A few months ago, I posted the above photo to my Instagram with the caption “we need not be pagans.” It got a surprisingly large amount of comments, including from Alaska woodworker and artist Zach LaPerrière, who said I should share my sleeping setup. Here goes.
Most important—and duh—it depends on the conditions, but my goal is always to sleep outside, under the stars, and to sleep well. The night in question, I was in the Mojave’s Turtle Mountains Wilderness, on my way east to Arizona. The vast majority of my nights camping are in the arid Southwest, and I rarely have to worry about rain or bugs. Most of the time, the biggest consideration is temperature, followed by wind. My preferred scenario starts with the Helinox Cot One Convertible, combined with leg extensions that lift the bed 8.5 inches off the ground. I’ve tried a lot of cots and there are only two I’d recommend. The most comfortable by far is REI’s Wonderland Comfort Cot. It’s adjustable and well-padded and makes a fine lounge chair. I slept extremely well on it with no additional padding. But it’s like road-tripping with Chewbacca—even folded, it takes up a ton of room, it’s quite heavy, and you never forget it’s there—and I sold mine. The Helinox, by contrast, breaks down to a small package and, at five pounds, is so compact and light, I keep it in my truck at all times.
Can you sleep on the Helinox without padding? I have. It’s okay. But I prefer to float my princess body either on the four-inch Exped MegaMat (inflatable, R-Value 8.1) or, more recently, the Hest Foamy (foam, R-Value 8.8). The Foamy has a waterproof bottom layer, and being foam, won’t spring a leak, which makes it an excellent option for ground camping—if I don’t feel like setting up the cot, I just toss it on the slickrock.
My insulation layer depends on the temperature. If it’s nice, I use the cotton blanket you see in the photo. If it’s cool, I use a wool blanket or a sleeping bag. No particular preference on bags—I have NEMO, Marmot, and Exped bags and rotate between them.
A pillow is a must. I’ve long used an old house pillow but lately have been testing Hest’s Camp Pillow, which fits nicely inside a sleeping bag hood. I’d like it to be a little softer, but am getting used to it.
When it comes to car camping, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be comfortable. But I also admit to wanting to find a way to sleep well in nothing but the clothes I’m wearing or a simple poncho. In the 1990s, on a mule-packing trip in Durango, Mexico, I watched one of the mule packers have a great night’s sleep on the ground with only a wool blanket. Easier, I suspect, for a back sleeper than a side sleeper like me. And every time I’ve slept directly on the ground without padding, my conclusion has been: no. Maybe I just need to tire myself out more?
For backpacking or bikepacking, it’s been ages since I tried a new pad; for inflatables, I remain a fan of Therm-A-Rest NeoAirs. My last backpacking overnight, in a remote canyon in Grand Staircase, I used Exped’s Flex 1.5Rclosed-cell foam pad. On sand, it’s fine. On hard ground, I find it a little thin. Exped just dropped the Flex R3, which is twice as thick. It’s also, at 18 ounces, much heavier than a comparable inflatable. But that’s the tradeoff, right? Inflatables can be very light, but need to be inflated and can also leak. Is foam worth the extra bulk? Is a bivy better than a tent? Is a quilt better than a bag? A waterproof bag by itself better than all of the above? I sure do like experimenting.
In the end, there’s no perfect setup. Every biome is different, every body is different, every adventure goal is different, and every night’s weather is different. No matter what, you make do, and lord, I’ve had to make do through some miserable nights. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying to maximize your sleep quality. One of my goals for the year is 100 nights of camping, which provides opportunity for all kinds of setups. If there’s a pad, bag, combo, or something else you want me to try and write about, let me know. Same if you want to share your approach to sleeping soft while sleeping rough.
—Stephen Casimiro
