I met my spouse in a campground. Camping is still one of our favorite things to do: sometimes just the two of us; often with a company of friends.
As we’ve gotten older, many of our camp buddies have joined the RV set. We haven’t, and don’t plan to any time soon. To me, staying in a motor home or trailer just doesn’t feel like camping. Still, we’re in our 70s now, and there’s no denying that our bodies are less forgiving than they once were.
Fortunately, camp gear has advanced in recent decades. I reached out to friends and family members who still prefer tent camping. How are we all adapting to physical limitations?
Sleeping arrangements topped everyone’s list. I get that. At one time, I was fine with a sleeping bag and a half-inch-thick Ensolite pad. Nowadays? We use a full-size futon with pillows borrowed from our bed at home.
Our friend Val sleeps on a 3-inch memory foam mattress. Designed for camping, it has a water-resistant cover and rolls up for transit and storage.
Other friends are enjoying the wide selection of air pads on the market today. Our nephew Israh and his wife Missy are sold on the Exped MegaMat, a 4-inch pad of polyurethane foam laced with air channels. Vertical sidewalls make it less likely that a sleeper will roll off the edge. The pad self-inflates up to a point and comes with a small hand pump for topping it off.
Our friend Jan is happy with her less-pricey, self-inflating Lightspeed pad. It’s 2 inches thick, easy to deflate and rolls up to fit in a handy carry bag.
For campers whose hips and knees don’t work as well as they used to, it helps to raise the level of the bed. Cots have gotten lighter and more portable, and they come in a range of styles and prices. There are low-slung models for tents with limited headroom and taller versions for people like my friend Lisa, who likes to store tubs of gear and clothing under the bed. If you’re taller or wider than average, check the dimensions of actual sleeping space, not counting the frame. That bit of advice comes from my friend Wayne, who learned it the hard way.
Val uses a folding steel bed frame, available from Amazon Basics. It’s 14 inches high, easy to set up, and not at all tippy. With her camp mattress on top, “it’s like sitting on the edge of the bed at home,” she says. Folded up, it’s a flattish rectangle that fits in the luggage rack atop her Jeep. A twin size weighs around 26 pounds; a full size about 40.
Val’s camp buddy Catherine has a similar bed frame. She arranges her whole camp with an eye toward ease of movement. “Those slingback chairs that we used to get for $7.99 don’t work as well when you’re older. I prefer a chair that’s a little more rigid and a little higher off the ground,” she says. She packs a small set of folding shelves to keep kitchen items within easy reach and sets her ice chest on a stand at waist height to minimize bending. Elevating the ice chest also makes it easier to drain.
Don’t hesitate to light up your living area. A lamp that sits on a table or hangs from an overhead hook saves groping for flashlights and prevents stumbling around in the dark. “The older I get, the more I focus on not falling.” Catherine says. Classic gas lanterns have their place, but other options exist. Our favorite is an inflatable plastic solar-powered lantern. It’s waterproof and weatherproof, and has three brightness settings. If we set it in the sun each morning, it stores enough power to give us all the light we need most nights.
For much of the year in Texas, keeping cool is a bigger challenge than staying warm. Jan has a cordless fan that sits on a 5-gallon water bucket. It sprays a fine mist that does wonders to cool the immediate vicinity.
Our own camp fan, a sturdy DeWalt model, doesn’t spray mist, but it does put out a refreshing breeze. Powered by a rechargeable 20-volt battery, it has kept us comfortable through many a sweltering night. On low speed, it’s quiet enough that we can hear the katydids and wake up to morning birdsong. And that’s a good thing. Without those natural sound effects, it just wouldn’t feel like camping.
