Roof Top Tent and the Uncomfortable Mattress

[Beowulf]

Roof Top Tent and the Uncomfortable Mattress:

I have heard people complain that the mattress in many RTT's are uncomfortable. Has anyone just opted to rip out the supplied mattress and install a higher density unit or even a Memory foam mattress of the hardness they liked.

I know that it is hard to want to rip out something that you just paid for only to replace it with something more expensive.

 

[Martyn]

Roof Top Tent and the Uncomfortable Mattress:

I have heard people complain that the mattress in many RTT's are uncomfortable. Has anyone just opted to rip out the supplied mattress and install a higher density unit or even a Memory foam mattress of the hardness they liked.

I know that it is hard to want to rip out something that you just paid for only to replace it with something more expensive.

The mattress thickness is usually just under 3" so few people find it uncomfortable. If you want more cushion then a thermorest under the standard mattress is a great solution.

Memory foam turn hard in low temps, so it's not a good solution.

 

[xcmountain80]

I use my Therma Rest base camp pads with a 2.5" foam mattress topper. It is awesomely comfy.


Aaron

 

[Green Ganesha]

It must depend on the tent manufacturer, and the mattress they've chosen. I've heard consistently favorable reports. I know the 3" mattresses in my Howling Moon trailer-top tent make for the most comfortable camping I've ever experienced. More comfortable, in fact, than many of the cheap hotel beds I've endured.

 

[CYi5]

Even with my cheaper Roof-Top-Tent, I find it pretty comfortable for being in the outdoors. Then again, I only weigh around 155, so that probably has A LOT to do with it.

 

[Bergger]

I find the matress on the series 3 Eezi-Awn is very comfortable. I'm 190 lbs and don't feel the wood floor. On our old popup I had to use some memory foam to supplement the 3" matress. Memory foam is very comfortable and I've used it down to 35 degrees without any of the hardness that other people have mentioned. But it also is quite heavy.

 

[Beowulf]

I'm glad to hear that you guys are not experiencing the uncomfortablness. After this I am not as worried about spending a grand for something that does not provide a good nights sleep.

I'm pretty easy anways because I can easily sleep on a #3 thermarest with out problems, but I have more issues with overly cushy mattresses.

 

[HMR]

Then again, I only weigh around 155, so that probably has A LOT to do with it.

I agree. My wife and I combined weigh only 270lbs and the mattress in our Maggiolina is oh-so-comfy.

 

[RobinP]

If you get a Technitop, you'll want a higher density mattress than the stock one. We've lived with the stock one for quite a while now, and it's been ok up until recently. I don't think the mattress has changed, but I have. I need something with a bit more support now.

 

[Gregny]

I also find the RTT mattress very comfortable and for the money of a RTT the convienence of a two minute set up and not sleeping on the ground is worth every penny IMHO...........:ylsmoke:

 

[xcmountain80]

I use my Therma Rest base camp pads with a 2.5" foam mattress topper. It is awesomely comfy.


Aaron

I should also point out that I restored my Hannibal 1.2M and it did not come with a mattress at all and I had to improvise.


Aaron

 

[DaveInDenver]

More comfortable, in fact, than many of the cheap hotel beds I've endured.

LOL! We've move than a few times pulled the mattress out of the WilderNest into a hotel room or into someone's house (my parent's have this hide-a-bed/torture device for example) to sleep on.

We have a pretty good mattress in the 'Nest. I ended up using a 2635 closed cell urethane foam. The measure 2635 means it has a density of 2.6 lbs/cu-ft and has an ILD of 35 lbs. Our mattress weighs about 20 lbs and I at 175 lbs sink maybe 20% of the way into it. There are foam places around (I got ours up in Boulder, CO, at a place called The Foam Source) and they can fix you up with just about anything you'd need. The key to finding a good mattress is knowing the ILD, which is indention load deflection. This is the measure of how much foam compresses under a weight. Ours is 35 lbs, which means a 50 sq-inch (generally round) indentor took 35 pounds to compress the foam 25%. An ILD of 35 would put this as a medium-firm mattress. I think ours is every bit (or more) comfortable as our home bed. A very firm mattress would be about an ILD of 50 and very soft mattress would be about an ILD of 20. Most average people find a comfortable mattress in the 25 to 45 range, but it does depend on the thickness of the foam.

I don't think it's odd at all that you don't find your stock mattress uncomfortable. It's probably a perfectly fine mattress, but it's just either too soft or firm for you personally. You wouldn't expect one size shoe to fit everyone, so not everyone will be happy with the same firmness mattress, either. Find a foam store locally, it's worth the time.

 

[4RunAmok]

Don't need no steenking matress!

Our Oasis II needs no mattress.

Two comfortable cots, side by side.

 

[Martyn]

Dave

Thank you for explaining the complexities of foam "squishiness" I now have something else to think about when I can't sleep at night.

Just to add to the complexity of mattress selection, Eezi Awn has a dual density mattress. So the top layer has a lower IDL and the bottom layer a higher IDL. This gives you a little more "squishiness" to sink into, but provides the support in the lower layers.

Thinking this over I think we need two scales, the “IDL Scale” for the engineering types, and the “Squishiness Scale” for the rest of the world.

 

[Martyn]

Don't need no steenking matress!

Our Oasis II needs no mattress.

Two comfortable cots, side by side.

Great for 2 up that's for sure, how about 3 up?

It reminds me of when I was a kid and our family car was a Mini, being the youngest I always had to sit in the middle in the back. Some experiences stay with you a life time.