what to sleep on

[Traveller]

Am I going to die if I just sleep on a bag on the floor of my tent?

Depends. In a very dry year, one can have a very deep blanket of dust on the ground. I've slept on that, with nothing between me and the ground but my sleeping bag and the plastic floor of a small dome tent. It was softer than my bed at home. I loved it.

During a year in which the rains came and went and there's less of a loose dust layer on top? I don't know. I guess that could get unpleasant. Bring a sledgehammer just in case the ground needs powdering?

[diane o'thirst]

The other day I went into my local Big Lots! and spied a 9-foot inflatable lounge circle. It's supposed to be for water use but I thought, "Hrrrmmmmm, sixteen-foot yurt, yeah it'd fit inside, comes with its own pump, guaranteed to never deflate...hrrrrrrmmmmmm, I could have my bed and a nice conversation pit, put a little tray table with a fountain on it in the middle and the table can be nightstand, footrest and meals table...heck, it's waterproof, I could even hang a solar showerbag from the rafters and here's my shower...hrrrrrmmmmmm..."

Eighty dollars, but that'd be a good portion of my camp's infrastructure in one collapsible self-contained unit. Not altogether aesthetic but it's only a matter of a few fleece and tapestry throws and Indian bedspreads to remedy that. A nice fluffy bedspread under myself would take care of ventilation issues on account of the vinyl.

If punctures on the ground are an issue I could place it on top of eggcrate foam.

[robotland]

I think I'm going to finally test Honda's assertion that I can create a realtively comfortable bed by folding down the seats of Babar, my trusty Honda Elephant...It hasn't been an option for the last two trips he's made out there because of vast piles of dome struts and related crap, which I've decided to do away with this time in favor of more art, masks, toys and possibly a modest vehicle.
This should be a good opportunity to design a front/back areas bulkhead to keep the dust down, as well as designing a clever way to open the rear gate from the inside...For a vehicle that you're supposed to camp in, it strikes me as a major oversight that you have to crawl over the seats and open the front doors enough to get the backseat "suicide" doors open. One design that I haven't entirely abandoned involves replacing the weird moon roof glass (it comes out completely, with persuasion) with a ventilated hatch that either goes to a rooftop viewing platform and ladder or simply allows me to reach up, out and around with a special hook and pop the latch from the outside. I haven't gotten the interior panels off and really studied the release from the inside though, and if it's readily hackable I'll probably just fit it with a secondary cable release or something. Making the bed cozy should be comparatively simple after all this foolishness.

[Ugly Dougly]

Am I going to die if I just sleep on a bag on the floor of my tent?

Depends. In a very dry year, one can have a very deep blanket of dust on the ground. I've slept on that, with nothing between me and the ground but my sleeping bag and the plastic floor of a small dome tent. It was softer than my bed at home. I loved it.

During a year in which the rains came and went and there's less of a loose dust layer on top? I don't know. I guess that could get unpleasant. Bring a sledgehammer just in case the ground needs powdering?

Never experienced that. The wind has a way of taking care of dust. Expect something akin to concrete.

[Dustbuddy]

Am I going to die if I just sleep on a bag on the floor of my tent?

Depends. In a very dry year, one can have a very deep blanket of dust on the ground. I've slept on that, with nothing between me and the ground but my sleeping bag and the plastic floor of a small dome tent. It was softer than my bed at home. I loved it.

During a year in which the rains came and went and there's less of a loose dust layer on top? I don't know. I guess that could get unpleasant. Bring a sledgehammer just in case the ground needs powdering?

Never experienced that. The wind has a way of taking care of dust. Expect something akin to concrete.

I'm not so sure about that. In 2001, there was well over a foot of dust in places. Yes, the wind blows it out, but the wind also blows it in. It's not like BRC is sitting atop the only patch of dust in the area.

Our campmates had noticed that there was a prolonged lull in the wind around midday. We pitched our tents then, and benefitted from softer ground underneath from that point on. It's all a matter of what the weather hands you, and how you work with it.