A camp bed is a narrow, light-weight

bed A bed is an item 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. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

in temporary

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

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

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

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 enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

al purposes, such as overnight

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

trips.

Ancient history

It is believed that

King Tut Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

, who reigned in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

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

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

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 frail young king, who had a

clubfoot Clubfoot is a birth 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 cases, clubfoot aff ...

, may never have taken part in long-distance

exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

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, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

18th and early 19th century history

The

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum ...

owns a camp bed thought to have been used by General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, 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 with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) 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, right in f ...

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 Stat ...

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

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

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

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) 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 pinkis ...

. 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 a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

.Napoleon’s camp bed
/ref>

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

mosquito net A mosquito net is a type of meshed curtain 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 against the di ...

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

References

External links

* Video of George Washington's military camp bed

Beds Portable furniture {{Furniture-stub

Ancient history

18th and early 19th century history

Gallery

See also

References

External links