Universal Camp Cot

I prefer to primitive camp and I typically camp wherever I am when it starts getting dark. For 16 years I lived in Utah and camped in the back of my pickup, an average of two nights a week for all those years, on an air mattress and a tarp over a PVC frame over the bed of my truck. I've camped comfortably in all kinds of weather with that setup. The air mattresses seem to start leaking air after about two or three uses and that was always a problem. I'm in Florida now and since it is winter, the perfect time to camp in Florida, I have been camping out again. Instead of an air mattress, I tried using two layers of 2" memory foam but I still feel the steel bed of my pickup and It is very uncomfortable. I decided to look for a cot and I found Teton Sports Outfitter XXL camping cot. I'm a big guy and this looked perfect. The price looked a little bit high but not out of reason. I ordered the cot and when I set it up, I was amazed at just how big it is! I'm 6'3" tall and 300+ pounds. The cot is 40" wide and sits 19" above the ground. It is long enough that my head and my feet don't hang off either end. It fits in the bed of my Ford F-150 with the tailgate down with about 6 or 8 inches to spare. It fills up most of the bed of my truck but does give me some room on the side to get in and out of the cot. I am always armed when I camp which I think, and hope, most people are. Some people were running their dogs about midnight, probably hunting deer and I heard some gunshots in the Ocala National Forest after I had gone to bed so I laid my AR-15 on one side of the cot and still had plenty of room to get a good night's sleep. I've had back problems for almost 40 years and I don't sleep well anywhere but I got a pretty good night's sleep on the cot and I think it would be very comfortable for most big people. I bought a 3" memory foam topper with a zippered cover for a twin XXL bed and it fit the cot perfectly. What did I not like about the Teton Sports Outfitter XXL Camping Cot? This morning when I got ready to fold the cot up, the top and bottom rails have plastic end caps. Two of those caps had come out. I found one and popped it back in but was unable to locate the second end cap, even in the white sand that surrounded my pickup at my camping spot. I contacted Teton Sports by email and I left a phone message. We'll see how they respond but if their response is anything like the quality of this cot, I'm sure they'll get a new plastic end cap to me in the mail soon. The only other thing that I had difficulty with was putting the cot into the bag that it comes equipped with. The bag is a great idea since I carry the cot in the back of my pickup over the highway and very rough four wheel drive roads to get my camping spots. If the bag was one inch longer, it would sure make inserting the cot much easier. The small red lever that helps get the top rail in place is a nifty little addition. Overall, this is a GREAT cot and worth every penny I spent on it and I highly recommend it. I will be spending lots of time camping on it and I'm sure this cot will outlive me. I will purchase the rifle sleeve and accessories sleeve that fit on each side of the cot. We will also be using the cot for our three year old grandson when he is sleeping over. GREAT JOB TETON SPORTS!!!

This is my first camping cot. I've used inflatable mattresses in the past and they just aren't very comfortable and I don't like being on the ground. I looked at a lot of cots and this was the only one I found that offered larger sizes and was still reasonably priced. I was a little worried after reading reviews, mostly because they didn't offer free returns and I was concerned about having to pay shipping on a return. Thankfully, the product I received is definitely new and constructed properly. Set up and take down each take about 2 min and get easier every time. (LOVE that pivot arm!) The second set up, I struggled a little, but when I repositioned where I was standing and how my body was angled to the cot, everything slid right into place.I'm 5'2" 120 lbs and I got the middle size because I sleep on my back and my sides. I got a 3" memory foam pad as well. I tried out the set up at home last night and slept great on my back and sides! I can't wait to use it camping! It is a little taller than I realized and my feet don't touch the floor when I sit on it, but that's just a me problem. I really wanted something that would be up off the ground. It really didn't wiggle much when I rolled around on it, it felt stable and sturdy, but I'm still going to avoid flopping down or thrashing around on it. Boyfriend also tried it out for a night and found it comfortable (he's pretty picky about his sleeping arrangements).I know people aren't happy about the carrying bag not being zippered, but it doesn't bother me. It's easy to fit the cot into the bag and the combination of hand and shoulder straps makes it easy to lift and carry. It's a little heavier than I expected. There's one campground I go to that I have to walk down about 20-30 stairs from the vehicle to the site. I'm not at all concerned about carrying this cot up and down the stairs, but it's certainly not for backpacking.