Air Mattresses

[Russell B.]

I got hit by a car doing 55 MPH at 12 or so .I have seen stuff splatter after getting hit at 55 so why I''m still here I don't know . But anyway I have been hurting all over all my life .At 49 I gave up the work force . I am now 53 and on disability .I cannot find a mattress I can get comfortable in without an abundance of pain . All of that was to get to this .What does the community think about an air mattress ?? A good one within reason due to only drawing $600.00 a month .TY FOR YOUR TIME SINCERELY

 

[Seminole Wind]

all the cheap air mats i have tried over the years have failed and not been comfortable anyways. i never had the money for one, but have friends that swear by the high quality thermarest self inflating sleeping pads and others of similar quality. you might check quality camp supply stores like REI or similar to see what they have and try them out in the store

also check out online reviews like this one
https://gizmodo.com/the-best-outdoor-sleeping-pads-for-every-camper-1659697249

 

[maki2]

back injuries and mattresses. Yes it can certainly be difficult to get comfortable. I myself have life long injuries and need a medium firm mattress with a softer top layer for overall comfort. But there are times when my upper back flares up or else my lower back flares up and then I can't lay down flat, other times flat works best. So it takes an adjustable bed where I can elevate my head and at times I also need to raise my knees. The right pillow is also very touchy as my neck can be in pain at times.

So perhaps before you decide on any one mattress you might go to a mattress store and try out some adjustable beds and see if needing position changes of the angles in various parts of the bed are part of why you can't get comfortable. You need to establish a base line of what makes you you feel uncomfortable and what brings you relief. Write it down so you can think over it before you decide to make a purchase.

I found I did need an adjustable bed but I was able to find one in a scratch and dent department at IKEA for a reasonable price. Unfortunately they no longer sell the twin bed sized one. However I often do see hospital beds and other adjustable beds show up on craigslist. If you are handy you can take apart the lift mechanism and adapt it to a bed for a van. But of course you can also make a simple non electric adjustable bed and do the changes manually instead of with motors. It takes a foldable mattress type for using with an adjustable bed but I find that many foam mattresses work for this as long as they are not too dense or thick. Unfortunately for a person with a bad back we tend to need to change mattresses sooner than many other people do as we don't tolerate it too easily as they start to get compressed after a few years time. That is frustrating and expensive but it is what it is.

 

[ssminnow]

This is what i'm going to pick up soon, I can't sleep on the ground anymore! If this will last me 5 years I will be a happy man.
No air mattress I've ever slept has held air all night. We shall see!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FNFSS1...&pd_rd_r=43254edf-0503-11e9-a4a0-976c58c08714

 

[hugemoth]

What works best for my bad back is a straw mattress. Just a canvas bag filled with straw. It's very firm but it can be formed into whatever shape that feels best. Where did this idea of flat beds come from anyway? Our ancestors made beds out of tree branches and leaves just like chimps and gorillas still do. Works great for me and is easy and cheap.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Russell to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

I tried an air mattress years ago here are my thoughts. they are very cold, the firmness changes with temperature and elevation so you have to watch this carefully. do not leave it inflated when gong up in elevation. out west in the high desert you can have wild temperature swings it can be in the 90's during the day and drop into the 40's at night all this leads to constant messing with your air mattress. did I mention they are cold.

highdesertranger

 

[kaBLOOnie Boonster]

I had bad luck with cheapo air mattresses, as other commenters said.

Then I bought a more expensive one from ALPS Mountaineering. Mine has been perfect for 4.5 years now, and used everyday. They compete with Therm-a-Rest. Both companies make self-inflating mattresses 3 or 4 inches thick, by 30 inches wide, by 77 inches long.

In the winter, I put my summer-weight sleeping bag on top of the mattress, and then sleep on top of it, to keep warmer. Then I use the winter-weight sleeping bag on top of me.

The air pressure changes due to altitude are noticeable. But you just open the air valve to adjust to the new altitude.

 

[Almost There]

You might want to look at the type of air pads that the hospitals and nursing homes use for preventing bed sores.

Here's a link to one that I grabbed quickly off the internet, I'm sure there are lots more out there.

https://www.alternatingpressuremattress.com/stage1.html

Mom had one put on her bed when she was in the hospital and they let us take it with us to the nursing home. The hospital considers them to be disposable (rather than sterilizing them) so you might even be able to snag one or more from someone in the medical field.

I found them to be of way superior quality than any of the air mattresses/pads that I had seen before.

The one drawback is that they probably only come in one size - fits a hospital bed.

 

[bullfrog]

The one I sleep on most of the year is the cheapest foam matress I have ever had. Air matresses just don't work long term and some don't make it one night. I bought a 4" matress topper with 2 different foam density layers. A green firm layer on one side and a white/yellow soft layer on the other. I believe it was around $100 for a queen size that I cut in half to make two matresses, one for me and one for my wife. I them bought two cheap 40 degree sleeping bags at Walmart for $15 and stuffed the foam inside and sewed up the opening as I like a firm matress it lays right on my plywood bed. My wife likes soft so we added a layer of egg crate style foam to the soft side of the topper and stuffed that into the cheap sleeping bag for her matress. She sometimes puts an additional sleeping bag as sort of a pillow top over all of it. We use Thermorest foam/air matresses often when traveling as we need to store them sometimes but it is a pain. They are even firmer, enough that my wife doesn't like them as well. A good nights sleep is the most important element to making this lifestyle work, so spend what you need to to be comfortable and get a good nights sleep.

 

[lenny flank]

I've tried probably a dozen air mattresses, some cheap, some not so cheap. They all popped a leak after a while.

 

[maki2]

I did an extended length of time camping trip using self inflating mattresses. What I found out for my bad back was that using two of them was what worked best. Stacking one on top of the other worked very well. The lower one is inflated to be very firm, the primary support so you don't bottom out. The upper one was inflated to give softer support to relieve any painful pressure points pushing against my body. They did not slide off of each other, many of the self inflating mattresses are made with a slip resistant fabric on the underside to keep them from skidding out from under you.

Look for a self inflating mattress that is rated as having some R value. They have some foam inside of them that insulates from the cold. That is very important when you have a bad back as the cold tenses up your muscles while you sleep and if that happens you will be in more pain.

The higher the R value on a self inflating mattress the less it will compact when rolled up and the longer it will take to deflate and push out the air. So if you need to stow it away during the day then you will want to keep that in mind. The higher R value ones are more expensive.

I just purchased a new 3" thick self inflating mattress from L L Bean. It is very good. The reason I choose it was partly cost but mostly because it was the only one I found that was short enough in length and close enough in width to fit my bunk space. I am not tall so I can away with having a width wise bed. But because it is new I can't comment as to its longevity, just that it is well made and has two inflating valves for a quicker fill. It comes in large, extra large and double bed. They call it the "camp futon", I got the large one for right about $100.00 with free shipping. Now that I have seen that it is good quality I will order a second one to stack on top of it. If needed it can be unstacked to provide a guest bed now and again when a friend joins me on my journeys.

I wanted something lightweight and easy to move for a mattress so I can lift it to reach things under the bunk. Also I need to move it out of the space now and again because the wood top of the bunk sometimes has to do double duty as a workbench area for some of my projects.