A comfortable but straightforward camping bed solution has been somewhat of a holy grail for us and was one of the main reasons to get into camper trailers. Camper trailers are great for extra storage, the built-in kitchen, onboard water and batteries and of course, the ready-made bed once the tent set up is complete. The downside of the camper trailers that we have sampled is the fact that the tents are generally challenging to pack away, and the trailers are hefty. Having said that we decided we'd go back to a car-based set-up utilizing an Oztent RX-5 for that speedy set up that we crave so much, all that was needed after that was a comfortable bedding solution.
As we get older we found after extended time on the road getting up off the ground was not getting any easier and we decided we would look for some type of stretcher arrangement. The biggest issue was that every stretcher that we sampled was either uncomfortable or unstable. The stability question was solved when we tested an Oztrail stretcher in our local camping store. Oztrail have solved the stability issue by having the end legs set at a 45-degree angle which stops the forward and backward motion you get under certain situations if you get my drift. The leg arrangement also means that Oztrail has been able to remove the crossbars that are common on a lot of competitors stretchers which to the relative comfort of the stretcher. We knew it wouldn't do for longer trips away from home without some type of mattress set up though.
Now, when it comes to comfort, we've always found airbeds to be pretty damn good, not without their shortcomings mind you but pretty good. So we decided to look for a stretcher bed that would accommodate two king single airbeds. A double airbed would have been easier, but we both tend to be restless sleepers and having separate airbeds seems to be the only way we can not disturb each other through the night. So the hunt began.
We found Oztrail's queen-sized easy fold stretcher but found it just wasn't wide enough to accommodate our two king single airbeds, but a little searching led us to the single-sized jumbo stretcher which, at 90cm's wide would fit our air beds, just. The length was a bit excessive at 210cm's, but we found with the taper of the rear wall on the Oztent it meant that it held the canvas away from the airbed itself, which meant that the chance of condensation wicking was reduced.
The set-up and pack down of the Oztrail stretcher couldn't be easier really and once you get you head around it, it takes seconds. On initial set-up the stretcher tends to flop open into a jumbled mess and not make a lot of sense but if you take it out of the bag and lay it on its side and then fold it out straight and then grab the side rails closest to you and lift it just opens up. Then it's as simple as rolling it towards you to onto its feet.
The pack the stretcher away you simply grab the side rails closest to you and lift it onto its side, it will start collapsing as you do this. Then you just fold it in half, and you're ready to put it back in the bag.
The packed dimensions of the stretcher are 108cms Long, 16cms wide as well as high. The stretcher weighs a reasonably hefty 11.4 Kgs, it all starts adding up quite quickly when you add it onto the tent weight, airbeds and sleeping bags. Our total tent and bedding alone weigh somewhere in the region of 70kgs.
All in all the set up has worked very well, but we would like to switch over to self-inflating mattresses at some point. We'll keep you posted on how the Oztrail Jumbo Stretcher stands up to the rigours of life on the road.
