Couldn't handle it any longer....

[Bombsight]

X2
I have a Temperpedic memory foam mattress and pillows at home which are great. I made the mistake of taking the pillow on a late season hunting trip and that thing was no better than a using rock for a pillow.

Great info. Thanks
Cant help but wonder how cold it has to get in a heated FWC before its not a good thing.

 

[rotti]

Great info. Thanks
Cant help but wonder how cold it has to get in a heated FWC before its not a good thing.

Good point....I never run my furnace while sleeping. The cycling of it off and on is annoying and is also a battery drain. I depend on a good down bag and a little Wild Turkey.

On that trip I think the nighttime temps were in teens and twenties.

 

[craig333]

I've never had my memory foam mattress get hard but I'm not squeamish about running the heater.

 

[hoyden]

I have a 1" memory foam topper in my Fleet and it works great and makes for more comfy sleeping!
I do often run the furnace at night around 52F (for the doggies, y'know ;-) ) and keep my Fantastic fan open a wee bit.

 

[park]

Well after spending last week in the camper, I think I was out 8 nights http://nowheretobetour.blogspot.com/2017/01/lost-coastalmost.html, I'll have to say the Ikea mattress I mentioned in the initial post was much better than the factory issue. Looks like I'll be leaving the Ikea in place. I'll still have to fill the open area, or maybe not, haven't decided yet. Final conclusion is that it was $90 well spent. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. Love this forum for new ideas and suggestions from fellow campers. Something of note did happen to me as well on this trip. For the first time, ever, I had the back end of the camper come down during a very heavy windstorm. No damage, but in the middle of the night it collapsed. Luckily with the unit all shut up the air vacuum created gave it quite a bit of buffer as it came down. Afterwards, I dropped the whole thing and slept on the side dinette set up due to the high winds.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Park, did you have the strap snapped in place? That must have been some wind! I'm glad you and Petey were not hurt.

 

[park]

Park, did you have the strap snapped in place? That must have been some wind! I'm glad you and Petey were not hurt.

No, Petey and were fine as it was the door end that came down. I'm not sure on the sanp. I was wondering that once I got up when I realized it had come down. I may have forgotten to snap it but who knows. It was some major wind. They were forecasted gusts up to 50 and I think we got that. I've camped before in some high winds but nothing like that. When it's that windy I just can't sleep anyway with the rig being buffeted about. Even with the top down and sleeping on the dinette, it was bad so I just broke camp about 3 that morning and started working my way north. It was a long night as I think I got maybe an hour or so of sleep.

 

[craig333]

My topper is great. Funny thing about the winds. It is hard to get to sleep with the camper being buffeted. However, once I do get to sleep I can sleep through anything

 

[park]

My topper is great. Funny thing about the winds. It is hard to get to sleep with the camper being buffeted. However, once I do get to sleep I can sleep through anything

You're a lucky man. I suck at sleeping. Someone can fart 50 yards from the rig and I'll wake up. Petey, on the other hand, can sleep through a nuclear explosion

 

[ETAV8R]

I just got back from 3 nights using my new Klymit insulated V-Luxe. It is the best pad to date.
And to date let me list what I've used:

USMC Isomat:1993-2000
Thermarest self inflating pad: 2000~2013
Kelty Recluse:2013
Klymit Static V:2016
Klymit Static V-Luxe Insulated:2017

Klymit also offers a double size but I think it wouldn't be enough for the width of an Eagle/Finch. Not sure about the new Swift widths but I'm pretty sure two of the V-luxe versions would fit perfectly. I use my pads on top of the FWC pads/mattress and it works great.

 

[XJINTX]

ETAV8R, I'm interested in knowing if you or anyone puts their Thermarest or such under their camper mattress? Seems like that would help. Not sure if have to remove before closing my Hawk on the bed?

 

[DavidGraves]

I have considered memory foam for the upper bunk but did not want the weight.

It has just dawned on me one could cut the memory foam down narrower and leave the forward edge of the sleeping platform bare.

We sleep one up and one down....stow boxes in front area of upper platform for "bedside table"

Having memory foam only about three feet wide lessens the weight and shifts the weigh back a bit on the cab over.

DavidGraves

 

[Squatch]

I've been very pleased with the 2 REI 3.4" pads I've been using with a strip of an old Memory foam mattress down the sides to hold the mattresses together in the middle.

But on the last trip my older one seemed to start loosing air. I haven't really spent much time searching for the leak yet. I had thought about upgrading to 2 new Exped Mega mats. But at $200 each ouch. That puts me back into the range of having new foam custom cut by a local shop. I think I'm going to go to the shop and lay on some samples. Solid foam blocks don't leak air.

 

[BillM]

Used the rock hard foam in our 2010 Eagle for one trip and replaced it. Used a 3" thick sheet of medium density upholstery foam that we purchased at a local fabric outlet shop here in Reno. We had used the same thing in our old camper for 12+ years so knew we would like it and that it would last for years. It's thick enough that we don't feel the transition to the slideout but also allows us to keep the bedding on when we close the camper.

 

[RKL]

I am thinking about an air mattress. That way I can let the air out when closing down the camper. Has anyone tried that? I do not know what brand to get. The have read a lot of negative reviews from amazon on different brands.

 

[Squatch]

Air mattresses are worthless when it's cold. Unless you like being cold. That and they tend to fail at very inconvenient times. That's why the self inflating pads are better. Warm in cold weather and they have foam inside so they inflate themselves.

 

[RKL]

Ok I will look into the self inflating pads.

thanks

 

[PaulT]

I bought a Klymit inflatable vest when they were in Costco. It is suprisingly warm as long as it is under some other insulation like a sweatshirt or fleece pullover. I just use the squeeze bulb that came with it to inflate with air. They offered various inert gasses with claims of increased insulation value but never tried them.

I have seen their sleeping pads in Costco and wondered how comfortable they as they seem thinner than other pads and had cut outs. Do they need a lot of air pressure to keep hips, elbows and shoulders comfortable?

Paul

 

[Vic Harder]

Air mattresses are worthless when it's cold. Unless you like being cold. That and they tend to fail at very inconvenient times. That's why the self inflating pads are better. Warm in cold weather and they have foam inside so they inflate themselves.

Squatch, may I suggest that CHEAP air mattresses are worthless? The Klymit, REI, MEC. MSR, Exped and other brands mentioned here are pricey and very warm, even in extreme cold.

 

[Squatch]

Squatch, may I suggest that CHEAP air mattresses are worthless? The Klymit, REI, MEC. MSR, Exped and other brands mentioned here are pricey and very warm, even in extreme cold.

Those aren't air mattresses. Those are self inflating pads. They have foam in them which provides insulation. If you read back a bit you'll see I'm currently using 2 REI 3.5" pads. Love pads. Gave up on air mattresses in the 70's!

Air mattresses are big, cheap bags of air. Way more air than your body can heat up. So you spend cold nights. Think those big things at wally world with a lighter powered inflator.