How to Build a Cot for Camping
Campers, while travelling, have to sleep on the floor of their tents most of the time. In such a scenario, there is merely a sleeping bag and a mattress pad between them and the uneven, hard earth. This can be an extremely uncomfortable situation and is likely to hamper your sleep, which is crucial during travelling. On top of that, an uneven surface underneath the body can cause pain in shoulders, neck and back. In order to rest comfortably, campers prefer taking cots along.
These cots are easily available at camping goods stores; however, if you want to save your money, you can make such cots at home with the help of some basic material and tools.
Instructions
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1
Wooden pieces
To make the frame of the cot, you need to lay two 6 feet long wood panels parallel. These wooden pieces should be a bit more than two feet apart. At the head and foot of the frame, you need to position 2-feet 3-inch pieces before you nail them with the two 6-foot pieces.
With the help of the truss plates, the corners of the frame can be reinforced. The truss plate needs to be positioned such that half of it covers the joint, while the other half is hanging off the corner. Before you fold the plate around and attach it, you should screw or nail it down. -
2
Make a C shape
Two 1 and 1/2 feet long pieces should be laid out just to ensure that they are parallel and about 2 and ½ feet apart. One of the 2 and ½ feet pieces needs to be placed across the tops to make a C shape, which is the basic leg structure of the camping cot. The leg pieces can now be joined to the 2 and ½ feet corner pieces.
In order to make sure that you are able to fold and unfold the leg pieces into proper positions, screw or nail two of the hinges to the leg structure and frame. -
3
Leg braces
Drill a nail sized hole on one end of a metal strip. Drill another hole in the same position at the other end. However, you must make the cut from one of the longer sides. Repeat the same procedure for the other three metal strips as well as they will play the role of leg braces for the cot.
