There are 8 Byer of Maine Camping Cots available on the market. All of them are collapsible or folding camping cots and all are presented in this text. The Byer of Maine is a company established in the 19th century so it may be good to check what they have to offer.
8 Byer of Maine Cots side by side
Here are all the cots, given by the bed length from longer to shorter:
Bed size, inches (cm) |
Weight lb (kg) |
|
1. Byer of Maine Heritage Cot | 84 x 30 (213 x 76) |
24 (10.9) |
2. Byer of Maine Military Cot | 84 x 30 (213 x 76) |
20 (9.1) |
3. Byer of Maine Easy Cot | 78 x 31 (198 x 79) |
21 (9.5) |
4. Byer of Maine DuraSteel Cot |
77 x 27 (196 x 69) |
20 (9.1) |
5. Byer of Maine Allagash Plus Cot | 76 x 30 (193 x 76) |
8.5 (3.85) |
6. Byer of Maine Cottage Cot | 75 x 31 (191 x 79) |
28 (12.7) |
7. Byer of Maine TLC 7000 | 75 x 25 (191 x 64) |
5.6 (2.54) |
8. Byer of Maine TriLite Cot | 74 x 25 (188 x 64) |
7.5 (3.4) |
The cots with links are described in detail in my separate reviews, so please just follow the links to see more.
What types of Byer cots we have here
♦ First to stress, most of the cots belong to the group of collapsible beds. This implies that in the packed state they reduce to a very small volume with only one larger dimension. All are easily transported in the car and stored at home. To see more about collapsible cots please follow the link, but the meaning is obvious from this picture.
♦ Some of them are military-type cots. So this implies a few things, like end bars, and they need a simple assembly (basically only adding these end bars). The end bars effectively reduce its useful length, but no worry, these two cots are among the longest on the market.
The Heritage and Military beds are essentially the same, the only difference is in the frame material; the Heritage Cot is a wooden bed, the only known to me currently available on the market.
See how to set up one of their military cots:
♦ The Easy Cot is the easiest to set up, it is just a matter of opening it like an umbrella. All is done in seconds, you have seen the picture above. You can see this more closely in the video:
♦ Some of the cots are with W-shaped spring steel legs which create tension in the bed deck. Those are very elegant beds that also require some easy assembly, but this is done without any tool, in a couple of minutes.
See the setup of the TriLite cot, the other two are very similar:
So how to choose a Byer of Maine Cot
- Obviously, if you are a very tall person, you should consider any of those on the top in the list.
- If you want an extremely easy setup, then go for the Easy Cot.
- If you want an exceptionally lightweight tool, backpack friendly, go for the TCL 7000 cot.
- You do not want metal structure? The choice is easy, the wooden Heritage Cot.
- Need something with a mattress included? Then choose the folding Cottage Cot Bed with its 3 inches thick mattress with memory foam.
What are alternatives available on the market
- The first three cots in the list are really big and with quite a good capacity. But these are still not the strongest tools on the market. There are cots with the capacity 600 lb (272 kg). See this impressive list.
- The lightest in the group is the number 6, Byer of Maine
TCL 7000 Cot. You can indeed carry it attached on the backpack. But if you want a true backpacking tool, please see these ultra lightweight cots all below 3 lb (1.36 kg). - All cots in the table above can be used without any sleeping pad. But if you want more comfort, you might consider cots with mattresses.
- The cots in the table are to be used in some tent. But you might want to consider cots with tents attached to them, so-called tent-cots for one person.
Summary
To conclude this overview of the Byer of Maine Camping Cots, as you see, roughly speaking there are four different types here, all very reliable tools, all but one are metal structures combined with a strong deck fabric. Some of them are described in my separate reviews, so please follow the links given in the table above.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you have any question or comment, there is a comment box below. I wish you a pleasant day.