A camp bed is a narrow, light-weight

bed A bed is a piece of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

, often made of sturdy cloth stretched over a folding frame. The term camp bed is common in the United Kingdom, but in North America they are often referred to as cots. Camp beds are used by the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

in temporary

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

s and in emergency situations where large numbers of people are in need of housing after

disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...

s. They are also used for

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

al purposes, such as overnight

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

trips.

Ancient history

It is believed that King Tutankhamun, who reigned in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

from approximately 1332 to 1323 BC, may have had the first camping bed. When

Tutankhamun's tomb The tomb of Tutankhamun (reigned ), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, is located in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb, also known by its tomb number KV62, consists of four chambers and an entrance staircase and corridor. It ...

was opened in 1922, a room full of furniture was found to contain a three-section camping bed that folded up into a Z shape. Though the king, who had a

clubfoot Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of ca ...

, may never have taken part in long-distance

exploration Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

s, the elaborate folding bed suggests he had an interest in camping and

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

18th- and early 19th-century history

The

New-York Historical Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

owns a camp bed thought to have been used by General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, including during the hard winter at Valley Forge. It is made in three sections, with each section consisting of a wood frame stretched with canvas, supported by an X-shaped wooden base with

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

mounts. According to the donor, Washington gave the camp bed to his recording secretary,

Richard Varick Richard Varick (March 15, 1753 – July 30, 1831) was an American lawyer, military officer, and politician who has been referred to as "The Forgotten Founding Father." A major figure in the development of post-Independence New York City and the ...

, at the close of the war. It was passed down through Varick's descendants until it was donated to the Historical Society in 1871.

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and his high-ranking officers used camp beds with a frame of gilt

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

. The bed's six legs had wheels, and its vertical poles could support a canopy. Striped twill was attached to the frame by means of hooks in the copper frame. Napoleon died in such a camp bed on 5 May 1821, on the island of

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-187-0203-15A, Russland, Soldaten bei Ruhepause.jpg, German soldier on a collapsible camp bed, 1941 File:American Army Folding Bed-WWII.jpg, American Army Folding Bed, used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

File:French portable field bed dsc06886.jpg, French portable field bed with

mosquito net A mosquito net is a type of meshed curtain or cloth that is circumferentially draped over a bed or a sleeping area to offer the sleeper barrier protection against bites and stings from mosquitos, flies, and other pest insects, and thus a ...

File:US Navy 071023-N-5086M-023 Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Yan Ng prepares cots for potential evacuees during the San Diego wildfires, which have already burned more than 250,000 acres in San Diego County.jpg, Cots for potential evacuees from the

2007 California wildfires At least 9,093 separate wildfires charred of land in the US state of California in 2007. Thirty of those wildfires were part of the Fall 2007 California firestorm, which burned approximately 972,147 acres (about 3,934 km2, or 1,520 m ...

References

External links

Video of George Washington's military camp bed
{{commons category, Camp beds American Red Cross Beds Military equipment Portable furniture

Ancient history

18th- and early 19th-century history

Gallery

See also

References

External links