Tent cot

[jlmnjem]

As I and my canoe tripping friends get older, we continue to look for ways to be more comfortable on the river. We grew tired of crawling in and out of backpacking tents and one of my buddies bought a Kamprite Tent Cot. He loved it, but I'm 6'5 and about 300# and it wasn't big enough for me. I couldn't find anything larger for sale, so I started looking for tents and cots that might be mated to accomplish the same thing on a bigger scale. I started with the cot and found a Stansport XL cot that is 86"x42". I needed a tent that was a little longer so I found some aluminum tubing that had an inner dimension equal to the outer dimension of the square tubing spreader bars. I fabricated extensions that fit over the ends of the spreader bars and drilled holes in each extension. This hole accepts the ferrule end of an aluminum tent pole, allowing the tent to be set up on the cot and secured into the extensions. The most suitable tent I could find is a ICS 2000 military tent. It has no vestibule on the front door, allowing a clean set up with easy ingress and egress, and a freestanding rear vestibule integrated into the fly that maintains its shape without having to be staked. It's my "go to" tripping shelter and, with my Thermarest Dreamrest sleeping pad, I always sleep very well on my trips.

 

[Canotrouge]

I know a lot of people like the hammock for an off the ground sleeping system. I think that if I was mainly tripping by myself I would start looking into that, but for now I trip with wife and kid, so a tente is still preferable. I use that mattress http://www.mec.ca/product/5045-942/...ng-pad/?No=40&h=10+4294966616&f=10+4294966616 and I really like it, the best mattress I ever use, it is bulky by todays standard, but I don't really care since it is in a canoe or in the pulk/toboggan...

 

[jlmnjem]

My son has a hammock setup with an underquilt and rain fly. He likes it, but despite what my photos might suggest, we typically camp on open gravel bars away from trees. He also has a Kamprite Tentcot and really likes it as well. I don't have to worry about the wife going anymore...not since a trip about 8 years ago when it got down to 5 degrees the night before put-in. She bailed, went to a friend's house who lived about an hour away, then met us with the shuttle vehicle at the take-out 5 days later. My son, who was 13 at the time, stuck it out and has been hooked on tripping ever since. I like sleeping on the cot and I've given a couple different large tents a try. I started with a MSR Board Room, which is an awesome tent but it's too big unless you need to accommodate 2-3 people. I now have a Paha Que Pamo Valley but it's pretty big too so now I just use the tent cot.

 

[Guest]

Camping sleeping comfort ratings for me;
#1 hammock
#2 cot with self inflating pad
#3 sleeping on the ground with thick self inflating pad
The one thing I don't skimp on camping is sleeping comfort
Those cot tents look interesting, but I have too much gear now!
Turtle

 

[southcove]

Neat adaptation. Hear you on the need for improved comfort...everything hurts now in the early AM hours, late night libations and early morning coffee can only do so much! Cabelas has sold 1-3 variations on this theme for many years but have never run into anyone who owned one. I have found sleeping on a cot a mixed bag, but so is sleeping on the ground...just haven't tried as many variations yet to get a better setup.

 

[Guest]

One problem I see is no dry area outside the cot in the rain like my hammock has. If course, a larger separate tarp would fix that.
Turtle

 

[Guest]

Maybe a cot with just a bug enclosure under a tarp would be a cool setup.
Turtle

 

[jlmnjem]

No Title

One problem I see is no dry area outside the cot in the rain like my hammock has. If course, a larger separate tarp would fix that.
Turtle

I've added a Big Agnes Three Forks shelter for that very reason. I have two side panels and intend to mate the tent cot to one of the open ends of the shelter.

 

[sweeper]

I was carrying an air mattress like the one in canotruoge's link It was the only way I could get any sleep but wanted to downsize. I went to a hammock and won't go back. Cots are nice also we used them the first couple trips, It was comfortable and off the ground but it came down to size again.