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Lilos- The Ultimate Biker Friendly Camping Bed
Lilo Review Date - 6th October 2014
By Sharon Parker
There are a variety of products available to aid you in a comfortable night's sleep whilst camping such as fold out camp beds and luxury super high flocked inflatable air beds. However these are too big and too heavy for camping on a motorcycle. So as a motorcyclist your options are by necessity limited.
There is a huge array of various self inflating mattresses, foam mats and smaller single inflatable air beds. However none of these have proved to offer myself a comfortable night's sleep. I find both the foam and the self inflatable mattress too hard and also too cold. They are not good insulators from the cold floor underneath you if you are camping in the colder months.
I tried the specialist camping blow up inflatable mattress that although initially very comfortable let me down literally in less than a week. The boyfriend's did the same a few days later so it was not a case of just having one faulty one.
After spending a very uncomfortable night on a flat air bed in the middle of a small sleepy French village I purchased in desperation the next day a cheap lilo. Yep, just a common lilo made for the beach. I never expected it to be up to much, it certainly could not be more comfortable and more durable than a mattress specially engineered and manufactured for camping. I bought it because I simply could not endure another night flat on the floor and this was the only thing available to buy.
Well a year and a half later guess what I am still sleeping on when camping? Yes that very same cheap little beach lilo. What a revelation! It is simply fantastic. It inflates sufficiently to insulate me from the cold ground. Its slightly curved sides cradle me in my sleep like a little cot. It has a separate inflatable pillow area that can be blown up for your own desired comfort. It is considerably lighter and smaller than the supposed specialist counterpart and after a year and half it has proved itself to be a hell of a lot more durable. It was also considerably cheaper.
Cheap and incredibly comfortable
The one I bought was the Bestway Surf and Sun Lilo and yes is has proved to be the best buy ever. You can pick these up from Ebay and other such places for around £5. The only thing I would say it it is quite narrow, only being small this is fine for me. The Bestway dimensions are 183cms x 76cms (72inch x 27inch)
If you are larger then maybe have a look around and see if there are other lilos available that are bigger in width or even consider a double one.
Just to make sure my lilo was not a fluke and I somehow got my hands on the only superior lilo ever made the boyfriend has ordered one for himself. Despite paying a small fortune for his own specialist self inflatable mattress he himself admits my little lilo is better. We shall keep you posted how he gets on with his.
Even if this lilo only lasted 6 months I would still buy another because of the comfort and portability they afford. It has proved itself superior to any other form of camping sleeping bed I have ever tried. Well worth spending £5 on.
Rating ... I give the Bestway Surf and Sun Lilo a gold star 10 out of 10
Reader's Comments
NC750X John said :-
And here a link for potencial buyers
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bestway-Surf-and-Sun-Air-Mat-72-x-27-Lilo-Ideal-for-Pools-and-Beach-/121911692198?hash=item1c6280cba6:g:p8kAAOSwoBtW1tBl
25/04/2016 11:37:36 UTC
NC750X John said :-
If that link dont work, just type this number into the ebay search bar.
121911692198
25/04/2016 11:39:16 UTC
Henrik said :-
Good idea, compared to the thin ones, we bought something like this, just super light-weight, and around 30£, sports and outdoor shops are always a good place to look, these are so cheap as to just get 10, look forward to hear about when they pooofff :-) they have to be reliable
this link should work
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bestway-Surf-and-Sun-Air-Mat-72-x-27-Lilo-Ideal-for-Pools-and...
26/04/2016 06:15:32 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
The key is getting the RIGHT lilo. Sharon's lilo is now 3 years old and still going strong. With the small inflation hole it's a pain to blow up and deflate but it is comfortable for her and been completely reliable.
I - however - following Sharon's lead purchased 2 similar lilos from Ebay. While camping in Scotland in February they both gave up the ghost in one day each. It seems the quality is incredibly variable and I definitely do not know which one is the right one to buy.
26/04/2016 07:40:56 UTC
Henrik said :-
The Lilo on the link is not even equal to sharons on the pic, and the exact same I am not able to find on ebay, I can only find it on a cached deep-google, its new models since long ago,...
Thats the dilemma always, they will be gone when you have tested out and want more
I find Lilos a bit cold for the swedish klima, but yes, comfotable, used with heat-reflecting alu-foil would perhaps an ideal combo
28/04/2016 08:01:24 UTC
Henrik said :-
For best possible comfort we got these Intex types they are a proven brand and extremely comfortable, and with a professional ventile, lige inflateable
boats, the weight is 2.2 Kg but then its the top, we have used them in several years, and swear to these,..
If its realy top-priority they COULD be used on MC-tour
Normal price in jysk.dk 10 £ on a sale maybe 7 £
jysk.dk/have/luftmadrasser/luftmadrasser/luftmadras-velour-b76xl191xh22...
28/04/2016 19:55:08 UTC
Henrik said :-
Pic:
28/04/2016 19:57:38 UTC
Henrik said :-
One good thing about them is that they are actually so high that if you get monster-rain and the tent-floor is flooded, you have a good chance still being dry :-)
28/04/2016 20:01:19 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
I have a similar item Henrik. The problem with those is the weight and the time it takes to blow them up - otherwise you also have to pack an electric pump. There's only so much you can get on a 125!
They are blooming comfy though, nothing better than a deep airbed. And as you say, they float when the rain gets a little too hard.
29/04/2016 21:32:49 UTC
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