Would Futon mattress make a good camp bed?

[Sobek]

We slept on a 5cm Sim last year with a double duvet on top. It was warm but not particularly comfortable. I was wondering whether a futon mattress would be more comfortable? Are they very large when they're folded up? We haven't got much space in the car.

Yes, it would be comfy, but they are pretty enormous when rolled up

They're very heavy.

They are massive and heavy. Comfy tho :)

Take another duvet and get in a duvet sandwich?

I am waiting for the council to come and pick up my old one, it is mahoosive and barely lift-able. Would also worry about it getting damp.

They are huge, very heavy and would absorb any moisture in the air/ground.

Thanks everyone. I'm really pleased that I didn't order one now! The weight wouldn't be a problem but the size would be and I hadn't thought about it getting damp!

Is there a huge difference between comfort on sims that are deeper. The dc have got 5cm ones that are comfyish but I don't know if I would sleep particularly well on them on a longer holiday. We have always used a dbl airbed which has died and I never slept well on anyway. dh and I can't decide whether to go for a double 10cm sims or I was also thinking of a futon/ or lighter foam matresd. We are heading to France for 2weeks in the summer and I just want to sleep reasonably well!

With air beds I find that I roll off if there is enough pressure in them to be comfortable.

I was wondering whether 2 cheap aldi/lidl SIMs stuck one on top of other with velcro would do.

Altho having said that I slept pretty well on 5cm SIMs at the weekend and I am nit a slight person ;)

I slept well on 5cm ones, but now have some 10cm that were recommended on her for a great price from Amazon, and they really are fantastically comfortable.

I think that there is something wrong with me (in many ways). I bought one of the Grand Canyon 10cm SIMS for DD thanks to that thread.

At the weekend I gave her my SIM which was an expensive one and tried the GC one.

I was awake until 1am with aching hips, whichever side I was on my hips were really hurting. I am not particularly heavy, had read that you can make a SIM too hard so just gave it a few puffs of air.

I just cannot get on with them, I first bought one in 2004 because DH had them from his backpacker days and raved about them, have never tried one that is less than 10cms.

I really would like to be able to sleep on one, I was a zombie yesterday after a night on a SIM. We are going for 15cm when we next camp - a 5cm double on top of two 10cms. DH has an absolutely ancient thermarest from the days when only thermarest made them. I might try that on top of my SIM.

We slept at the Natural History Museum a couple of weeks ago on their foam camping mats .... I slept like a log, no aching hips - thinnish foam mat on marble/ceramic tiles .

I discovered one of these in the barn last week, must be ancient - DH's before we got married. Does anyone use these??

www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/z-lite/product

OP, what about one of these? Pricey, but looks lovely and more comfortable maybe than a futon: www.presentsformen.co.uk/bill-brown-roll-up-mattress-prod4293/?src=base&utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products&gclid=cjq77ydfpcycfuvitaodfngpkg

lavender, I am on a facebook camping group and the split is really interesting, lots of people (myself included) terrible aches and pains, mostly back and hips but also shoulders and neck, if sleeping on an air bed. Then the other 50% who get the same on a sim. You just have to work out what is comfy for you I guess.

Until I was in my late twenties, (when we had ds) I had only ever slept on the thinnest of foam mats when camping and slept like a log, we got our first air bed when we went when I was heavily pregnant as I didn't think I would be able to get up off the floor otherwise, and needed the extra support and cushioning but never slept well camping again until we changed to sims,

I found since I got our 10cm SIMs that it really makes a difference if I let a little air out when I lie on it. It's just too hard fully inflated but really comfortable when I soften it a bit. Opening the valve and counting 5 seconds is perfect

Gobblers - we have aerobed actives which we love, four years old and 6/7 months plus of camping and no issues at all. But in our new tent with the stove inside it we will be better off on SIMS.

I have tried everything SIM wise I think as in not adding extra air, adding a bit or a lot - my SIM is a 10cm decent branded one. Ten years on (albeit with little use) with it I am still trying to get it right. SIMS are so much bigger than the aerobed in the car (and this tent is car camping) that we can't really afford the room of a second one tbh even with the roof box.

I might try the other thing I found last week seeing as it is here already, maybe even under my SIM as it is smaller than another SIM. After the NHM I actually think a foam mat or two might be the way to go for me, I couldn't believe I slept so well on a Black's foam mat on the hard floor.

Gobblers, I actually broke my neck falling off my horse 20 years ago and oddly that doesn't hurt at all on a SIM - just my hips, they hurt a lot. I just can't work it out at all.

lavendersun what was the thickness of the foam mats you used at the NHM?

Would a piece of foam cut to the size of a single mattress be any good? Would it fold up small? Do you think it would have the same issues with damp that a futon mattress would have?

Frozen those mattresses you linked to look lovely, but some of the reviews said that they are quite thin and uncomfortable to sleep on, although there is a money back guarantee, so worth considering. But again, would damp be a problem?

Sobek I would say it was 2 cm at the very most - I was very surprised I didn't wake up in hip agony. They were labelled Blacks but I can't see anything on their web page.

Not sure which type of foam would be more durable tbh so I wouldn't try DIY as I know I will just end up wasting money - might as well just buy what I want to many lessons learned on that front.

This is my SIM, bought when I was living in the US

www.rei.com/product/870757/rei-camp-bed-35-self-inflating-sleeping-pad

Great reviews, but I wake up hurting and then can't sleep for more than an hour because my hips ache - very odd.

I am going to try the thermarest ridge rest I linked to above next as it is already here - must be 20 years old at least so I know it is durable.

I would be very wary of anything that could get damp personally but it must work for some. Our weekend tent (that we need to use SIMS in) has a separate groundsheet so I wouldn't risk it but if you have a SIG maybe it would be OK. Maybe you could air it out when you get home? No idea.

Shame we can't 'rent' the things we would like to try!

We are obviously all so different.

I've got a 10cm SIM but didn't find it very comfortable (bit hard)...maybe I'll try letting some air out of it. I could try two 10cm SIMs on top of the double 5cm SIM, although I'd need to find a way of securing them and they would be very bulky. Last year, I put a double duvet and a sheepskin type blanket on top of the SIM and slept on top of those with another duvet to sleep under. It wasn't too uncomfortable, and I was never cold, but I did wake up with a bad back every morning!

Lavendersun I agree, it would be great if we could try before we buy! I'd love to try an Exped Megamat, but I don't want to spend all that money only to find out that it isn't for me.

lavendersun do you top up your SIM with more air? I love ours but I think they are only notionally self inflating tbh.

LikeaSoul - yes we do - have tried adding a lot, a little, etc., nothing makes me comfy.

I am going to try DH's old foam thing. I have always coveted Thermarest Neo Air or whatever they are called. I am not buying anything else unless I see it in the flesh though.

Sobek - my idea is to put the 5cm double on top of the two 10cm singles and then use a fitted sheet to hold them together.

You can buy 'coupling straps' and thermarest make this

www.facewest.co.uk/Thermarest-Down-Coupler.html?gclid=CLKJ8evep8YCFYoBwwodsCQABg

but it gets a few rubbish reviews.

Not sure what the answer is. I don't want to buy another, more expensive, swisher SIM tbh as I think mine should be decent enough.

Have no problem with spending money, just hate wasting it.

I know that air beds are not the in thing these days but I have been camping since I was 20 under my own steam (nearly 50), and have always been absolutely fine on a decent air bed. This tipi tent we have bought for weekends really needs SIMS, we can stack them during the day and will probably sleep separately when we have a fire inside.

This is a good place for reviews generally although US based

www.outdoorgearlab.com/Camping-Mattress-Reviews

Sorry lavender I realised after I posted that you had already said that upthread. (I'm not well and my brain is a little fuzzy)

Only mentioned it as I'd be pretty disappointed with my SIM if I took it at it's word re being self-inflating It seems to me that SIMs are the Marmite of the camping world!

Could you stack single airbeds in your tipi? Or I have seen an inflatable sofa bed (made by Intex) - would that work?

Poor you LikeaSoul I hope you are feeling better soon. I would probably have done that (as in not added any extra air), but DH had been using them for years so I let him get on with blowing them up!

I don't think we fancy single airbeds, the slope of the tent is fairly steep, 4.5m diameter but not a big space because of the angle of the sides. Idea is that we will stack the sims/mats with bags during the day and then have plenty of room to sit around inside with the stove going in colder weather. Not sure I fancy air beds near a stove either tbh.

We are fairly minimalistic campers generally, e.g. no EHU or trimmings . I don't think a sofa bed would be our style - DH would murder me if I hadn't killed myself already by sinking the canoe (not sure I said that this tent and gear goes in our canoe at times).