>>2729190I'm this guy
>>2727649I was talking about a Thermarest type air mattress. It doesn't have to be Thermarest brand though, you are car camping and you're talking about a fucking cot, so your mattress and cot don't have to be lightweight, just comfortable and affordable. Similarly, since weight doesn't really matter, you can get a little usb-c air pump from Amazon to blow it up (and to fast deflate).
My first setup like this was a cheap Amazon tent-cot, and I already had a Thermarest Neo-Air that was the same exact width and a few inches shorter than the cot, so it fit perfectly inside. That tent-cot was like 4-6" (10-15cm) off the ground, and the mattress was 2" (5 cm) thick, the whole thing weighed about 7 lbs (3kg).
My current setup for this type of car camping is a LiteFighter1 Tent, a Thermarest Topo Lux XL, a usb-c air pump, and an Amazon chinesium XL "backpacking" cot. The air mattress goes inside the tent and then the whole thing goes on the cot and gets staked down. It's like 14-17" (35-45cm) off the ground, the air mattress is 4" (10cm) thick, and the whole thing is at least 9 lbs (4kg) with the winter kit.
It's really comfy for camping anywhere in any conditions, and it's especially awesome in the desert. Although it's heavy for backpacking it does fit in a bike pannier for glamping on a dirt road weekend bicycle or moto tour.
If you're just car camping (or maybe a week-long river rafting trip) you can use less expensive components that are even heavier still or that don't pack down as small, like a Coleman Trailhead Cot, with an Intex Camping Air Mattress, and an Ozark Trail one-person backpacking tent, 30 lbs and 50 L but all of it for $150 after tax.
