RTT matress options

[LandyAndy]

Ok.... gonna raise an old thread topic.

We have a Autohome Overzone and I find the OEM matress is way too soft for us. Anyone gone to a harder foam with some spec's.

Reading the old threads, sounds like memory foam isn't going to work for us as we'll be using it in early spring & late fall.... snow times !

Just looking for some 'comparisions' that we can try b4 we buy....

Cheers,
Andy

 

[Lemsteraak]

Hi Andy,

I'm not familiar with the OverZone's mattress but I have had a bunch of the other AutoHome tents. The mattress in my OverCamp is much thinner, the thought being that instead of using sheets and blankets like the others, you will be using a sleeping bag that gives more loft. So, I think you have roughly a 2 1/2 inch mattress as opposed to the 3 1/2 to 4 inch mattress in the Maggiolina. That one inch or so makes a huge difference, especially in the winter.

I have a Columbus with something like a 3 inch mattress, it is fine in the summer but when the temperatures go below freezing, it needs to be bulked up, feels like you bottom out. Personally I'm a fan of AutoHome's ACS mat, it is like a thin boxspring, give you just a slight cush and allows moisture to pass through. Keeps the mattress off the deck too so you get a little more insulation from the cold. My wife picked up this Ralph Lauren fluffy padded mattress pad thingy and put it on. Turns out, it works really well. I told Gary at Mudraks and he confided to me that he loves the featherbed he put in his tent, but that is another story. So, I would recommend keeping the existing mattress but adapting it to your tastes and the climates you travel in. I know of one fellow who swears by latex mattresses, but that is a really expensive solution.

Oh, just a thought, instead of an ACS mat, check out Froli, they are used onboard boats. Similar application, never used one but looks very interesting.
http://www.frolisleepsystems.com/

Rich

 

[LandyAndy]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the reply.....

Yep, the Overzone has a much thinner matress than the hard shell tents.... I guess it's so it packs easier but as you say you get the 'bottoming out' problem esp if you sleep on your side like I do. Just kills my hips by the morning.

I looked at the anti-condensation mat and was thinking of going that route anyway. Maybe we'll get one & see how that goes, we can always get a new piece of denser foam or a custom matress with a pillow top if it still gives me problems.

Found a supplier (from another forum posting) last night that makes to order with many grades/options..... would be about $500 for a custom one. I'm quite happy to spend the $ if it'll give me a good nights sleep..... the tent is a 10yr investment, so all in all not a big deal.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[Hill Bill E.]

I also sleep on my side, and was 'bottoming out' every night.

My solution was to use a self inflating mattress pad on each side.

Something like $20 each (I already had one from my backpacking days)

I slipped them under the RTT mattress, and they work great!

I can still fold the tent up even with them inside and 'inflated'.


I had also used a memory foam 'bed topper' that was 2" thick. It worked OK, but really sucked up the moisture, and was a pain to remove and dry after every trip.

 

[LandyAndy]

Thanks for the reply Bill.... more options to look at...

 

[Lemsteraak]

Andy,

Had another thought. If you are thinking of replacing the foam, you might want to stop by IKEA if you are close to one. They have both polyurethane (what you have now) and latex foam mattress in different thickness and density. They also have added pads for over the foam for a dual density approach. Their prices are good too if you end up liking something.

We went with the professional approach for the double bed on our boat. The foam we ended up with seemed way too firm when we got the final mattress. Felt really good in the morning so I've come to the conclusion that firmer is better.

Hope this helps, I think we have all been through this.

Rich

 

[LandyAndy]

Good idea but Ikea is a 12hr round trip for us, were right centre between Calgary & Vancouver on Hwy 1, ~500km to the nearest store in each direction.... gonna be a long :bike_rider:

And this is a bad time to travel, hwy to Calgary has only just opened today after being closed for about 4 days due to extreme avalanche warnings.... and a quite a few major slides too !

Will speak with our local Autohome rep & see if we can get an undermat to try first off.

Thx,
Andy

 

[cnynrat]

Similar to Hill Bill E., we also use some Thermarest self inflating mattresses under our Eezi Awn mattress. I think we are using the 2" thick model. We've found we want to at least partially deflate them when we close up the tent, which makes iset up/tear down kind of a PITA.

It does help with the comfort level tremendously IMO, but my wife is still not completely happy with this setup. She's got a bad back, so is more sensitive than I am to the mattress we use.

At home we use a latex foam mattress and absolutely love it. We even went so far as to have a custom version made for our slide in truck camper. We did explore a custom foam mattress for our Eezi Awn, but it was cost prohibitive.

I'll be interested to hear about how you address this problem.

 

[LandyAndy]

Been looking around and I might get 2, 1" thick cut pieces of the FloTex foam from these guys to put under the OEM matress. Looks like it'll give a good base and stop the bottoming out that we experienced. They'll be a snug fit so should stop in place with some simple webbing straps.

http://www.foamorder.com/closedcell.html

Time will tell

 

[Eventhough]

One thing to look out for is condensation under the stock mattress which can occur when conditions are right (or wrong). I saw it happen under a friend's RTT this weekend when it didn't happen in mine. Our RTTs are almost identical too.

Closed cell foam (like in the previous post) I think is a good idea. Try to find a camping store that rents equipment. A local store to me does and you can buy their closed cell foam rolls uber cheap every year when they replace their camping equipment.

I think I have some regular 'ole egg crate open cell foam up in the attic. If I do I'll shove it in the stock mattress cover and see how that does.