Camping Mattress

That's a personal thing, depending on aches and pains, personal preference and sleeping posture.

You are 20 years younger than me and I am comfortable on a 75mm self-inflating foam mattress. It rolls up into about a 250mm cylinder.

Cheers

As said previously, it is personal preference, for example we used to have a good brand self inflator in the swag for a couple of years, we have now gone back to the 50mm high density with a eggshell topper. It works for us, both offer reasonable insulation from rising cold, definately do not go for a blow up, you will find yourself freezing from below in winter.
Cheers.
Tony.

I've got an Oztrail camping mattress, and I love it. If you get the 4wd version like I have, they are 10 centimeters thick. They come in a range of sizes, including king single and queen and double. I'd highly recommend them!

We have self inflating mattresses, bot the Thermarest and Oztrail 80mm type and foam mattresses.

If you are after compactness/self inflating and price not a concern, go for the Thermarest. These are quality mattresses and very comfortable. We found the Oztrail type just packed down to the point we were lying on flat ground by morning and these were new mattresses. We moved them on! From our experience the only self inflating mattresses worth investing in is the Thermarest style. Lately we combined the 30mm Thermarest with a 40mm foam mattress and it was very comfortable. Now the wife wants to be off the ground so we just bought some stretchers and will run either the foam or Thermarest on these.

Exped Megamat, 100mm thick when inflated and deflates down to 25cm very easily when rolled up. Comes with a little hand pump which allows you to add extra air quickly if you want it a little harder and its one way inflate/deflate valves really work. It comes with a premium price, but is thermal rated to -48°c and is the best thing I've bought for camping on the ground. Best of all, it always fits back into its carry bag.

Exped Megamat

We slept on a Queen sized air mattress (velour top) for years, and used a 12v pump to inflate it until it was very firm. Can't complain about the quality of sleep as a result. Being an air mattress it folded down to not very much.

I think from my experience of years of camping is to get your sleeping gear off the ground, especially as you age. If tents are your thing, get a stretcher, single or double, your choice but singles have more support unless you get a brand with a complex base system. Once you are off the ground, what you place on the stretcher, if anything, depending on the type you buy, is less important. We have had a Roof Top Tent for 5 years now and its much more pleasant than sleeping on the ground. The bases are insulated and are warm in winter being off the ground and cooler in summer, being two metres high, enough to get the occasional breeze in still conditions! The lack of dirt and dust in the RRT is a distinct advantage that we enjoy. Yes the downside is your vehicle and gear will be needed to be packed up every time you want to go somewhere but you can always buy a box trailer if you don't mind towing a trailer, you can fit the roof top tent to it. Also you can take more gear and keep the weight out of your vehicle and avoid overloading and you can leave it at camp to secure your camp site!! Michael

I have a self-inflating mattress and put an Earth mat under it to isolate you from the rising cold - both on the ground or on a stretcher

cheers
Laurie

We went for comfort when we go tent camping so we chose Thermarest " Dreamtime" mattresses they were the thickest then and came with a removable Pillow top type of cover.