In addition to superior comfort, portable beds also have some functional advantages over just a sleeping bag and pad. First, they offer an increased layer of insulation between you and the ground. An air mattress offers quite an insulating layer and when paired with a decent sleeping bag, this portable bed option can be quite warm. Additionally, a double sized air mattress allows more than one person to sleep comfortably together, which also promotes warmth.  Because a portable bed is raised up and off of the ground it may also function to keep insects or unwelcome critters from making a home in your sleeping bag or blankets.

Air mattress portable beds need to be inflated. Manual inflation with your mouth is not the best idea – they’re pretty big. But you can generally use a variety of inflation methods. The easiest is definitely the battery operated air pump, which will do all the work for you. If you plan to rely on this method you’ll want to stock up on heavy D batteries to power the pump.