A really stupid question but, how can you tell if a self-inflating mattress has inflated or not?

[katkitya]

Ive decided Im not buying a thing for Glasto this year as I have it all somewhere. Well, Ive just dug out a self inflating mattress from afew years ago. It looks quite big rolled up?The valve was sealed Ive just opened it fully and now I cant work out if its inflated itself or let its self go down!! . Clearly Im not going to take it if its not working so I need to work out how to use it. There is only one valve that I can see. I have no case for it so no instructions.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Is it full of air?
If so, it is inflated.
If not, it has not inflated.

I cant tell its only an inch thick and I dont think it would expand much more so, the answer is I dont know.

I only bought our first one last week, so no expert but...

when it inflates the wrinkles in the cover material sort of fill out and it makes a whooshy noise, if you then lean on it or start to roll it out air comes out and it makes a different whooshy noise. When you stop the pressure it goes back to the in whoosh noise and starts to inflate again

not sure how helpful that is....

So, if I open it fully it will inflate itself? when it gets to the max (which doesnt look like much to me!!) do I screw the top down? When I want to pack it up do a open it fully again but, sit on it?

Why are they so blinking heavy?

you might need to give it a couple of puffs to bring it back to life. Then hopefully it will self-inflate the next time.

I second what Chippy says. When I got mine new it took a few puffs.... several actually as it is a 7.5cm one to get it going.
Can you remember how deep it was meant to be when it was inflated? Does it say anything on the bag?

They're heavy because they're full of compressed foam.

god knows where the bag went, I was probably so frustrated with it I just rolled it up!!

I think it should be ok. Im not too impressed by the blow up pillow!! I dont think that will be worth bothering with.