Another RTT mattress question - 5" memory foam?

[Boston90]

I'm considering this 5" foam+gel mattress for my Tepui Kukenam Sky in place of existing 2" foam piece currently in place. When the tent is closed there is definitely some room for extra bedding and possible mattress inches, but not sure if I would need to score or cut the 5" mattress to fold the assembly. I would not store the mattress in the tent for long term storage, only for the travel to and from the site. Ideally I would like to be able to use the mattress as a guest bed on a folding platform for overflow duties.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6Z033T/ref=twister_B01MAYSMGE?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

Thoughts on using this in a RTT?
Would the pros recommend scoring it to ease/allow folding?

 

[80t0ylc]

One thing to keep in mind with memory foam - it gets much firmer (harder) in cold temperatures. It'll soften up slightly when your body warms it up. I have a hard shell RTT so I can't help you with the folding concerns. But, it seems to me that opening and closing the tent in the cold would be made more difficult with a thicker and stiffer mattress. BTW, I added a 2" memory foam mattress topper to my RTT mattress and needed to trim it to size since it was not specifically made for a RTT. A 5" mattress, like your link shows may be a challenge to trim.

 

[Boston90]

Thanks for the info. I ended up ordering a 4” mattress from a different manufacturer.
I measured the space between the floor panels when folded. Looks like 8” between panels uncompressed. The temps should be moderate for the first fold up as well as first unfold. If there’s a problem getting it to fold up on our final morning (assuming temps around 50*) then we should be able to put it in the back of the truck.

 

[mnewxcv]

having used one as an actual bed in a bedroom, they do get very firm in the cold, probably not foldable at 50*. That being said, I never slept better than on my tempurpedic memory foam mattress. As stated, once body heat transfers to the mattress it will take your shape and soften up.

 

[Boston90]

I’m conjuring the idea of scoring the mattress or removing a V portion of the underside to ease the fold.

 

[dcg141]

I put a memory foam topper on mine and it sleeps better than my bed at home.

 

[baggio1616]

I like them at home, but from my experience I wouldn't put one in the RTT again.

Had one in my JB tent. It was comfortable, but the problem is that it absorbed too much moisture. Once it got down in the 30's it was freezing. Actually got rid of it halfway through the trip. But that's just my experience.

 

[spressomon]

The worst night of camping I've ever had: Laying (not sleeping ) atop a 2" memory foam "topper" with ambient temps in the 30's. Brick hard. I did have a local mattress company make me a 4" latex mattress that was immune to temperature and was quite comfortable given its 4" thickness...had it made for my then Maggiolina.

 

[Boston90]

I ended up buying and using a full size 4” memory foam mattress (not topper) in my rtt. While it didn’t fill out the space completely, it was comfortable and folded up with no issue. I’ll post the link the the one I picked up. Temps dropped into the very low 40s. I was fine but will need a warmer bag.

 

[tae73]

I bought a Exped air matress, it was a tough pill to swallow for the price. But so glad I did, I left crappy smittybilt mattress in and placed this on top. I let the air out when closing up the tent and it folds up with no issue. I sleep so much better now, I havent tried in cold weather but claims thats its insulated.
http://www.exped.com/usa/en/product-category/mats/megamat-duo-10-lw-ruby-red

 

[unsung]

Might go a similar route to this.

https://www.foambymail.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

 

[spressomon]

FWIW, I have extensively used two Exped MegaMat 10 mattresses plus one of their DAM mattresses and there is no denying their comfort. But as my single width Exped has aged, the one I used the most (and in my Autohome Columbus when I was solo'ing ) it has gotten leak prone; Exped says its just a coincidence as they have not found mattress age to be a factor.

And those of us who use/have used air mattresses know all too well how uncomfortable they are without air...hah! I patched all the little pin holes I could find but it still would deflate in approximately 2-hours so I finally gave up and shipped it back to Exped in Washington for repair. They provide excellent post sale customer service and no-charge repairs and shipping back to you.

Long story short: If I was buying an Exped MegaMat today I'd pay the additional for the heavy duty model...

But, I have a beautiful partner to share my Columbus with and have gone back to foam mattress. I started with 3" thick medium density foam and its fine if sleeping on our backs (I'm 5'10" and 180lbs) but bottoms out for side sleeps. I recently added a 1" piece of high density foam over the top of the 3" and so far it has solved the side sleep issue and remains comfortable for back sleeping too. Fortunately we have a local (Reno) foam supplier so its easy to test the foam out before purchase. Not sure how it would go via mail-order.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Also a huge Exped megamat fan, recently found these guys worth looking into for custom sizes.

Foamsource in Boulder Co.

 

[laxtoy]

My wife has sciatica, so an upgrade to the 2” standard foam was a must.
We tried the 2” memory foam topper as well, but had issues as stated with it being hard in cold temps, plus the biggest issue was it wouldn’t compress when folding up the tent so it was putting big stress on the retention straps, etc.

Exped megamatt Duo is the single best addition to the rooftop tent we’ve made

It has so many pluses it’s hard to emphasize what an improvement it has been.

-amazing sleep surface, vastly superior honestly to memory foam in terms of comfort. Some argue it’s better than sleeping on their mattress at home, which I’ll agree with since waking up in the fresh mountain air is unrivaled luxury we all love!!

-Warm! Since it has a 1” foam top layer and a really supple outer skin layer it acts as fantastic heat insulation. Add that to a down bag and we almost don’t want to leave the tent in the morning.

-compact- this comes with a disclaimer, as it takes considerable work to get it fully deflated. It can be a pain in the ass honestly because it self-inflates. Kinda like trying to wrestle a dead body and squish the air out and the foam layer needs to be compressed too. If it doesn’t fully get compressed, it’s hard to close the tent. We just leave it in the tent with sleeping bags all season long, that way it’s always ready to go.

-adjustability. You can make it firmer or softer based on taste by how much air you put in. We have a good air mattress inflator/deflator with a cigarette lighter plug that helps expedite inflation/deflation, so this speeds things up considerably. If you move around a lot, meaning set up camp, take down camp daily it can be a consideration, but I don’t mind, it’s worth it.

-quality. It’s pretty robust, not the same crappy air mattresses that spring leaks and have you feeling like you’re on a waterbed at 3am. It sleeps quiet too, so no annoying squeals, etc. I see us getting a lot of use, plus we care for it, so we believe it will be a lifetime product. We even break it out for company and they have said it was great to sleep on.

The biggest drawback is cost, at close to $400 it’s not cheap, but we waited til we could get it at $300 out the door, we’ll worth it if we get the life out of it we expect.