Question about SIMs re. packing and storage

[Lovecat]

Thanks to Furball's thread about the Aldi specials next week, I am toying with the idea of getting SIMs to use when we go to festivals so as to avoid having to take a pump and the airbeds which, even when fully deflated are fairly bulky.

However, I have gathered from previous threads on the subject that SIMs need to be stored flat, not rolled. That in itself is not a problem, they can go under our bed, but how do you transport them to the campsite? Do they need to be taken flat or do you roll them?

Apologies if this sounds like a stupid question (it undoubtedly is) but never having come across a SIM outside of the MN camping topic, I don't know what you do with them!

Also, are they less bulky than airbeds in terms of packing them in the car?

Having filled the boot and the back seat next to DD to the ceiling on our last trip, DH is muttering that he wants to be really 'stripped back' when we go on our next jaunt, which will be to Latitude (unless I can sneak in a weekend before that!), especially as we have to carry everything from the carpark to the campsite.

We store our sims (Fat Airics) "flat", as in unrolled with open valves, but standing up behind the sitting room door. Because we have bed boxes under our bed, there isn't really anywhere else suitable.

I think ours actually takes up slightly more space in the car, and yes, we roll them when transporting.

Hmm, so no, probably not going to sell it on the space issue, but as far as comfort, they are a lot better!

Thanks Sal - I'm going to have to go to Aldi and look at them to suss out the space-when-rolled issue, I guess. I shall just have to restrain myself from buying anything else (hah!!!) :)

Ooh, have fun camp shopping! I spent my camping budget on a wood burner stove this week, so will just have to avoid camping shops for the rest of the year!

Hmm, didn't know they were meant to be stored flat. Why? Ours have been rolled up all year, will the be okay?

I'm sure it'll be fine, but tbh, as so expensive, I'm going with what the makers all recommend. I've tried searching for you now to get the "official" reason why rolling would be bad, but I can't really find a proper explanation. I think it's something to do with the "memory" - e.g. if you compress foam for too long, it becomes a bit flat and won't inflate so well again in future.

I saw some people saying it will also take longer to inflate again if rolled for long, so might be an idea to open it up a couple of days before your camp, biblio? Just speculating here, of course.

Therm-A-Rest link, but not saying much new, I guess. In our case, it was either standing up behind the door or on its side behind the sofa.

Thanks MisSal, I'll have to have a think about where we could store them. Under the bed isn't really an option. They'd fit, but the cats could still fit on them too so I'm guessing it wouldn't be long before they were punctured!

Thanks for the link, that's useful. I think I might have to make a very large bag and store them in the loft in future.... erk! another reason I have to clear out the loft.

Pleasure. Ah yes, we had that worry too - our cats, lovable as they can be, have this habit of ignoring scratching posts in favour of my handbags, etc etc ( ), so I had to think really hard re storage. Behind door works well, as magazine rack pushes door close-ish too wall, and we moved sofa close to wall to block access from the side. Grr! Other thing we considered was on its side against the wall behind our bed, behind the headboard. Possible?