After a few weeks away dealing with personal and family challenges, I’m back at the fire to talk about camp comfort — from cots to chairs and how they can change your outdoor experience. Along the way, I share how these comforts parallel life’s seasons, drawing from James 1:2–4 about perseverance through trials.
In this heartfelt episode, I open up about why I stepped away from the podcast for a few weeks and how personal challenges have shaped my outlook. We dive into a topic I’ve never covered before — comfort in camp. Are you the type who wants to rough it, or do you bring along creature comforts? I compare backpacking cots like the $50 NatureHike versus the $299 Helinox, break down their pros and cons, and talk about my military cot for ATV or boat-accessible trips. We also explore camp chair options, from budget Walmart models to lightweight high-back chairs, and even dollar store chairs for quick trips.
Comfort in camp isn’t just about luxury — it’s about energy, morale, and being able to recharge in the outdoors. I share stories from the field, practical tips on what to pack, and tie it all into life’s seasons. James 1:2–4 reminds us to “consider it pure joy” when facing trials, knowing these moments produce perseverance. Whether you’re sleeping on the hard ground or enjoying a comfortable cot, God can use both to shape you and prepare you for what’s next.
(upbeat music)
Welcome to the Primitive
Camping and Bushcraft Podcast.
I'm your host, Chris Speir.
So here we're gonna talk about gear,
red and the kind of stories
you only get around the fire.
It's all about learning, adapting
and keeping your faith strong.
So whether you're a seasoned outdoorsman
or just looking to unplug and reconnect,
you're in the right place.
So pull up a chair by the
fire and let's get into it.
All right, welcome back to the podcast. It's been about three weeks since my last last episode. I have had some personal and some family matters that needed my absolute full attention. And while I don't usually talk about these things publicly, I just want to be honest with you guys. I had to take care of a family situation with my son. And it's been very hard for my wife and I to walk through. If you have ever had a situation where you have someone in your family that is suffering through some sort of mental issue or mental illness, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And finally, we got some clarity about where to proceed, where to go next, and what to do, but I had to take a break from that. And I had to I had to tackle this head on. And it's just, it's been a rough couple of weeks. And so I apologize about not being here. But there are some things that are more important. And I figured that that was one of the more important things. So life has thrown me some challenges and I needed to walk through them before I could come back. And I didn't know when I was going to be able to come back. And there was a time in the past couple of weeks that I thought that I was just going to set it all aside and lay it all down from all my video content, all my spear outdoor stuff, all everything. And I just knew for a little while that it was heading that way. But, you know, ultimately, God is in charge. God, everything is going to come out for his glory. Everything is going to work towards his plan, not ours.. He has it all planned out and he makes everything work the way things work. And so we're going to continue to trust in him and believe in him. But here we are. We are back at the fire. We're down at camp, what the heck. And it is 9.30 at night on a Sunday evening before the Monday morning at 6 o'clock. Then I release this podcast. So I got a lot of stuff. But today we're going to be talking about something that we've never touched on here on this podcast. And actually, I don't think I've ever talked about it at all in any of my videos or anything, you know, and we're going to be talking about camp comfort, you know, a little bit of comfort in the camp. So are you the type who wants to rough it all the time? And are you going to be the one that likes a few creature comforts to take with you along the ride, you know? I started off. I started off like, I'm going to sit on the ground, sit on a log, ain't bringing a chair. I'm going to sleep on the ground. ain't bringing a cot. I ain't bringing an air mattress. I, you know, I'll bring a hammock. Stuff like that. So the need need here is simple. When you set up camp for more than a night, you're sleeping in a sitting situation can make or break your experience. And I have firsthand experience with that. And I really, this is whenever my eyes were finally open. My brother and I went on a week-l trip somewhere and we were sitting on a log. We would sit on that log. And if you don't have a chair chair, you hunch over, you hunch down. And I noticed about four days into it, my back was killing me because it was just, it was, it was, my back was hurting from hunching over and sitting on hard surfaces. And.. I was just like, man, this is crazy. So sure, there's going to be people that would like sit on the ground or sit on the log or lay on the ground or whatever. And there there's nothing wrong with that. But like I said, just in, I realized halfway through this trip that something something was afoot. Something won. But if you were out there for a few days, comfort becomes part of your overall energy and morale. So you want to be comfortable when you head out camping. You know, there's going to be the dial-h survivalists out here that listen to this and they're like, this dude ain't got a clue what he's talking about. And they're like, you get out here and you sit on the ground, you know, blah, blah, blah. I did my years in the military, but I know what's sitting on the ground is. I know. I know what uncomfortable is. And I'm not doing that anymore. You know, I did my 20 years in the military. So if you're exhausted and sore because you didn't sleep well or you sitting on a rock for hours at a time, it is going to affect or affect, a, not e, affect your entire trip. So... Let's talk about cots first. Now, by show your hands, go ahead and raise your hand, let me know how many of you bring a cot with with you camping. Or leave a comment. Let me know. But, I mean, do you bring a cot? Do you bring some kind of mattress pad? Do you do you bring something to sleep on? Or do you just bring a blanket and you rough it? Do you sit out there and just suck it up, buttercup? It's time to time to go on. Well, you know, at 50 plus years old, it's kind of hard to suck it up buttercup all the time, and that ground gets hard. And you wake up and you can't walk for a week. But I have two separate backpacking cots, and one of them is from Nature Hike, and they're a relatively reputable brand that you see them all over the place. They make all kinds of tents and they make different, you know, camping gear and camping equipment, stuff like that. But one is, I mean, this particular nature height cot weighs roughly six pounds. And I have another one from Helenox, Helenox or whatever. And they it weighs only two pounds. But these cots are exactly, they look the same. They set up exactly the same. But here's the kicker. One of these cots costs $50., and the other costs $299. Honestly, the difference isn't how they go together. It's all in the weight. Every bit of it is in the weight, you know, the pack size. They're exactly the same length. They're exactly they are exactly identical except for the weight. So, it's like, how much are you willing to spend to shave off a few pounds in your pack? And I talked about this at length on this podcast and all my videos about gear. It's like, you don't have to have the most expensive gear in order to have the most comfortable trips. You know, if you're willing to sacrifice a couple of pounds, then a $50 cot is all awesome. Now, these cots now, you know, these cots are they're low profile. They're about six inches off the ground, and they have like three or four poles that you put together on on each side. You slide it through this little thing, and then it's got the little legs that attach three, four or five legs or something like that that attach underneath the cot and raise you up off the ground. Plus it separates and keeps the actual cot spread wide and tight. Now, with this cot system, you know, they are comfortable. I've slept in them several times, and they're great if you're doing tent camping in the back of a truck. I mean, I'm just going to put ds out there. I'm going to I'm I'm going to give props where props are due. If you're tent camping in the bank of a truck or you got some kind of a tent, a foldout tent, a pop-up tent, or just a regular tent in the bank of your truck truck, or you made a camper shell or something like that in the back of your truck. These cots are the way to go. I mean, they're, you don't have to worry about carrying them anywhere or anything like that, and they fit perfectly in the bik of your vehicle. Now, I also have a military cot, but that thing's a beast. I mean, this thing is sure enough 100% GIued military care cot. And it's comfortable. I slept on these cots for many years. And they're dependable. They're sturdy. They're great if you're going to have an ATVVV to get to where you're going, or if you're taking a boat or some other way to get to your camp. You're not going to hike to your camp with this day going cot on your back. It's not going to happen. But.. Unless you're looking for some kind of punishment or you're trying to work out or build stamina a stanima. Stamina? You know, you're not going to to haul these things into the woods. So What kind of cots would you take with you into the woods? What are you willing to bring with you? And are you going to bring a cot at all? So a cot is a convenience. A sleeping pad can do the same thing. It gives you just enough, you padadding from the hard ground. Plus, it acts as an insulator to keep you from getting zapped from the cold and having the ground suck out all your warmth. The cots are pretty cool. They keep you up off the ground. You're up off the ground, so you don't have that thermal convection or whatever it's called. I forget the name of it now. It's already late at night, but you're not going to get zapped from the cold and it's not going to suck all your body heat out of you. Damn. I love using these cots. I love using these cots. And I use the cots and sometimes I put a sleeping pad on top of a vent and you have yourself in an amazing, comfortable trip, you know? So I'll take my cot with me, you know, every once in a while while, not all the time. If you've seen me and you know me and you've seen all my videos and all my, you got my book, anything like that, I use a hammock. I have always been a hammock guy. But here lately, I've been really, you know, trying to alter my thinking and I've been trying to minimize what I bring or how I bring it. And so that's what I do. I'll bring a cot to do that. So, um. Now, let's move over to camp chairs and the same sort of vein and the same sort of situation here. Are you the kind of guy or gal, or person that is about, like, you want some kind of camp comfort when you're out into the woods? Do you want something soft to sit your butt on to help support your back? You know, at first, I did not until I went on that one trip. And this was early on on on my camping stuff, you know, I've been camping many times where we sat in logs and stuff like that. I'm not going to go out there and build a egg chair. It's just, I'm not.. I' I'm going to spend my time fishing if I'm anywhere near water. I'm not going to spend my time building chairs and beds. And, you know, I did a video where I made a cot. My brother is pretty much, he's one of the smartest people I know. And I asked him, I had, I said, this is what I have.. I have a 100 foot of paracore, and I want to make a cot. How can I do it? And so he did all the math and he did all the everything, and he got back to me and he's like, look, you need 16 feet of pericore. You cut two, eight foot sections, and then you take all the strands inside and you set your two eight foot sections out and you make you a net. And you take that net and you use that net, with overhand knots, and it will make you a cot. And I'm like, okay. So I did it. I did a video on it. I made the video on how to make that cot. And it was a pretty cool video. And it was a pretty cool thing. That caught actually worked. It was it was extremely comfortable. It was very comfortable. And, so I'm, I'm that was the only time I've ever.. And then I took that net and I made a bushcraft chair out of it. And I've done a couple of videos where we made chairs out of blankets or tarps or, you know, stuff like that. Something to be more comfortable in the woods. But I also have a backpacking chair that I have brought with me for a long time. And you've probably seen these kinds. You can get them at Walmart for like $19, $18 or something like that. They fold up, you know, they're a couple pounds. I can't remember exactly how many pounds. I think it's maybe three pounds. And it's pretty decent. It keeps you up off the ground and it is something for you to sit in, lean back in, to relax in, to rest your back. And I also have an off-brand high back chair that I picked up from Sportsman's Warehouse. And it's lighter than the Walmart Fulton chair. You know, all these things are made out aluminum., but this thing is lighter and it's honestly more comfortable. It's got a real high back. You can lean back in this chair and it's still packable and it packs up and you can put it in your backpack and head out into the great outdoors. Then, of course, we've all seen the $10 store chairs, you know, the ones that fold up. And they're not really going to be placed into your backpack. Those are more like, they're always marketed. Have you ever noticed this? They're always marketed as camping chairs. But I really don't think there's anything camping about them. But they're they're simple. They're comfortable. You can throw one in your boat or your ATV or whatever, when you head out into the woods and have it with you when you get there. And you got you a chair to sit on. Everybody's seen them. They're little fold up chairs from Walmart or a dollar store. And then you just get heavy d ear from there. Heavy dutier? Is that even a word? So I'm sitting out here at night night and listening to the frogs and the crickets. And it's August 10th. And it's kind of warm, and I'm testing out the fam from O Jerry Ogery, O Jerry, OGE RY. And I'm going to be finishing up a video this week for them. And this thing is pretty jam up. I'm telling you right now. I think I talked about it in the previous podcast. I don't remember, but this thing's pretty cool. Literally, no pun intended, but it's it's actually blowing some pretty cool layer to me, you know? I'm very impressed with it. I wish I would have had this on my kayaking trip last year where I thought I was going to die. It was so hot. We camped out. It was 105 degrees and it was miserable. 999.99% humidity. Oh, Dave, if you're listening, that trip was rough. So, you know, these chairs, a little bit of camp comfort, is not bad at all. It's not bad at all. And let's see. Let's take a look in your old book here and talk about camp comfort. Now, if you look on page 49 of the book, that is the Sportsman's Warehouse chair that I just discussed with you. And then if you look on page 72 of the book, it's like if you're looking for extra comfort while camping, lightweight hiking or camping chairs can help. Many modern chairs fold up very small and can easily fit on or end your backpack. Sitting on stumps and logs is fine, but after a few days, your back will begin to ache from the lack of support, which will make your carrying your backpack out of the woods quite uncomfortable. So that's pretty much all I mentioned in the book about camping chairs. And it'll be in the gear section, you know, because it's talking about gear. But at the same time,. It's all about being able to be comfortable when you're in the woods. How are you going to make your comfort? Now, there's other ways, other things. You can use your hammock. You can situate your hammock where you can sit in it as a chair. You don't have to worry about sitting down or you can lean back in it. You can lay back in it or whatever. You don't have to worry about being on the ground or anything like that. And it works, but I don't have my hammock very close to the fire because I don't want the fire to put holes in either my hammock or my tarp. And so I tend to stay away from the hammock with the fire. And so I typically going to use my chairs a little bit closer to the fire because, you know, that's the fire is going to be your living room in your house. You know, you're going to sit around the fire when you're out there camping. But it's pretty easy stuff. It's not difficult, but I mean, I have never even talked about it before. So, you know, let's step back for just a second and go back to the cots. I've never talked about cots. I've never talked about cots. And it's all about being able to lay down and get a good night's rest, rejuvenate yourself and relax. And it's it's all about being able to recharge your batteries. And whenever you head out into the great outdoors, that's why you're going out there. You're going out there too to enjoy yourself, to recharge, the disconnect from everything. And hopefully you got out to a point that you are about your cell phone coverage is dead, where you don't get all the distractions. And, you know, so here's what I've learned from years of camping. The right gear isn't always the most expensive gear. And we've talked about this. I mean, I can't tell you how often we've talked about this. But the most, the least expensive gear is not always the lightest and that's how they make this stuff cheap is because it's not the premier or primo de crop stuff. It'ss about matching your trip style with your comfort needs. You may not need a chair when you're going out into the great outdoors. You may not need a cot when you're heading out on a camping trip. You know, on some trips, I find with a small cot or no cot at all, you know, just my sleeping pad. On others, especially longer stays, a good cot or a high backed chair, they're going to make your camp a whole lot more enjoyable. And, you know, this is going to tie into life off the trail too. Sometimes you're going going to have seasons where you can enjoy comfort and sometimes you got to toug it out. And that's going to bring us to today's devotional topic. You know, talking about cots and chairs reminds me that life isn't always comfortable. We can't always choose our conditions. Sometimes we got to, we're stressed out and the equivalent of a luxury cot, you know, with our beds or whatever. And other times we're sleeping on the cold, cold, hard ground. James chapter 1 verses two through four says,Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters. When you face trials of many kinds, notice what he said there, face trials of many kinds, because you knew that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And that's James chapter 1. You know, the past few weeks for me have been one of those cold, hard ground seasons that I know God uses those moments to build spiritual muscles and you don't gain perseverance by sitting in comfort all the time. You gain it by walking through discomfort, but keeping your eyes on him. So whether you're sleeping in comfort or pushing through a rough patch, remember that God can use both seasons to shape you. He's going to prepare you and remind you of what really matters. So that was real touching for this whole week, you know, the past couple of weeks has's just been very hard, especially from me and my wife. And I, I have watched my beautiful bride cry herself to sleep many of nights. And it's's hard. It's very hard and difficult to walk through. And, uh anyway. So what you what you what you going to do? What kind of cots are you going to use? What kind of chairs are you going to use? Are you going to bring a chair? Are you going to bring a cot at all? What kind of season are you in in your life? Hit the comments. Leave a comment. Let me know. Send me an email. If you're walking through a season that you need some help with, too, if you need me to pray widget, let me know. I'll do it. Send me an email email. Admin at spearoutdoors.com. I'm serious. We all need as many people as we can to come together with each other to support each other. Iron sharpens iron. And we need to get together. We need to be there for each other. whenever we have problems and situations. And I wanted to give up and quit. I wanted to quit so I could deal with what was going on. I wanted to put this to the ground. I wanted to throw this away and say, I'm done. I'm all done with it. I don't have time for it. But in reality, it's when are you going to make time? It's 9.45 in the evening. And I'm making time to do it because it's something that needs to be done. Jody, thank you so much for reaching out to me and, you know, Dave, all you guys that I know personally that have reached out and, and left comments and stuff, you know, on my Facebook page, on the, on the primitive camping and Bushcraft Facebook group, all you guys, I really do appreciate every one of you for reaching out and, you know, saying, hey, take your time, B. Thank you so much. You know, take take your time. We're here whenever you get back, you know, and it's all good. It's all good. God has a plan. God is moving everything forward. And I'm going to consider it pure joy. And, you know, because I know that the testing of my faith is going to produce perseverance. You know, I'm sleeping on the hard ground right now, but pretty soon I'll be able to sleep on the bed. It's kind of like in the military. Whenever you go out and do your training, you know, James I is just like a military thing. You go out into the field to do your training. You're sleeping on the hard ground. And you' training for weeks at a time. And then whenever you get back home, you're sleeping back in your bed or you're in the barracks sleeping on your cot, you know, whatever, whatever you're doing. And that is exactly the season of life that I'm walking through right now. And one comment, I forgot who said it, and I'm not on the Facebook page right now, but one commenter said, hey, you don't owe us an explanation. You know, I don't. I don't. But at the same time, how can I let other people know what I'm walking through that has the capability of reaching out and helping? And I'm not talking about monetarily help or anything like that. And I'm talking about just dropping a line saying, hey, I heard what you said, and I had a situation like this too. I've been walking through something like this too. And, you know, developing community. And that's what primitive camping the Bushcraft Group is all about is developing a community. And, you know, I had some, you know, some news about the book, too, that I was very discouraging too. The booksells didn't sell very well you the past six months, but it is what it is. It is what it is it is. God led me to this. He's not going to let me down, you know, and there's a reason for everything, and I truly believe that. So, you know, let's, let's go ahead and, uh, light follow and share. Leave a comment, pick up a copy of the book and go ahead and join the primitive camping and Bushcraft Group on Facebook. So that's it for today's episode. I love to hear your take. Are you all about comfort in the camp or do you like to keep it minimal? Please share your thoughts in the primitive in the Bushcraft Facebook group, join the group. And remember, in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he, he will direct your path. God bless you and I'll see you next time.
Thanks for sitting
around the fire with me today.
If this episode gave you
something to think about,
it may help you feel a
little bit more prepared,
or it even stirred your faith a tiny bit.
Go ahead and share it with someone else
who might need it as well.
We don't go camping
to run away from life.
We come out here to
slow down and recharge.
So, grab another log,
throw it on the fire,
and remember this, in all
your ways, acknowledge him,
and he will direct your path.
I'll see you next time.
God bless you.