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Beach 3 seater bed - killing my back! Any solutions?

D

da_murphster

VIP Member
Messages
112
Location
Bristol
Vehicle
T5 SE 180
2016 3 seater beach.

Usually us adults have slept up top with the kids below but recent ‘van only’ camping meant the kids went to bed early and we eventually slept downstairs.

I never have a bad back and am a solid sleeper but there is something about the beach bed I find excruciating.

We are using the multiflex with a 10cm vango
Shangri-La II 10 Grande inflatable mattress (ie a good one)

Are we missing some trick? Is the multiplex/seats slightly convex/concave and bending my back?

We haven’t bought the VW downstairs mattress as it takes up so much room
 
Not a beach but Ocean we use a mattress topper, I know many use an inflatable one which would safe space.
 
da_murphster said:
2016 3 seater beach.

Usually us adults have slept up top with the kids below but recent ‘van only’ camping meant the kids went to bed early and we eventually slept downstairs.

I never have a bad back and am a solid sleeper but there is something about the beach bed I find excruciating.

We are using the multiflex with a 10cm vango
Shangri-La II 10 Grande inflatable mattress (ie a good one)

Are we missing some trick? Is the multiplex/seats slightly convex/concave and bending my back?

We haven’t bought the VW downstairs mattress as it takes up so much room
Click to expand...
Are you using the comfort mattress underneath you inflatable one?
The comfort mattress smooths the contours of the 3 seat bench and you probably want to use one underneath if that’s not the case.
 
da_murphster said:
2016 3 seater beach.

Usually us adults have slept up top with the kids below but recent ‘van only’ camping meant the kids went to bed early and we eventually slept downstairs.

I never have a bad back and am a solid sleeper but there is something about the beach bed I find excruciating.

We are using the multiflex with a 10cm vango
Shangri-La II 10 Grande inflatable mattress (ie a good one)

Are we missing some trick? Is the multiplex/seats slightly convex/concave and bending my back?

We haven’t bought the VW downstairs mattress as it takes up so much room
Click to expand...
Your last sentence answers your question.
The Beach 3 seater bench is upholstered for 3 passengers with firmer upholstery between each seating position. The relevant VW Comfort mattress is designed to compensate for this.
The 2 seater bench is a different upholstery design.
 
Last edited:
So people are always lugging around the mattress? It takes up so much of the boot we would struggle with it and camping stuff for four.

We’ll bung the kids down there when we are using a tent but with the bad weather recently and not being able to sit outside that’s a right pain.
 
da_murphster said:
So people are always lugging around the mattress? It takes up so much of the boot we would struggle with it and camping stuff for four.

We’ll bung the kids down there when we are using a tent but with the bad weather recently and not being able to sit outside that’s a right pain.
Click to expand...
We have the Ocean but yes, always take the uncomfort mattress.Never sleep on it on it's own, but it's a good base for whatever we put on top.
 
With the mattress stowed properly on the multi flex board and the 3 seater bench pulled forward for car like use, how can the boot not be big enough, especially when you have two wardrobes.
 
secret lemonade drinker said:
With the mattress stowed properly on the multi flex board and the 3 seater bench pulled forward for car like use, how can the boot not be big enough, especially when you have two wardrobes.
Click to expand...
Wardrobes on a beach ?
 
Hmm interesting, sorry to go off topic but are these storage boxes for under the multiflex board ?

Back on topic . I had a euro multivan before same 3 bench set up as a beach. I found a thick normal cheap air mattress worked perfectly but dont inflate it too much.

On the beach I have the vw lower mattress and find its awful, rock hard. But haven't found it pushes up.or down, looks flat to me. I remove the headrests but you can also flip them around.. maybe that's making the problems ?
 
da_murphster said:
So people are always lugging around the mattress? It takes up so much of the boot we would struggle with it and camping stuff for four.

We’ll bung the kids down there when we are using a tent but with the bad weather recently and not being able to sit outside that’s a right pain.
Click to expand...
Yes. This is our packing for a family of 5 on an 18-night camping trip. The VW comfort mattress is underneath the packing cubes and pillow shown here.

EAF129EA-DBA4-46A1-928A-926756AE58E9.jpeg
 
Camperfamily said:
Yes. This is our packing for a family of 5 on an 18-night camping trip. The VW comfort mattress is underneath the packing cubes and pillow shown here.

View attachment 127600
Click to expand...
We have a very similar setup with the sliding drawer.

Our 2x stand up paddle board’s, wetsuits and airbeam tent take up a lot of room. Also 4x bike helmets are difficult to store!

Sounds like I need to find a way to store the mattress as well!

Is that really you packed for camping for 5??

Have you got a tent and sleeping bags etc in there?
 
Couldn't take the discomfort with the Comfor mattress. Sold it and replaced with a MUCH better Calibed Prestige. Folds the same way with only a small stowage height penalty. Totally transformed the sleep experience downstairs.
 
da_murphster said:
We have a very similar setup with the sliding drawer.

Our 2x stand up paddle board’s, wetsuits and airbeam tent take up a lot of room. Also 4x bike helmets are difficult to store!

Sounds like I need to find a way to store the mattress as well!

Is that really you packed for camping for 5??

Have you got a tent and sleeping bags etc in there?
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s us for 5 for 18 nights camping. The 2x sleeping bags, 1x king size duvet, 3 inflatable pillows and two standard pillows are all there. However we don’t bring tent, helmets, or paddleboard. Travel as light as possible.

When we do want to bring more we put it in a Thule Easybag on the bike rack.

Hope that helps
 
Corradobrit said:
Couldn't take the discomfort with the Comfor mattress. Sold it and replaced with a MUCH better Calibed Prestige. Folds the same way with only a small stowage height penalty. Totally transformed the sleep experience downstairs.
Click to expand...
But you don’t have a Beach. The official Vw Beach mattress is - I believe - unrivalled as it has (and absolutely requires) contours to counteract the contours of the 3-seat bench. It’s possible that the 3seat Calibed has too, and could even be better, but I’ve not read about it.

I have however read a lot of owners reporting discomfort of the T6.1 2-seat Comfort Mattress.
The 2 seat bench in Ocean/ Coast/2-seat Beach is flat and the 6.1 mattress is reportedly uncomfortable versus its predecessor for T5/T6.
 
@Corradobrit just had a look at the Calibed prestige for Beach 3seat bench and it’s not contoured so I think it wouldn’t be as comfortable as the VW Beach mattress.

However, I have no doubt that your 2seat version is more comfortable than vw’s t6.1 2seat comfort mattress based on the reports I’ve read.
 
Camperfamily said:
But you don’t have a Beach. The official Vw Beach mattress is - I believe - unrivalled as it has (and absolutely requires) contours to counteract the contours of the 3-seat bench. It’s possible that the 3seat Calibed has too, and could even be better, but I’ve not read about it.

I have however read a lot of owners reporting discomfort of the T6.1 2-seat Comfort Mattress.
The 2 seat bench in Ocean/ Coast/2-seat Beach is flat and the 6.1 mattress is reportedly uncomfortable versus its predecessor for T5/T6.
Click to expand...
I don't think there is a difference. The Coast/Ocean comfort mattress from VW is also contoured on the underside. Contouring is not essential if the mattress is properly designed. The Calibed alternative is thicker but not contoured and I have never felt any unevenness.
 
@Corradobrit Have you checked out the scale of the contours on the back (upright part) of the 3-seat versus 2-seat bench? They are significantly different.

The 2seat bench is practically flat; not so the 3-seat - it’s heavily contoured at the edges of the upright part of the bench.
 
Camperfamily said:
@Corradobrit Have you checked out the scale of the contours on the back (upright part) of the 3-seat versus 2-seat bench? They are significantly different.

The 2seat bench is practically flat; not so the 3-seat - it’s heavily contoured at the edges of the upright part of the bench.
Click to expand...
Its not too bad if the head is towards the tailgate.
 
No contours , well no contours I have noticed on my mattress, will check next days.
 
This is what we use on 3 seater beach -


We have it rolled up on top of multiflex, bed all made up inside with sheet, sleeping bags etc.. then just roll it out at night.
 
After reading this thread, I just put Ikea blanket on the bed, seat belts left on seats too, put sleeping bag on top and slept very well without any mattress. However, I tend to be really tired, so would sleep even on 3 seater bench in non-bed position.
I removed VW comfort mattress, because it was taking too much space.
 
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