Coleman v big w airbeds?

[toomanyshoes]

Anyone bought/used the big w brand airbeds or should I stick with a brand name like coleman?

Just seems like a lot of money for something we might not use again or for 9-12 months!

[Miss.September]

We've bought from both Kmart and Rays. We got three from Kmart, only one is remaining after not a lot of use. DH and I have one double each and DD has a single. The ones at Rays, well one needed to be patched after the second night of sleeping on it. While we didn't buy Coleman, we did buy a brand name bed from Rats. I honestly don't think it makes a lot if difference, just keep a patching kit handy and a spare. One of ours actually popped and couldn't be repaired.

[Sopdet]

I have the BigW brand one, but it so-far hasn't been used for camping, just when I've visited friends or had friends over, it has been pulled out and pumped up.

[Lenny]

Is it for camping?
Personally I thing airbeds get very very cold when you are camping. The air inside it drops to whatever temperature it is outside, and so you are sleeping on something 'cold'. It can be very unpleasant.
If it's not for camping, then ignore me!

[Rivlas]

We got ours from BigW years ago and it's still going. Has a small hole on the side but we have put tape on the side and it stays up all night. You just need to replace the tape every year so so. Ours is a queen and probably the height of a double bed mattress. When we were camping (2 months) we had our sleeping bag that we put on top, nice and soft then the sheet and slept under a doona.

[Kazzo]

I agree with Lenny, if it is for camping and not in summer months then I would not use an airbed at all. I bought my 2 airbeds from GoLo and we use it a lot and have never had any issues becides not been able to get it back in the box after using it.

[STARRYSKY]

we have a coleman one(queen size), had it for about 3 years.... only had to repair once (after lending it out, was used on a non sealed wooden floor!) but last year we upgraded to a double high queeen size one from Big W (cant remember the name of it, but it came in a carry bag in a box and is light blue) has a built in pump too, just plug it in and off you go! so easy! We go camping about 3 x a year, the new bed is like sleeping on 4 of the coleman ones stacked on top of each other, I loves it, doesnt get any where near as cold as the coleman one (maybe as youre not so close to the ground?)

[~Raven~]

We had coldness issues with airbeds so decided to get 4WD self inflatable mattresses. Probably not an economical choice if you're only going once a year (and they're bulky) but there is nothing worse than rising cold in the middle of the night, and if you're camping for a week it's going to be a long week

[toomanyshoes]

So what can you use for camping?

[black_rose]

We use stretcher beds for our kids.

[Nai]

We use the self inflating camping mats that have thermal protection so the cold doesn't come through

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

We use blow ups for camping but as someone else said we normally put a soft blanket and then a sheet and then sleep in our sleeping bags.
You can buy foldable camp beds but they can be quite bulky, a swag is good but not really practical for a family or 2 people and quite exxy if you wont use it much.
I've had friends just roll up some of the foam from clarke rubber that has the padding underneath and use that with a sleeping beag

[Lenny]

Stretcher for the boy and a 4WD mat for us. But the 4wd mat IS bulky compared to an airbed.

[toomanyshoes]

We've gone for the cheap air beds for now, it won't be very cold when we go and our sleeping bags are rated for low temps.

But will look into the other options if this trip goes well and we want to go again. Thanks everyone!

[MummyNaomi]

We have a queen and a single Big W airbeds - we recently put them together with a king size sheet holding them together and had an awesome king size airbed for DH, DS and I - mego comfy - we had a couple of sleeping bags spread out underneath for more padding

I think they were $24 (queen) and $16 (single) - a bargain!