Slumberjack Big XL Cot

The Slumberjack arrived on my door tonight and I tried to set it up in my tiny living room and ended up having to move furniture! The size is fantastic, it has plenty of room to sleep and flop around without rolling over the support bars. When laying on it the size feels more like a twin bed than a camp cot.Pay attention to the fact that it is TALL. The description clearly states the height, but at 5'5" my feet don't touch the ground when sitting on the cot so getting out of it will be a comical event. If you are tall this shouldn't be a problem, but if you're in the Hobbit height category (like me) take heed.The cot is heavy and while it comes with a sturdy case with shoulder strap it isn't the option for long treks into the woods. It also requires some muscle to get the cot set up. The concept is simple, unfold it and feed the two end bars through the top and bottom of the cot, but actually attaching the end bars is hard. I also think the plastic hooks will not last years as long as the rest of the cot. Once the cot is put together it is sturdy and will provide an excellent sleeping experience, but it isn't designed to be set up and taken down night after night.The quality of the cot is good and the built-in shelf under the cot will be handy for keeping things dry, tucking a book in, or (for me) keeping a ladder close.

I spent over twenty years of my life in the Army, so I know from cots. Back in the day, in the glorious 8th Infantry Division in the former Federal Republic of Germany, we were "mech-heavy," and we didn't walk anywhere. It was tents and heaters, and above all it was cots. I spent the first five years of my Army career on cots, so finding this grand improvement on the bare-bones GI cot was a real treat.This is a first-rate field sleeping system. This is one seriously heavy-duty rack, made for comfort. It is long and wide, super-sturdy, quiet, soft and warm. I recommend it heartily.This thing is so freeking manly, when it arrived it had destroyed the box trying to get out. Actually, the carton's destruction was a function of the weak packaging; the box is meant for in-store display and not shipping, and the cot's 35 pounds tore up the lightweight cardboard.Right out of the box this product is impressive, with a very nice two-tone carrying case, in the same kind of synthetic canvas material you'll find on your outdoor folding chairs. The case has large white embroidered "Slumberjack" cursive lettering, a nice touch.The case has a single long carrying strap, either for hand- or shoulder-carry. The strap is not adjustable, and it does not detach; it is sewn onto the case. The end of the case has a hemmed and reinforced opening with a lightweight single lace and a barrel lock to close and secure it. A nice touch on the case's design is that the opening is slit (and reinforced) about 4" down to ease the start of getting your cot back into the case. Believe me, this comes in handy.The cot comes in at 32" wide by 82" long and 19" high. In its case it's 8" x 8" by 41". This sucker is more than full-size, no doubt about that. I go 6'4" and 280 pounds, and this thing fit great, with no sag at all, great support. No arms falling off the sides, and no problems with length. I didn't feel crowded in the least.The fact that this thing doesn't groan, creak or squeak simply amazes me. It really doesn't make a sound at all. There's part of me that misses that unique squawk, but I know my fellow campers will be happy.Interestingly, there are no instructions or any other literature in the box, no warranty or registration card, nothing. There are no setup or care instructions on the outside of the box, either, so you'd better know how to set and maintain up a cot. Also, if you want to know how to reach Slumberjack World Headquarters in St. Louis, you'd better cut out and keep a portion of the box. This is a shortcoming Slumberjack needs to fix.The self-inflating air mattress slides under the cover, which is part of the top of the cot, with openings along the way to get it in place and aligned, and an opening for the air mattress valve. The cover sports a black embroidered "Slumberjack" to match the one on the case. Of course, you can use the cot without the air mattress, or slide your own pad in. The initial inflating of the mattress took about two hours, and it puffed up pretty well. Be careful with the air mattress valve, as it's all plastic, and if you tighten it too much you'll strip the plastic threads and the entire thing is shot. The mattress itself is not substantial, and the padding it affords is minimal, maybe an inch at the most. There is more than enough, though, to provide adequate insulation on the bottom, negating the need for any additional padding (I just spent two nights at 12 and 20 degrees). If you really need some additional padding, you'll need to spring for your own.There is a gear loft under one half of the cot. It is large, about 40" by 32", and is elastic to keep the gear in. There even a couple of mesh pockets inside the leading edge. This is a very nice touch.The six feet have hard plastic pads, black and about 2" square, which are angled to lie flat when the cot is open. This is another nice touch.The end bars are steel, and open-notched to make it easier to slide onto the cot ends. They take a bit of effort to get on, but it can be done by one person. Take-down is easy.This thing is heavy, coming in at 34 lbs in the case. So be careful opening it up and setting it up, as the parts are hinged and can strike you, someone else, or things near you.Pay close attention to how it's packaged when you pull it out of the case and set it up for the first time, because you'd better be following it to put it away or you'll never get it back into the case. The air mattress takes some serious wrestling to get back down to travel size. Folding the cot's canvas down and into the legs also takes attention. The mattress secures with two loose black Velcro straps. The cot has two integrated black Velcro straps, both of which are riveted to the cot legs. These are invaluable to get the cot cinched back down to size so it will go into the case.Bottom line: This is not lightweight gear for hike-in/out camping. This thing is heavy-duty and just plain heavy. This is best for houseguests, or for an outdoor/camping situation in which you're going to be setting up for a long time before you take it down. It's a mobile cot, sure, but its size and the work needed to get it back into the case does not make it very move-friendly.

December 12, 2006:I just bought the Slumberjack cot and assembled it (fairly easy, even without instructions -- see the item picture). It's pretty damn heavy, but also highly compact when folded down. If you're not really tall (I'm 5'8") it can be a very minor difficulty in getting in and out, but that can't really be helped much, though as another reviewer pointed out, it will be harder the shorter you are.You *will* need a mattress/sleeping-bag+comforter for this, as the midsection of the cot was not thoroughly thought out to prevent back strain, but with adequate cushioning, it feels fine after a good night's sleep. (I just woke up from using it)------------------------------------------December 10th, *2007*:Well, one year later, the verdict is still the same: An excellent choice if you need to buy a cot and want one that lasts, is sturdy, and big enough to be comfortable. Since last year I've slept in this thing countless times, probably around 20 nights in total on my road-trips. With proper cushioning -- combined with its large area -- it's extremely comfortable.It is true that assembly and disassembly tend to be somewhat awkward with heavy parts, but asides from that it is relatively fast to assemble* and disassemble, the time consuming part being assembling and disassembling whatever bedding you brought with you.Previous reviews mentioned an awkward smell that the cot supposedly has -- I never experienced this, though perhaps when I first purchased it a very tiny odor could've been present, it was masked by my bedding and has since completely disappeared.*As it turned out, I've been assembling it almost correctly -- I never figured out how to properly connect the cross-struts so I simply took a short cut and let them rest below the long bars. This apparently has had no effect on the sleeping quality over the year, however this is perhaps the reason why the mid-section was not very comfortable. Regardless, I would most definitely buy this cot again.------------------------------------------August 30th, 2010Wow, it's been this long. Well, let me just say that the cot still works great. There was an issue with rain and water getting in and soaking in on it (my fault)... but this was solved with some chemical sprays (mostly a heavy dosage of lysol and febreeze) and the odors and whatever was probably growing on it have since vanished.In the meanwhile, in lieu of having an actual bed, this thing has been serving as my sleeping device every night for over the past two months and it still works great and is pretty comfortable (with you know, bedding underneath).------------------------------------------November 22nd, 2010Aside from what's been said before, lets just say that depending on the gross weight of individuals and the weight distribution, you can actually have more than one person sitting on it at one time. I don't have extra seating in my room, so I tried to make a makeshift sofa-thing out of this. Two people can easily sit on this and watch movies for hours, many many times, without causing the thing to break or otherwise fail! I assume this extends to sleeping, though I'm not sure I'd bet on 'more involved activities'.And yes, I've been sleeping on this darn thing for almost five months straight now. I don't have back pains or any other problems... though on the rare occasion I get to try a 'real bed' I do realize what I'm missing. I can say however, as with all my previous updates, this is pretty darn comfortable with the proper setup. You just can't sprawl yourself out and roll around or really stretch.------------------------------------------August 2nd, *2011*Alright, this will be the final update. I've slept on that damn thing for a year and a month straight; no obvious back problems, no sleeping disorders, whatever. I've since moved on to a real bed (thank god), and I don't ever plan on using the cot again unless I need it -- probably for any future guests rather than myself, or when road-tripping.I think this product has been properly and completely tested for it's reliability, sturdiness, 'comfort', and longevity. I've had this thing for almost 5 years, so good job, Slumberjack!------------------------------------------5/5 -- for it's reliability, sturdiness, and 'relative comfort' (you need cushions)!