Didn't want to start a new thread so i resurrected an oldie...lately i've been exploring 2
lightweight cot/stretchers, for a comfy, no-see-em fly mesh & cuben tarp combination for my young lad.
The products. A cheap four strut stretcher bought off aliexpress & a mid priced 6 twist strut purchased here in oz.
A few thoughts...
* Both were very comfy. Tick.
* Both were easy to put together although the twist struts took longer to assemble. The cheap aliexpress cot had more play in the assembled struts.
* The thin ripstop nylon cot cover on the mid priced version wears & tears at the cutouts where you insert your struts. The heavier material of the aliexpress version is holding up.
* If your a back sleeper the poles running down the side of the narrow cover may annoy & cause shoulder squeeze. I'm a side sleeper, so I'm comfortable as long as you organise your arms so they didn't hang over the cold hard poles & go numb.
* Making or buying a reflective insulated mat for underneath the cot is easy enough, so is placing a foam or air mat on top to lie on.
*Both suffer from lengthways side loading on not perfectly flat, sloping or uneven ground. Struts pop out. There's no side bracing, or very minimal from the grips that clip on to poles running down the length of the stretcher. Really need to be wider at this point to provide better bracing but then they wouldn't be so compact & packable.
Overall, not really impressed with the lightweight versions, in the real world of bushwalking & setting up daily on uneven surfaces, hard rocky & soft mushy ground, I don't trust them to stay in one piece...maybe the more expensive versions are better ?
Relegating them to car camping, until they self-distruct(which won't be long)...with pads as a backup.