Dutch outdoor equipment manufacturer Helinox is known for uncompromisingly high-end lightweight outdoor gear at a price, and the Cot One is no exception.
Straight out of its tough little fabric storage bag, the Lite Cot dazzles, literally, with its trademark Helinox blue anodised DAC TH72M alloy poles glinting in the sunlight.
At first the pile of poles seems a bit of a jumble but assembly takes no more than a few minutes - five at the most once you get the hang of it. In the same way, the plastic feet, which double as lugs for the bed's legs are a little clumsy to pack but wonderfully quick to assemble and faultlessly strong and stable once assembled.
In fact, with strong elastic cords holding all the segments of each of the poles and legs together it doesn't take more than a guided 'shake' of each one for each component to start pulling itself together before your eyes.
The two straight poles thread down each side of the specially woven fabric bed top, and then the legs wedge between the two sides, a little bit of force being needed to squeeze them in and tension the bed top.
The Cot is long enough for those over six feet tall and capable of supporting up to a 145kg person but, if you're a lot lighter, you can leave out one of the central legs to give yourself an even smaller and lighter package to carry.
Even with all four legs the Cot only weighs 1.24kg
In use it gave a comfortable night's sleep - even for a tester who likes moving from side to side in his sleep - and was never in danger of tipping him out. The light fabric is easy to slide around on and although this makes a bit of noise, you won't be able to hear them as you sleep soundly.
This kind of comfort and light weight poses an interesting alternative to sleeping mats, which although a few hundred grams lighter, and up to a hundred pounds cheaper, certainly won't have anywhere near the comfort-to-weight ratio - especially when faced with an uneven or rocky floor.
So is the Cot worth the money? The answer depends largely on how deep your pockets are, and what value you put on mid-adventure sleep...
