Camping is one of mine and many other American families favorite summer activity. But when Winter rolls in, many people tend to hibernate in the comfort of their own home to escape the cold. For those brave enough to head outdoors, choosing the best air mattress for cold weather camping is essential to a warm nights sleep.
The problem with air mattresses as you may be well aware of, is the fact they don’t retain heat. The cold air from the winter chill circulates around inside the air mattress with only your body heat attempting to insulate the airbed. As you could imagine, the winter chill wins every time. Our bodies don’t generate enough heat to compete with the cold air trapped inside the air mattress. Our body warmth struggles enough to keep a well insulated sleeping bag warm on the inside. So you can imagine the air inside the air mattress is just as cold if not colder than the air outside.
So what is a camper to do? Pack it up and wait for the warmer months to roll by?. Heck no!. Winter camping is amazing, if not better than camping in the warmer months. Who doesn’t love sitting around the camp fire on a cold night right. In order to achieve sleeping on a air mattress in cold weather while camping you will need to choose one of these few options.
What Is The Best Air Mattress For Cold Weather Camping
The Coleman Airbed Cot Loves Winter!
The Coleman Airbed Cot is one of our favorite air mattresses for camping in all conditions, including freezing cold weather. The reason we recommend the Coleman Airbed Cot for Winter camping is simple. It’s above ground level.
You may have noticed that the earth retains it’s surrounding temperature extremely well. So in cold weather, the ground becomes extremely cold. So the best thing you can do to stay warm on a air mattress is to be elevated away from the coldest surface.
Being above the cold ground may still not be enough to keep you warm however. The Coleman Airbed Cot comes with a cover which completely surrounds the cold material of the airbed. This adds one extra layer between you and the cold air trapped inside the air mattress.
For even colder weather, I recommend you add further levels or barriers to protect your bodies warmth competing with the cold air of the mattress. What I found to work amazingly is by adding a memory foam mattress topper. A memory foam topper is basically a sleeping pad made from a foam material which bonds to the shape of your body and retains your body heat. This is a great way to create a barrier between your bodies warmth and the cold of the air mattress you typically feel.
But do note that not just any topper will do. The memory foam air mattress topper we recommend (found on amazon here) will keep you warmer then many Gel memory foam pads.
This is because the gel toppers allow greater air circulation which we don’t want on a cold night. The gel toppers are ideal for a comfortable sleep on a Summers night however.
Make Any Air Bed Survive The Cold Weather
The Lightspeed Outdoors Foam Topper Adds Warmth
Probably the cheapest option for making your air mattress warmer to sleep on is by investing in a quality foam topper. A foam topper like this one by LightSpeed creates a thick foam layer to prevent the cold air penetrating your body.
While not being too thick (0.05″), the foam topper is compact in size when rolled up. So it won’t chew up too much valuable storage space while camping. But what’s especially good about the Lightspeed foam topper is that it will fit to your Twin or Queen camping air mattress. The drawstrings hold to the bed much like a fitted sheet does.
So by adding a simple yet affordable foam pad on top of an existing air bed you not only have greater comfort, but you also increase the amount of warmth you can feel on a cold night camping outdoors.
A Self Inflating Air Mattress For Chilly Temperatures
A self inflating air mattress or pad is exactly as the name suggests. These types of sleeping pads are ideal for camping and hiking because they are self sufficient and require less storage space. While they are not the best air mattress for cold weather in my opinion, they are certainly a lot better than going armed with just a PVC single layer air mattress.
What makes a self inflating air bed a good choice for campers preparing to embrace cold weather is its thickness. These types of air pads don’t require a pump of any sort, they are made of a special foam which absorbs air to inflate. You simply open the valve and the air gets sucked into the bed and expands with the foam.
As you can imagine, the thickness is limited in order to achieve such a pump-less style of air mattress. Which actually works in our favor when it comes to camping in colder conditions. You see, the air mattress comprises of both air and foam at a thinner height that your typical 9″ mattress. So the tighter foam filled insides have less air inside to create a chiller and because the air mattress is not as thick, you have less cold air inside to to steal your body heat.
Sleeping On A Air Bed Doesn’t Have To Be Cold
Add Warmth With A Air Mattress With Memory Foam Topping
As there is no reasonable way to warm the cold air enclosed inside an air mattress, the next best thing you can do is buy a air mattress with a memory foam topping included. By this I mean a air mattress which has a built in memory foam pad.
Like we previously discussed, a memory foam top is a great way for keeping the body heat close to the body, instead of being chilled down by the cold air mattress. So when you have a air mattress which has a built in foam pad, you are one step ahead of your neighboring camper.
While there is just a few brands of air mattresses with memory foam top to choose from on amazon, the few that are available are of high quality. In particular the Quick Luxe air bed with built in pump.
The Quick Luxe has embedded foam top which is about 1 inch thick. Which is just the right amount to add huge amount of comfort, but also enough to retain the body heat and keep you warmer on the cooler nights.
The Quick Luxe is a popular air bed for guests and long term use because of it’s comfortable memory foam top. But it’s no stranger to getting outdoors. Many folks have taken the Quick Luxe camping because of it’s warm topper and pure comfort. However the only drawback is that it does require electricity to power the build in pump. So not ideal for adventurous campers who stay clear of powered sites and don’t bring their cars along for the trip.
28 Winter Hot Tent Camping Tips
A warm camping experience in Winter starts with the tent. It’s important to buy a well insulated Winter Camping Tent if you are going to tackle this extreme weather event. Winter camping can become dangerous if not well prepared, so start by researching winter tents now.
A Great Video Full Of Useful Advice