Tried using a foam sleeping pad under my inflatable mattress and it changed everything

I took my inflatable mattress camping near Lake Tahoe last month and woke up freezing each night. After some frustration, I put a closed-cell foam pad underneath the air mattress as a ground insulator. Has anyone else tried this trick for staying warm in cold weather camping?

4 comments

4 Comments

jessem597h agoMost Upvoted

That foam pad goes under your tent floor, not under the air mattress itself lol.

beth_hernandez7h ago

What would the foam pad even do under the tent floor?

maxl934h agoMost Upvoted

My cousin put one under his tent once and woke up floating in a puddle at 3am.

spencer_gonzalez14h ago

Wait, is that actually a thing people do? I read somewhere that putting a foam pad under your tent helps with insulation from the cold ground more than anything else. But if your tent floor is already waterproof, wouldn't the pad just trap moisture underneath? Seems like you'd just be making a sponge for rainwater to sit in. I guess if you're on gravel or really rough ground it might protect the floor from punctures, but for wet conditions it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.