Because of my lower back pain.. which stems from my fathers side of the family, It's sort like having hip displasica, some times painful, but more over can and I have contorted it with Proper exercise and strengthening.
Our last outing wasn't so pleasant. Staying at the Enota Mountain Retreat, In GA I found myself with major back pain due lifting some gem mining buckets at a local Gem Mine.. Most of these buckets had been filled with rocks instead of the typical sand or silt product. I felt like Charlie Brown On Halloween. "Say Charlie, What Did You Get In Your Trick Or Treat Bag?".. "All I Got Was A Rock".
Anyway.. I've been biding my time and biting my tongue on this cleaver way to soften the ground while camping.. Most hardware stores like Lowe's or Home depot have foam "Gold's Gym Exercise Pads" which lock together like giant puzzle pieces. Some come in array of playful colors squares measuring 2' x 2' while more are a more natural color or shade of gray or black. These mats are most commonly used in basements as excise floors and kids play areas.
We Set up tent, took some measurements and determined that we needed four packs of four mats each.. which would covered the entire floor surface area of the tent. Heading back into town. We located the nearest Home deport (which at the time was the closest to our camp site) and bought the packs of mats. Selecting the gray colors mats over the kid friendly "Day Glow Green, Red Yellow and Blue" Which came to roughly $28.00 per pack. (Found out Wal-Mart has them cheaper, But it was to late to complain)
Arriving back at the camp ground.. We moved the tend aside.. and began placing the 2 x 2 puzzle mats down on the ground.. then picking up the tent and setting it directly on top of the mats. It worked! Thou the mats offer some comfort more so then the ground. They do offer a thermal barrier as well.. Not sure the "R-Value" but we did feel warmer that night.
Next season, We will go into more detail about how one is to carry this much foam padding and have some pictures to boot: Our JeepLife 2's Web site
|
|