Customer Reviews

ALPS Mountaineering Lightweight Cot

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To begin with, sleeping on this cot is comfortable, very comfortable. The rounded feet of the cot provide a steady platform and are tent floor friendly. This cot is heavy and is obviously intended for car camping but the rails are strong and the canvass is well-stitched and also strong.
Now for the downside: Erecting this cot is ridiculously difficult (as many others have reported). It is a real wrestling match between you and the spring loaded legs as you try to simultaneously bend the leg and insert its end into the rail. After some practice you get better at this task but it's far from easy. The legs are supposed to fit into the rails but I had to chase a few of the drilled rail holes with a bit in order to allow them to receive the leg end. Then while setting it up during a recent camping trip, I found that the aluminum sleeve of one of the rails had slipped on the rail's aluminum core just enough so that the leg end wouldn't fit. Fortunately I fixed it by levering the sleeve into alignment using a tent peg. After a five-day use, dissembling the cot required a hammer and considerable physical force.
I purchased two of these cots so I really had lots of experience with the product in just a short time. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because of its great comfort and stability. If you intend to erect the darn thing and leave it permanently that way then it's a good cot. If you want it for camping and intend to assemble/disassemble it frequently, think twice.

Got this as a gift for my husband. Easy to put together. He likes it because it is lightweight and there is no bar in the middle of your back.

My husband and I purchased these to upgrade from our thin sleeping pads for car camping. I was a little worried about set-up after reading the reviews, so rather than waiting for my husband to try to assemble, I decided to give it a shot myself. For background -- I'm a 30-something woman and am more of a reader than an exerciser; my upper body strength is nothing to brag about. I decided to give it a go to see how much I'd be able to help out when we set up at camp next week.

It took me about 10 minutes to set up, and that was with a lot of instructions-reading and pondering. It is true -- there is strength required to get the poles in to the canvas, and also to get the legs into their holes. I noticed that by kneeling on the canvas and leveraging my full body weight into bending the leg into position, I was able to get the legs in fairly easily. I'm pleasantly surprised since, like I said above, I'm not particularly strong and I was able to do it myself quickly.

In terms of the comfort level, the cot was very comfortable and will definitely be a game-changer on our future camping trips. I'll be sure to come back here and update my review after we sleep on them.

UPDATE 2/4/12: We used these on a camping trip to Big Sur, California back in October, and they were indeed a game-changer! Extremely comfortable, like crawling into a warm cocoon at the end of a fantastic day in the great outdoors. I highly recommend.

These cots are very comfy. Seem sturdy. We have only used them once so far but they seem to constructed well. I like the fact that there are no bars going across your back. Great purchase bought to use camping.

I bought this for my older grandson when the family comes to visit next month. It was a bit heavier than I expected (seems to weigh more than the listed 11 lb) but packs down fairly compact into an excellent carrying bag with shoulder strap. As another reviewer mentioned, it's a struggle to get the side rails fully in place into the side pockets, and the legs are "spring-loaded" so-to-speak, and I had to really work at getting them flexed enough to slip their ends into the holes (I'm a lightweight, and it took two hands and body weight to do this). I'm thinking the side rails will be easier to insert the next time, as the fabric softens and loosens up. But, once assembled, it's a great cot. I tested it out and found it very comfortable. Not having a support rod across the middle like many other cots, is a huge benefit.

This cot is beyond my expectations. It is so comfortable. I do put a mat on top of it for added comfort. Just a little hard to put together, but there is always a nice dad on the campouts to put it together for me.

Bought two of these for hunting to replace older ones that had broken. Found them easy to assemble and durable.

Many reviews on this cot indicate problems setting it up. It's no harder than any folding cot. It's actually more difficult to tear down than to set up. To assemble the legs, hold it upright on its side, then push down on one side of the leg using your weight to compress it. One person can do it fairly easily but having someone hold the other end up makes it a snap.
It's quite comfortable as cots go. In cool weather, some kind of insulating pad is a must. I can say from experience that a 3/8 to 1/2" ensolite pad will make a cot comfortable well below freezing. The 30" width is a luxury compared to some cots I've slept on.
We pack with llamas and I would have liked cots a bit lighter in weight, but to get the extra width, we sacrificed weight. Our biggest concern was to find some that folded short enough to fit on a llama's back.

We bought 2 of these used from an Amazon vendor. They appeared to be returns. One had never been opened but the box was ratty. The other doesn't appear to have ever been used but it had been assembled. I sure can't complain for 1/2 the price.

So, I received this in the mail today. I was very hesitant on purchasing this because of some of the reviews, need a hammer for disassembling, tough to install support legs, need other things to align to insert supprt legs. So, I purchased this one and a different brand. The intention was to keep the one I liked best. Well, needless to say, this is a keeper. It took me less than seven minutes to assemble and four minutes to disassemble. Yes, there is a little strength required to install the support legs, but I just stepped on the canvass while it was upside down and had no problems. I'll fill in prospective purchasers after I spend some time camping with this later.

Purchased as a gift for grandson and it'll be used for camping while on canoeing trips. Received within 2 days of placing order.