In reply to alfadriver :
Yeah, a friend of mine lived (voluntarily) in her Prius for a couple of years. The window socks were top of her list too. And a fairly thin sleeping pad.
In reply to alfadriver :
Yeah, a friend of mine lived (voluntarily) in her Prius for a couple of years. The window socks were top of her list too. And a fairly thin sleeping pad.
Fairly decent camping mattress is going to be much better to sleep on than a cot, both for taking up less space and long term durability. I prefer Therm-A-Rest mattresses, am going on 30 years with the same one.
The window socks are a good idea. Park in the shade or set up an EZUp over the top to keep the vehicle cool during the day will help a lot.
If there will be lights or you are in town, fit some blackout screens to the windows that you dont install screens on. Can be anything from taped up cardboard to proper screens.
If you have any decent battery tools that offer a jobsite fan in their ecosystem, scoop one up. The wife and I swear by our M18 fan. Runs all night on medium on a 5 amp battery.
Suburbans and an air mattress are a match made in heaven. Slept in many ski mountain lots in one.
Yes, this. Easy button. A twin size air mattress, and an 12v blow up pump. Slept in the back of my 04 quite a few times at car shows. There really isnt enough headroom for any type of Cot.
grover said:Suburbans and an air mattress are a match made in heaven. Slept in many ski mountain lots in one.
expeditionportal.com
you're welcome
Damn you guys. You're not giving me the answers I wanted. I looked at the Therm-A-Rest stuff last night. Almost convinced to order one.
Stampie, I've got an inflatable mattress of unknown size and function in my shop if you want to roll the dice before you order a new one.
In reply to hobiercr :
That sounds like a way to get me real grumpy in the morning from a flat mattress.
Therma Rest stuff is the teats especially if you get it on REI Clearance.
I camped in a square body burb before with a full size mattress from a day bed, some plastic (rather than metal) screen from a screen door held on to the outside of the door with rare earth magnets off of amazon.
I've slept on a 1" thick air mattress thingy for years now traveling back and forth from PA to FL. Blows up in 30 seconds, takes up very little room and stores rolled up. It fits perfectly across the back seat of both a Toyota Tundra and Ram quad cab. Bought for under $40 back in 2017.
I bought a tri fold memory foam mattress in "full" size for these activities. Got sick of unreliable air mattresses and it is super comfortable. Folds up and stowes nicely
Pic of it in my Travelall which is about the same size as a suburban. I built a platform to store camping supplies underneath.
Here's a link, there are cheaper ones but with the amount we camp it was money well spent. Also good for house guests.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W67PAPK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Stampie said:Damn you guys. You're not giving me the answers I wanted. I looked at the Therm-A-Rest stuff last night. Almost convinced to order one.
Something you want to think about before you pull the trigger on therm-a-rest.
Most camping sleeping pads are insulated and intended to keep the cold ground from sucking all the heat out of your body. Camping in a suburban in florida you WANT to have all the heat sucked out of your body. Insulation isn't your friend here.
The cot you posted in your first post is super comfy, we have one, and if it fits well in the burb (REI should let you test-fit it, or you can buy and return if you don't like the headroom) it could be nice. A Disc-o-bed or other low cot without insulation could also help you sleep cool. Hammock campers have to fight to keep warm in 60 degree sleeps, that's the kind of problem you want to have.
Cheap, uninsulated blow-up mattresses also tend to sleep cool because they don't insulate as well as camping air pads, but they also get holes easily.
All the other advice about bringing a battery-powered fan (dewalt, milwaulkee, ryobi, etc) and a big battery is spot on. Adding window screens is on point, and keeping the burb in the shade to minimize heat load is good too.
Could also try a cheap amazon camping hammock, the kind with a bug net included, and then just pitch that between the burb and a tree / post / other car.
I probably spend a month out of every year sleeping in my GMT800 suburban with Dog. I guess I have gotten lucky but I've been using the same walmart air mattress for a good two years now. Of course, now that I've said that, it will go flat when I have to sleep on it again next weekend.
Air mattress is great, but foam is nice because you get more headroom. Also, if you're doing a multi day trip with a lot of elevation change, you don't have to deflate before driving. Yes, air mattresses will explode if you drive from 600 feet to 7000 feet elevation in one day, and it makes a remarkably loud noise when it goes. I just refill it every day if I'm driving.
For powering airflow devices, the harbor freight predator inverter generators work great. I run fans in the summer and a small space heater in the winter. Portable AC is probably in my future, but haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet. Cracked windows and open sunroof are usually good enough. I guess I've gotten lucky with bugs; I probably should get some of those nets.
Make some cardboard cutouts or something to cover the rear windows from the inside. Steady consistent darkness = good sleep.
I walked into REI today in all my GRM cheapness looking for this.
Yeah the reviews are kinda mixed but wtf it's like $60.
What saved me was I didn't remember what I was looking for. So I sat down on what I thought was just a bench to look it up in my phone. Turns out the bench was covered by this.
It was comfy. After I realized I started comparing the two. The REI XL was longer and wider. You can never go wrong with those two attributes. Anyway I spent the extra $90 for it because I figured the GRMers next weekend deserved a not grumpy Stampie. Still need to measure my windows and order a window sock.
Um, yeah. About that get together.
In reply to hobiercr :
Ok then guess I'll just be ready anyway.
Came back because I knew there was something about the windows. About to order the window socks on Amazon. The mat did get a little test at wvmtnbkr's place over New Years. He was all about denying me the opportunity to use the mat but I stood my ground. Mat worked great but I found that I needed more of a pillow vs the not pillow I took with me. Next weekend will be the first time of actual Suburban sleeping.
I slept in the back of a Ford explorer a few times for flagging a hillclimb and other stuff. I did the aerobed thing, but something to consider. Get a couple of cheap packing blankets. Have one actual pillow that you use for your actual face contact (although I'm odd and frequently use a bunched up fleece blanket in place of a pillow, even on my usual bed), but use the packing blankets for things like wanting to sleep laying up against the sides or something. Hell, I keep some around in case I need to work under a car or as a drop cloth too. Even the cheap harbor freight ones are useful.
I have nothing to add except that the cot in Stampies original post is the most comfortable thing I have ever slept on outdoors. Anything foam or inflatable can't compare. It's $200 and more than worth it
All settled in and ready to go to bed. Well might surf for a little.
In reply to Stampie :
Well..... ?
We're waiting !
In reply to Indy - Guy :
No morning picture. No one wants to see that. Window socks only fit the rear windows. They are too square to fit the front. Got a little chilly last night with a low of 52 but not bad. Although I had a pillow I kept thinking my head was too low. This morning I noticed that the Suburban was on a slight slope so that explains that. Overall I'd give it a B- with the issues all fixable.
fanfoy said:Streetwiseguy said:I've slept in the back of my xc90 with a hunk of foam and a sleeping bag. To be honest, the biggest concern was ventilation without allowing bugs in. Explore that.
I've slept in the back of my Suburban. To fix the air circulation issue, I opened both rear windows, but installed the car window shade sock from Amazon. Worked great to keep the bugs out while letting air in. Something like this in SUV size:
I have 4 of those when I go camping in my Disco. I also made a soft mesh screen to fit over both sunroofs.
As for sleeping, I have a fold out foam "cot" that I lay a sleeping bag on. The end gets weird because of the way the seat folds up, but I usually do not lay out completely flat anyway.
Stampie said:In reply to Indy - Guy :
Although I had a pillow I kept thinking my head was too low. This morning I noticed that the Suburban was on a slight slope so that explains that. Overall I'd give it a B- with the issues all fixable.
I forgot about that issue, but I also carried a pot of water to make sure the truck was level when I parked. It really doesn't take a lot of slope to mess up your sleep. If you can't find a flat surface, you can at least park with your head up. Not great, but OK.
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