Comfort bed extension - should I?

[CampervanTime]

Hi Everyone

I'm really torn as to wheather I should order the comfort bed extension when we order our new Ocean.

With this being our first Cali and the fact that there is just me, the wife and our dog, we're anticipating sleeping 'upstairs' normally and leaving the dog downstairs - ie not really using the bed downstairs.

I do want to have the flexibility of using the downstairs if needs-must, but just wonder if lugging the bed extension around all the time will be a pain when we could have either pulled a zonesleep or otherwise down from upstairs (assuming we buy something like that),

They'll only ever be two of us camping in it that we can envisage, so does this sound sensible? We were thinking we'd just put a protective cover over the standard bed extension and then use it as a big dog bed probably (or put her travel crate on it).

It's not a money issue, just wondering what is right to do... would those of you in our position (1 or 2+dog) buy the comfort extension again?

Thoughts?!

 

[T6 CFO]

It's not an easy shout. We do the same as you and sleep up top. This is fine until the weather or a bit of covert camping out requires us to be downstairs. On that basis and as we have room we lug it around for when it will be required. Our zonesleep stays up top and it would be a pain to have to raise the roof to get it out so based on that and the aftermarket cost we got one.

Sleeping and what you sleep on and where is probably the number one issue.

I would go with the standard kit, see how you get on.



Mike


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[Teejay]

We've kind of moved the other way. We had two inflatable mats that we used upstairs but we found a better nights sleep by removing them and sticking with the standard mattress.

Now the mattresses are folded and are used when downstairs and stored in the rear inflated when not in use.

If you have no general back problems I would wait to see how you feel after a few outings both up and down then decide. At least you will have more of an idea where you need the comfort.

//message ends//

 

[briwy]

We have the Comfort mattress as it came with van (ex demo) so had lots of goodies on it.
Like others we normally sleep upstairs where we have the Comforts mattress but downstairs when very noisy, windy or well below freezing.
The VW mattress is fine but in our previous van we used to pull the Comforts mattress down which is easy as it's in two halves and use downstairs. It's not a perfect fit but worked fine.

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

I bought the Cali internal bellows liner from Comfortz which makes a big difference to the temperature ‘up-top’, (and the overall internal temp) so even when its cold outside I pop the roof up and leave it up. The most brilliant thing about it is that once its fitted you can leave it in place. My son always prefers to sleep up top (he’s nearly 14), and I sleep downstairs. If its just me in the van I always sleep upstairs and leave the downstairs bed in seating mode, much easier when you get up and fancy a cuppa.

The bed up top is definitely more comfy (and wider), most likely because of the wooden sprung slats. The downstairs bed is very firm, much more so than the upstairs bed. The first few nights I slept downstairs in a double sleeping bag I must admit I didn’t sleep very well as the bed was too hard for me.

I'm reluctant to spend out loads more cash on a mattress topper to be honest. I recently bought a new double sleeping bag from Olpro in their end of season sale, which is super thick and comfy. My plan is to use my old double sleeping bag as a kind of mattress topper, and then sleep in the new Olpro one on top of that. I’m hoping that will stop my hips feeling that they’ve slept on a concrete slab!! Certainly when I tried it out for an morning nap after a night shift it was very comfy and I slept soundly.

The Olpro sleeping bag is pretty bulky, probably takes up the same amount of space as a mattress topper when kept in the back. My plan is to keep it in a vacuum storage bag so as to minimise the storage space used up!

Like others have suggested, try both beds first and see how you get on before splashing the cash!

 

[Broch Hunter]

Our Comfort mattress is sat in the house unused in its wrapper. We sleep upstairs (plus 2 dogs downstairs) whenever possible and decided the comfort mattress took up too much space for the few occasions it might be used. We have a zonesleep upstairs which we would also use downstairs if necessary. If you order the comfort mattress you don't get the standard mattress piece over the rear rack, but the gap is easily made up under the zonesleep with fleeces etc.

 

[SimonB]

The Comfortz mattress topper from the Forum shop is £119 minus discount, the VW version is a lot more than that. As others have said above we also sleep upstairs for preference, going downstairs only when it is too windy to have the roof up safely.