Regardless of what type of traveling and vacationing you enjoy, sleeping is a priority because everyone needs their rest for the next day’s activities. Needless to say there are endless combinations for making a bed. A pad or cushions thrown on the floor might do the trick, while others prefer being up off the ground.

That’s one thing my parents said if they did try out camping with us. They don’t necessarily have to stay in a cabin, they would try a tent, but they did want the luxury of lying in a bed that didn’t mean they had to drag themselves off the floor. In this case, a simple air mattress or pillows wouldn’t do. They had their hearts and minds set on a more formal style of bed. And then the light bulb lit because we figured they would be agreeable to using a queen size camping cot.

By buying that particular size, both my mother and father could fit on the bed, and they should feel a lot warmer if the nights got cool. They could also support each other in their new venture testing out their limits with camping.

To be honest, this portable type of sleeping system would be great for a family, too. If the kids are smaller, all of them could use the bed in a pinch. They can add their own bedding or sleeping bags, plus an air mattress for comfort. The beauty of this is they don’t have to set up the cot every night. They leave it standing in place, and if need be, air out the blankets during the day in the nice sunshine.

When my brother and I started camping some years ago, there was no such thing as this sizing. One person slept on the bed, so each family needed as many as there were persons. I remember my cousins going camping every summer since they were babies. As the kids got a bit older, the family needed five beds for all of them. In those days, there weren’t any choices other than the standard red, blue and green colors. And everyone bought them when they were on sale for the end of school promotion to get ready for summer. Boy have things changed since then!

Back to today’s dilemma, we weren’t sure what we should look for, but knew if we started reading descriptions, we would have an idea of what we didn’t want. After reading the specs, we then moved to the comments from buyers, so that we could see what some of the concerns were. This would help us to make a better decision since our parents are a little picky. What might work for us might definitely not work for them.

Here are a few of the takeaways thanks to users who have tried them out already.

Sturdy frame. If it is too flimsy, it makes a lot of noise and feels like it is going to fall down. Plus, it might be too wobbly.

Large enough for person over six foot tall.

No tools needed for setup

Carrying case, otherwise the unit is cumbersome to pack and move around

No attached mattress. We wanted to shop separately because we wanted a custom setup.



Heavy Duty Wheeled Queen Size Camping Cot





Sturdy High Weight Load Queen Size Camping Cot





Double Width Fold Up Queen Size Camping Cot





Extra Large Queen Size Camping Cot



Conclusion

After doing all that research, we can certainly see how these camping cots will become even more popular over time. It is amazing how many specific requests for features there are and what the manufacturers are coming out with. No doubt beds for tents will be as comfortable and as health conscious as your bed at home.

PS – If you found this little review blog post of ours useful or interesting please feel free to join in the conversation using the comments section below. We always love to hear from fellow fans of backpacking and camping. Getting feedback helps us to write better posts so please don’t be shy if you have ideas for how we can do even better next time!