Comfort of a RTT mattress!

[LandyAndy]

Mike sells that barrier that goes underneath the mattress too that is suppose to help some, but I am waiting to see if he can source the material locally.

We have one of the ACS mats in our Overzone RTT, made a huge difference to the comfort level. Well worth it and even better if Mike can get a US sourced product.

 

[Junior's 12 Valve]

I have the Walmart special 2 man tent lol

I just set it up and throw it in the bed of my truck and use an air matress. I can inflate it however much I need to and is very comfy.Also makes a good raft when me and a couple buddies are just hangin out at the lake hahaha

 

[wardrow]

OK This might be a bit of a stretch, but has any one though of, and or tried using a closed cell foam like a wrestling mat http://www.resilite.com/Departments...s/Resilite-Classic-Mat-Details/Foam-Core.aspx I do realize these are probably very heavy.

 

[Flip_4_It]

I am curious about this also. I can get a decent nights sleep on in my ARB RTT if I'm alone, but the martress is too firm for my girlfriend, and I would rather she slept good than me (for obvious reasons the next day). I put a cheap 2" memory foam topper on the factory matress, helps a bit, but we usually don't have the tent set up long enough before we go to bed for the mattress topper to fully expand.

Has anyone tried getting foam from a fabric store or upholstry shop and replacing all the foam in the factory mattress cover? I would like to try this but do not anything about foams as far as density and comfort.

 

[spressomon]

We have an excellent overstock fabric store here in Reno. They do have a very good selection of foam however we found more suitable choices at a local handmade mattress shop. Most decent size cities have locally made mattress shops...give them a visit along with checking out what might be available at your local fabric store too.

Whatever you do there is no substitute for laying down on the foam samples. What feels soft in hand is terribly firm when laying on it...based upon my experiences with same.

We ended up with two different densities of foam...with the softer thicker layer being on top. You could also easily taylor a softer side and a firmer side so you both get what you want/need!

 

[Redline]

OK This might be a bit of a stretch, but has any one though of, and or tried using a closed cell foam like a wrestling mat http://www.resilite.com/Departments...s/Resilite-Classic-Mat-Details/Foam-Core.aspx I do realize these are probably very heavy.

Many years ago I spent countless hours/days training on this type of wrestling mat. Not only heavy, but large & stiff to roll up. While I prefer a very firm, flat bed & sleeping experience, I can't imagine being very comfortable on one of these wrestling pads as they are very firm, even hard.

I find the standard mattress in my Eezi-Awn tent quite comfortable. Though reading this thread reminds that people sleep differently and while I like my RTT mattress just fine, others will hate it.

 

[cactusjk]

I have an Eezi Awn 1200 and use a Big Agnes Park Summit bag with a Big Agnes inflatable mattress that slides into the bottom of the bag.

 

[ExploringNH]

I have a Mombasa tent and while the mattress is ok for one or two nights, it does eventually get to my back.

I picked up a cheap self inflating sleeping pad and it made a huge difference. It inflates to about 1" thick. I open the valve in the morning and just fold the tent up with the pad still in it. This made a big difference for me and I have no plans to further improve it.

http://www.amazon.com/Wenzel-Roll-I...GGLM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1315502662&sr=8-5

 

[BigDaveZJ]

Do any of you with the memory foam spend time in cold weather? I saw one mention of it, but nobody else brought it up. It wouldn't be unexpected for us to experience temps in the teens on some of our trips and sleeping on a brick sounds unpleasant.

 

[cruiserfred]

this spring i bought 2 therma rest and put under my existing mattrest it works great

 

[spressomon]

Do any of you with the memory foam spend time in cold weather? I saw one mention of it, but nobody else brought it up. It wouldn't be unexpected for us to experience temps in the teens on some of our trips and sleeping on a brick sounds unpleasant.

We tried a memory foam 2" mattress topper from Costco a few years ago and it turned brick hard at Coyote Flats in September. Not sure what the ambient temp was but it was below freezing. That was enough for me and back to Costco it went.

 

[RandomAbstract]

I don't own a RTT but do sleep outdoors and have a trashed back, knees, hips. Last year I bought an REI 3.5" XL self inflating mattress.
http://www.rei.com/product/778152/rei-camp-bed-35-self-inflating-pad

My wife and I use a pair of these in our GTT (Ground Top Tent!) Quite comfortable.

 

[JKJenn]

I recently got an ARB Simpson III RTT, and experimented with substituting some older Thermarest camp rests for the OEM foam. Result was OK, but not any better than the original foam comfort-wise. The two separate air mattresses didn't fit across the width and part of the problem was rolling off or between them during the night. My secondary desire is to lighten the roof load as much as possible, as I was surprised at how much the OEM foam mattress weighs.

Has anyone tried the Cabelas house brand? I noticed they have a "couple" air/foam mattress which is 55" wide and 3.5" thick. Dimensionally it would seem to fit the RTT, be lighter, and if it sleeps better it could be great.

I picked up the Cabela's Ultimate Double off of CL and it fits nearly perfectly - it is just a few inches short in length for the ARB Pilbara, but it is longer than I am tall so not a problem. Have not tried folding the tent with the sleeping pad yet, though.

 

[Corey]

We have one of the ACS mats in our Overzone RTT, made a huge difference to the comfort level. Well worth it and even better if Mike can get a US sourced product.

I bought the ACS mat a few weeks back via Mike, but have not installed it yet due to the weather here in the soggy PNW.
Looking forward to seeing if it makes the Airlander mattress a little softer.
I posted that I had bought it in another thread here a few weeks back.

Mike had not found a source yet for a US version of it, so I went with the $$$ one.

 

[Mike S]

There is significant variability between the materials and designs employed by several manufacturers. Additionally, the user's physique and sleeping position will be a factor in comfort.

There are several solutions.

Memory foam is Ok for warm climates, but it will become very hard when cold.

Replacing the factory supplied mattress with a thicker inflatable mattress is Ok for warm weather - but it is a very poor insulator in cold weather.

A pure latex foam topper about an inch thick will make a huge difference but the $$ are a consideration for some.

A sheepskin mattress top pad adds great comfort, warmth and improves air circulation - making sound sleep possible.

My personal favorite is a feather bed mattress topper, which has similar benefits to the sheepskin topper. I almost always use sheets and down comforter instead of a sleeping bag in my tent. This makes sleeping MUCH more comfortable.