the comfort is worth it.
 
If you are car ( truck) camping might I suggest a couple of pieces of plywood to put down. That would be quite civilised.
 
I originally was just using 6 small pieces of carpet under my cot feet, and that worked just fine. Then I had the bright idea that I could store my plastic Home Depot storage bin(s) with my gear in them under the cot for a little more floor space in the tent. The bins were just a little too tall and ended up pushing the cot canvas.....hence the plywood spacer.
 
I used a couple of strips of cardboard under the legs of my roll a cot. I also put up a Helinox chair as a bedside table (and chair). It felt so civilized.
 
Two years ago we started using cots for our camping trips to the North Georgia Mountains. We stay in Forest Service campgrounds. We purchased a dome tent that allows us to stand. We had been using our Eureka Timberline four person tent but with the cots we needed a taller tent. The cots that Walmart sells are comfortable and have very floor friendly curved aluminum legs. No problem using on the floor. Only cost less than fifty dollars each. They have a two inch foam mattress. Next year we will add our Thermarest mattresses for extra comfort.
 
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