I own a thermarest lite cot. Works. Lightweight. But about 35 parts and looking at the HELINOX cot lite. Little beefier with way less parts. But holy balls expensive. There's multiple knock offs of the HELINOX. Anyone have one that is durable and withstood a week camping ? Terrahiker, Outad?

I'm curious as to how long you've used a cot. I'm sure cot users are in the extreme minority, but to each their own. Doesn't matter to me. I did a quick Google search for Thermarest Lite Cot and see that they're in the range of $140-$150. A good Thermarest or Exped air mattress costs that much and they pack much smaller. Personally, I find my Exped air mattress to be almost as comfortable as my bed at home.

I wonder if a cot is more comfortable and if the legs of the cot ever cause problems with the floor of the tent.

No info on cots here, but I do have a solution to your problem: Get a hammock. :)

I have two Helinox Cot Ones and I used them once at Sawbill Campground. I think that my Exped mats are way more comfortable. But when you place the Exped mat on the cot... pure heaven. I'm not willing to carry the weight and the bulk of a mat and a cot however. I worry about the floor of my tent with the cot also. Some lightweight little rubber "coasters" do the trick. With a cot you have a little storage room underneath and if the floor of your tent gets wet for some reason, you will stay dry. Just my .02.

One more thing - for people that say the Helinox cot is to hard to assemble or take apart, they obviously haven't read the instructions or watched any video's for it. Common sense will tell you that if you have the tent door open, even in a small tent, that you can slide the pole into the sleeve. You also can assemble the pole as you place it into the sleeve. When you take it apart, place a little pressure on the leg locking mechanism to take tension off of the lock itself and it operates smoothly without any pinched fingers or flying springs.

We have the Therma Rest, buying them was the only way I could convince my wife to try back country camping. The first year we went it rained constant 9 out of 10 days we were out (it was a couple years back when they had a bunch of mudslides in Minneapolis area). When we moved our tent never was able to dry out and the bottom was soaking wet. With temps dipping into the low 40s at night I credit that 2-3 inches of space between us and the ground with keeping us going. Now I carry a pad with the cot, I know people are obsessed with weight and space, but I can say that the two together are more comfortable than my 20 year old mattress at home.

The one thing to note is that the feet do wear on your tent floor but therma rest now has bottom saucers for the cot. I am not sure I will get them but if I get a new tent I probably would.

quote carmike: "No info on cots here, but I do have a solution to your problem: Get a hammock. :) "

+1

I switched to a hammock last year, and if I can help it will never sleep on the ground again. What a world of difference waking up after a decent night's sleep, no sore back, etc., and I' m a bigger dude, 6'2" about 260, pushing 60 years old.

I don't have any fancy set-up, just a Byer of Maine XXL Hammock, about $50, and used a sleeping pad under me and a sleeping bag. No quilt necessary, (we trip in summer) We do set up under a Nemo Bugout Shelter, so no rain or bug problems. And when I get up, I don't have to crouch down and crawl around in the tent, I can practically stand straight up inside the Nemo.

My bwca buddy has a Helinox cot lite. He loves it. Uses it with a thermarest. Bought his wife one he liked it so much.

Im a Helinox fan. I have the Chair One, Swivel chair, Chair zero and the table.

Not all come with every trip but I use mine at home or other places. Helinox makes great shit.