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Argos Camping Mat
by l500589
I spent the (August) Bank Holiday in North Wales with some of my friends and family. We hired a large caravan for the weekend, but it was only capable of holding 8 people, and as there were 10 of us in total, it was decided that 2 people would sleep in my brother's tent for the 2 nights. The 2 lucky people were my brother and ... I!
It had been at least 12 years since I last camped, and so I needed to buy a couple of basics for the weekend away, although the list was pretty small, as we were camping right next to the caravan and so we did not need any cooking equipment. I basically needed a sleeping bag, and I also decided to get an air bed to go under the sleeping bag to give me extra comfort, and with the added bonus that it could be used in the sea (weather permitting).
Unfortunately for me after the first night of camping on a very comfortable air bed, my air bed got popped on a beach the next afternoon! My mum was concerned that I would have an uncomfortable night's sleep after that, and so being the worrier that she is, she very kindly got me a camping mat from Argos later that afternoon, and presented me with it just before bed.
Having read several reviews on here about the dreaded 'Argos Camping Mat' I looked at it with some fear, but thanked my mum for the kind gesture, and went off to the tent for what I was expecting to be a very uncomfortable night's sleep!
The 'Argos Camping mat' is available from Argos stores and costs £5:99 which is very cheap compared to any other camping mat out there.
For the £5:99 you get a bright blue foam mat (or foam mattress as Argos refers to it!). In terms of size, it has dimensions of 180 cm in length by 48 cm in width. It comes rolled up and is quite lightweight and a decent size in terms in terms of storage or for packing in the car.
~~~ So - Is it as bad as they say it is? ~~~
As mentioned above I have read a lot of poor reviews on this camping mat, and as such it would not have been something that I would have bought myself. I have to admit though that it did an adequate job, and I did have a decent night's sleep. It was not as comfortable or as warm as the night before on the air bed, but I never would have expected it to be. However, on a more positive note it was easier to get it ready (unrolling instead of inflating), it didn't squeak as I moved about on it, and it was easier to store - oh yeah, and also it didn't pop!!
Being a bit vertically challenged, the mat was plenty long enough for me, and also wide enough to hold my frame easily with a bit of extra room to wriggle about in my sleep.
The mat could certainly be improved if it was thicker, probably at least twice as thick as it currently is, or certainly if it was composed from more dense foam.
For the price though I cannot really complain, as it allowed me a comfortable night's sleep when combined with my sleeping bag, and it didn't affect my sleep in any way (that was just down to my brothers snoring!). The next day I suffered no aches or pains, and as I rolled it back up, it still looked just as it had when I unrolled it the night before.
So in summary, it is a basic cheap camping mat, which is ideal for a night or two of camping on pretty flat ground, and when accompanied by a decent sleeping bag. For any situation like this it will provide enough comfort and insulation on a warm(ish) night inside a tent. I would envisage that this mat would not be suitable for a long camping trip, in cold weather, on un-even or lumpy surface though, as it does lack a little thickness.
Taking everything into consideration, and based on my opinion that due to the very ceap price it is only really going to be purchased by 'one off campers' looking for the cheapest and most basic mat they can find, then I am going to go against the flow and award the Argos Camping Mat 4 stars.
Thanks for reading.
© L500589 2011
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Karrimor Soft Fibre Towel
by totallyextreme
Intro
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We are regular campers, in fact I am writing this review from a site down in Cornwall, hastily reviewing all the products that we are using whilst on our trip. We brought this one with us, as it is always tricky to dry big towels on a campsite, particularly with our usual weather being perhaps a little worse than ... in more warmer destinations. It is small, compact, easy to transport and does a good job, that is all you can ask from this little product.
The Towel
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I am unaware as to whether this is available in any different sizes, but mine is about 1m by something slightly larger. This means that it is quite a small towel actually, but this has to be what you are looking for when camping. Something which is compact, small and easy to carry is always a bonus in this surrounding.
The best part about it is the absorbent aspect of the towel. It claims, on the packaging, that it is 10x more absorbent, and this is believable when you use it. It also dries extremely quickly. We have ours out on our makeshift washing line and it does dry in just an hour or two. Perfect.
Price
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It can be bought for £8.99 from Amazon, thats where we got ours from.
Summary
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Good little camping product that ticks all the boxes.
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Argos Battery Powered Portable Air Pump
by feefeedooya
Argos battery powered portable air pump
I purchased the Argos battery powered portable air pump a few years ago now because the one i had suddenly stopped working and died. Air pumps are so handy to have for things like blowing up car tyres, bike tyres, paddling pools, air beds whatever but it definitely handy to have ... one.
Argos battery powered portable air pump cost only £6.99 from Argos. It comes in a smallish blue box with the argos logo and a picture of the air pump. Inside the box are the air pump a small bag of attachments and an instruction manual, the manual is easy to read and the instructions straight forward.
This is a portable air pump and requires batteries to work. It takes four D batteries and they have to be good batteries because the pound shop ones don't last two minutes with this. I buy Duracel ultra the alkaline ones for the air pump.
The size of the air pump is compact making it ideal for carting about in the car or stored in a cupboard or something without taking up room. It measures roughly 17 cm in height and 11 cm wide. There is two nozzles on the air pump, one on the top and one on the side. The top nozzle is for deflating the object and the side one is for inflating, the nuzzles are plastic and round sticking out about 5 cm, these remind my of hairdryer ends because that's what they look like with fans in them as well.
One switch on the box for turning on and off the pump.
The three attachments are different sizes are shapes. These are not explained very well so you have to look at the size of the hole on the object you wish to inflate and guess what connection will fit this is actually easier that i thought.
So the attachment just pushes on and can be pulled off the nuzzle with ease.
I inflated my sons leather football the first day I bought the pump, this took a matter of seconds to do with the long thin connection, i was surprised how quick the football inflated as i had underestimated the power of the air pump. It takes roughly seven minutes to inflate a double air bed with the pump.
I like how small and powerful the air pump is and i keep it in my boot because ill be able to use it to pump up my car tyres in an emergency situation, its also ideal for taking camping too. We last used the pump the second week in August before the sun disappeared to blow up a six foot paddling pool. The pump isn't too noisy compared to my old one, it does vibrate when its switched on though.
I recommend the Argos battery powered portable air pump, a handy thing to have.
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