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Cushioning when sleeping

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  • Cushioning when sleeping

    Hey guys! I was in Wal-Mart the other day and was walking down the sporting goods aisle with the exercise equipment when I noticed those puzzle mat squares that you put together and I got to thinking about using them camping and was wondering if I bought a bunch of them and put them down as the floor to my tent, if it would act as a cushion when sleeping. Has anybody ever tried this? Is it very comfortable or does it work very well?

    I thought about buying some and trying them out but they are pretty expensive, so I wanted to check and see if anybody else had tried them first. Here is what I am talking about:

  • #2
    Re: Cushioning when sleeping

    I think they've become pretty common with campers. A few of the people in my group have them and they definitely work well. Check the outlet stores like Ollie's and Big Lots (assuming those places exist in your neck of the woods). I know I saw them at a Big Lots here for a little over half of what I've seen advertised elsewhere.

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    • #3
      Re: Cushioning when sleeping

      Thanks MacGyver! I didn't realize a lot of campers already used these. I do, in fact, have a Big Lots about 15 minutes away from me, so I will definitely go check them out. Thanks for the suggestion. I love to camp, but have trouble sleeping on the ground due to some slight back problems. I have tried an air mattress, but with being a bigger guy, all the air mattresses I have tried deflate during the night. So, I thought if I would put a layer of these down, maybe i could just put a heavy blanket or two down and then my sleeping bag and that would help.

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      • #4
        Re: Cushioning when sleeping

        You're welcome! I can't sleep on the ground either. My small tents go on a collapsible platform and the cabin tent has a cot. If your back is anything like mine and you have a truck or a roof rack or some way to carry it, you might consider putting some plywood on top of those tiles. It hit me one day when my back was really giving me a fit and I slept on the floor for the extra firmness that I could take that same comfort into my tents.

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        • #5
          Re: Cushioning when sleeping

          I thought about doing that but with the size of my tent the tiles would take up too much room in the truck. Just something to keep in mind.
          “I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
          – E. B. White

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          • #6
            Re: Cushioning when sleeping

            Because of their cellular construction, they would be thermo-positive and poor conductors of heat - ideal for sleeping with enough thickness to satisfy!
            “People have such a love for the truth that when they happen to love something else, they want it to be the truth; and because they do not wish to be proven wrong, they refuse to be shown their mistake. And so, they end up hating the truth for the sake of the object which they have come to love instead of the truth.”
            ―Augustine of Hippo, Fifth Century A.D.

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            • #7
              Re: Cushioning when sleeping

              I thought about the tiles, but ended up going with three closed cell "Flotex" foam yoga mats: 28 x 84 x 1/2" thick. It's a very dense, but soft, squishy closed cell foam. Same material is used in Airex exercise pads. I found a source that cuts remnants into yoga mats. $40 each compared to $100+ for a comparable size Airex mat. The cuts are a little uneven, but who cares? They are for camping -- although they also make terrific exercise mats.

              They roll up and fit in standard Thermarest stuff sacks. Three of them weigh very little. Unrolled, they nearly cover the floor of the Halo 4 tent. Or two of them nearly cover the floor of the Thor 3. Easy on the knees. Very good insulation. And, complete protection of the tent floor from cot legs. You could use them as sleeping pads. Much more comfortable than the hard blue closed cell foam pads.

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              • #8
                Re: Cushioning when sleeping

                That is awesome HWC. The source where you got those mats, is it a local source or was it somewhere online. Wouldn't mind checking into those myself!

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                • #9
                  Re: Cushioning when sleeping

                  http://www.foamorder.com/closedcell.html

                  Scroll down to the full-size yoga mat.

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