slip sliding away: air mattress

Last week I took my Air Core Big Agnes Air mattress. In the middle of the night I found I had slidden part way off of the mattress. I concluded much later that I probably had it filled too much. Anyone else had that problem? Is over filling the cause? I was on ground I thought was very flat. Not in a tent.

Overfilling it could be a problem, I suppose. The real culprit, for me, was always how restless a sleeper I am. The more I moved around at night, the more likely I was to find myself off the mat. This seems to happen more when I'm really sore from hiking: legs ache and become restless, or I find it hard to get into a comfortable long-term position and switch side frequently. (A slightly soft pad, not quite inflated to drum-tightness, helps with comfort.) More often than not, though, I don't roll around very much and don't come off the pad if it's level.

Glenn's response has to do with your movement. Lot's of people have had problems with mats sliding around on slick tent floors. The general recommendation I have hear is to dilute 100% pure silicone with mineral spirits and paint a series of stripes on the floor of the tent and dots on the bottom of the sleeping pad. This should prevent the pad from sliding around on the floor (as you move or due to slight inclination).

Glenn,
I think you are on to something there. While I was mostly warm and comfortable, I had a hard time sleeping. My legs get cramps sometimes after a long hard hike in, but they weren't too bad that night. I think moving around is a strong possibility. I have a friend who takes a sleeping pill before hitting the sack. I have never tried it.

Sounds like good advice. Thanks BZH

I've never taken sleeping pills, either. I'd suggest talking to your doctor before going that route.

I definitely think it is a talk to your doctor type of thing. I would think something like a NSAID to help with sore muscles might be a better first step rather than jumping to sleeping pills.