Bushwalk Australia

We are about to take our two year old camping for the first time and I figure if I'm buying him a mat I may as well get him something I can carry down the track once he starts to hit the trail with me. What sort of inflatable mattresses are people using with their kids? El cheapos or something decent. I was thinking a short neoair or exped synmat as the length will last him for eons and it will be obviously warmer than just an air bed. If anyone has any good recommendations on a sleeping bag as well I'd love to hear them though at the moment I'm fairly sold on the new kiddies down sleeping bag from macpac. . http://www.macpac.com.au/shop/en_au/gea ... ngbag.html

I should add we are in Sydney so mostly camping here and blue mountains though when he's old enough a nice trip to rainbow lake in the snowies etc will be on the cards.

Thanks

Mic

I'd go for a decent el cheapo ... 2nd hand.

Should be 100s of old thermarests about that people don't use any more since migrating to DownMats or the likes.

Some of the 3.8cm thick shorties are pretty comfy, quite light and should last kiddies a long time.

Should be able to pick them up for $30-50, or less if you're lucky.

If that appeals, I'd try a 'WANTED' post.

Hey Mic,
We have been using our old 3/4 thermarests for the boys which works out well for the moment mostly car camping... I 've also been thinking about an alternate so let us know what you come up with
I spent many an hour trying to find them a sleeping bag. I quite liked the MEC ones
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_deta ... 4442624488
but in the end thought they might be a bit short as my oldest is 7.
I also liked the Goat 20 which is a synthetic but couldn't get it when I wanted it....
In the end I bought them 600 fill down Sierra Designs Diamond Springs bags rated to 30 degrees- got the womens as they are shorter (don't tell the boys ). Nice bags, weigh about 1kg and were on sale at campsaver a while back. Haven't used them in the cold yet but look nice enough. Only thing is the zips are a bit fiddly for little hands.
this is the 15 degree version
http://www.campsaver.com/Diamond-Spring ... g-600-Down
Macpac looks nice too
Good luck
Lizzy
Lizzy

Thanks don and lizzy.

I dare say I'll probably go a second hand but I certainly will shop to see what I can get. I'd like to get something light weight (don't fancy lugging too much weight since having my knee recon).

Thanks for the links re sleeping bags. I'll take a look at them all. I'll also head to my localish macpac store to check out the kiddy bag. Good weight at a good temp range. A week or two ago when it was on sale it was a great price so I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next sale. I have a synthetic Phil n teds he can use in the interim with blankets for car camping.

POE do a kids' mat. It's small, but also a n ice bright yellow with animals on it. I've got one for my tin lids.

Anyone with a Sea to Summit account should be able to grab them.

climberman wrote:POE do a kids' mat. It's small, but also a n ice bright yellow with animals on it. I've got one for my tin lids.

Anyone with a Sea to Summit account should be able to grab them.

Thanks. Gosh how did I miss this. I have a POE ether 6 and love it. I'll shuffle off to their website to take a look.

I couldn't find it again on their website. I'd ask a retailer to see if S2S have any old stock.