TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:34 pm

Dear Friends,

I had tried, with pretty limited success, to get a good night's sleep in Winston's upper berth. I had removed the foam pad covers, and soaked them in Oxy Clean, then run them through the rinse cycle. I took the pads, sprayed them with diluted Simple Green, then the hose, then squeezed them dry... But the fact was, when I got up there, my side fell asleep and I had a hard time dozing off.

I WANTED to sleep up there-- I thought it might be cooler, and I also thought it would be pleasant watching the dawn through the tent window, which I had successfully repaired with great difficulty. I should still replace the tent, although I have successfully mended it, but a 3-window version does sound pretty good. But I have, in the meantime, solved the problem of those old foam pads up there being too hard.

While visiting Sportsman's Warehouse, I saw the largest green 'self-inflating' mattress pad I'd ever seen. I wrote down the measurements. They EXACTLY (no huge surprise, VW/Westfalia prided themselves on both berths being 'full size' mattresses matched the dimensions of the upper berth. The item number on this pad from Sportsman's Warehouse is:

40184

I bought one. Their price was $89.99.

The idea behind those 'self inflating' pads is that you squeeze the air out of them rolling them up--this one came with three nylon straps to aid in the compression--and then they'll inflate themselves when you open the valves again.

HAH!

The label did say to inflate and de-inflate it several times to get the self-inflating feature to work well, I'm up to four or so and it's still not working. Fortunately, when I tried a full size conventional air mattress up there--it didn't work, no room for my feet against the top! I had bought a small 12v. pump that I can plug into Winston's power outlets. That has has had no trouble at all inflating and deflating this pad. Here is it unrolled in the upper berth:

It inflates to about 2" thick all the way. I got that up there, unrolled my sleeping bag and a pillow, and flopped/slid in.

:shock:

Good heavens. It was... COMFORTABLE. I slept up there one night at the jobs site as an experiment. It was too much trouble to rig the lower bed the 2nd night... 3rd night... The lower berth has never been better ventilated or cooler before, thanks to the new jalousies, but this was pretty good! Here it is with the sleeping bag and pillow:

I got pretty good at bending the pad up, then raising the fold-down section of the upper bed to get my headroom back. The thing's stiff, but you get the hang of it. I wish I'd rigged my Coleman tent light to the bar up there, I converted that with an LED bulb and the magnet holds it on very tightly. But I managed without the light.

Most of those electric inflaters have a 'suction' feature, you just attach the nozzle to the air intake, that drained the thing pretty well and the straps worked to compress the final bit of air out of it. It stores pretty well in the passenger compartment, and if you don't want to use it while camping, you can slide it forward in between the two front seats.

Cheap (relatively), functional, rugged... I thought it was too good and useful not to share.

Best!

Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:00 am

We picked up a 2" thick memory foam mattress pad at a local department store for the rediculously low price of $20. It's for a full size mattress (48" wide) and fits nicely in the upper berth. It is about 2" too wide for the lower, but does cram in to fit pretty well. One nice feature about the memory foam is that it is very non-slip. Reduces pillow migration, which is key in that we sleep with our heads forward in the upper berth. Just a little claustrophobic with my head towards the rear!

I've found that the pad can be folded over twice and stored at the rear of the upper bed. You may want to try that with your self inflating mattress, Rob. There is a generous amount of space for it there.

Sweet dreams!

Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:12 am

Nice find! How is the length? I would like a little longer for my, not yet built, bed extension?

Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:17 am

you sleep with your head towards the back?

Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:36 am

msinabottle.

Great score.

Thanks for posting model number etc. I searched their store, and elsewhere but....

Any other markings that might direct one to finding this mattress elsewhere?

I've been packing an extra Westy foam piece due to my engine conversion. Major PITA.

I just bought 2 Thermarest "Base Camps" for the lower bunk, but a one piece solution makes way more sense.

Thanks!

Neil.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:54 am

For my rear bed i just purchased a queen sized futon matress and then roll it up and put it away when not in use.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:40 pm

Some answers...

1)No, I don't sleep with my head toward the back, not enough room or air. But I did shove things back there when I pulled myself up to take that picture.

2)The length is PERFECT, for the matteress as it is. Comes just a bit over the edge, no further.

3)Perhaps a Sportsman's Warehouse could order one, since it's their product? I couldn't find anything quite like it on line, and I searched for quite some time for the sake of making a comparison. It's a 'Made in China' product, so there is a chance that some other retailer is selling it. The stock number would probably be similar.

4)No need for foam or anything else. I'm a very light and fussy sleeper, this pad worked perfectly for me on top of the old upper berth foam. The advantage of this pad is that is DOES shrink and stay shrunk once you remove and force all the air from it.

Best!

Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:03 pm

msinabottle wrote: Some answers...

3)Perhaps a Sportsman's Warehouse could order one, since it's their product? I couldn't find anything quite like it on line, and I searched for quite some time for the sake of making a comparison. It's a 'Made in China' product, so there is a chance that some other retailer is selling it. The stock number would probably be similar.

Best!

Thanks for the extra info. I couldn't find anything searching the 'net either.

I finally figured a way to use two Thermarests. (though not as nice a fit as yours') I didn't realize the Thermarest "Base Camp" came in 3 sizes.

A "Large" and "Regular" Thermarest "Base Camp" = 45" W.

The distance between cabinet and other side is ~ 47" so it should work fine.

I'm being a total Pu**y and using a memory foam mattress I already had along with the Thermarests..... though I have no Westy foam over the engine area with this setup.

I look forward to hitting the road to try this out!

Neil.