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Review Club Partner Tailor Made Cali Roof Bed Toppers

John

John

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Full Review Tailor-made Roof Bed Toppers For VW California.

I have recently reviewed Nick Wilmot's Tailor-made California Lower Bed Topper. I found this 2 inch memory foam topper to be well made, versatile and great value. The lower Bed Topper is ideal for a family who may use the roof bed for their children but need to improve the comfort of the downstairs California bed.(not the most comfortable of designs).

For the full review here is the link.

viewtopic.php?f=83&t=1149

After looking at Nicks Lower Bed Topper I discussed with Nick the possibility of him producing memory foam toppers for the Cali roof bed. The dimensions of the roof bed are 120 x 200 cm so the idea was to produce two covered 1inch memory foam toppers of 60 x200 cm to fit the space. These, like the lower bed topper, could be folded flat to store on your Cali rear shelf.

I think these toppers will appeal to a single adult or a couple who normally sleep in their Cali or roof bed but want some extra comfort to get a good nights rest.

First lets look at the current options available to you if you want to improve your sleep in the roof bed.

The first option is the Raskelf Duvalay which is a Memory Foam base with a Duvet top attached to it which is a great idea and very comfortable if not a bit expensive. Raskelf do make a tailor made Duvalay 60 cm wide, two will fit the Cali and Beach roof bed, which I do think is a good idea, but you will need to check the price with Raskelf.

The second option is a mattress topper or toppers that are the right size to fit the roof bed.

The German company “California Camping” (who makes the Mutze Cap) do make a full width topper 120 x200 cm. In the picture it looks comfortable and it seems to fit the roof space well. My only concern with it is storage as it needs to be rolled up. You would end up with a pretty large roll which at 120 cm's long would be hard to store. It would be a possibility in a Beach with the extra width downstairs. I don't know if it's really a option for a Cali where you only have 114cm across the rear shelf. California Camping market their full width roof topper at 329 Euros.

Here is a link if you want to take a look;

https://www.california-camping.de/index.php?o=9923

Here we have a topper that is smaller at 60 x200 cm, two will fit the roof space if you are a couple. It comes with a purpose made cover that can be washed, as the memory foam section can be easily remove from it's zipped pocket. The other feature about this topper is that for stowage it folds flat (it has its own stowage bag) and will fit on the Cali rear shelf so takes minimum space when not in use.

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Nick Wilmot, who produces the topper, owns a company called Comforts Pet Supplies. It is a small run family manufacturing business based in Chesterfield whose core business is wholesaling luxury pet products to pet shops and market traders around the country. Nick has now started manufacturing and supplying toppers for camper vans. I found him to be very approachable and he seemed very open to any new ideas which would improve his products. So if you have any special requirement, for example you suffer from a bad back and would like a harder mattress topper give him a call.

The first impression after unwrapping the toppers are that they are very well made, quality items.

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The grey fire retardant cover is made from a hard wearing automotive fabric and is fully washable. The grey colour matched my Cali well although Nick cannot always get the same material and colour, it may be blue or black, and it will always be automotive quality.

The 1 inch memory foam inner was easily removed, then replaced, My initial thought was that the inner memory foam was very thin at only 1 inch. But you have to remember that it has been designed to work in conjunction with the VW 2 inch hard foam mattress already in place in the roof bed in your Cali.

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The big advantage of a 1 inch memory foam inner is stowage in that you end up with very little space being taken when the toppers are stored on the back shelf. When packed the toppers measured 60 x 66 x 10 cm thick or 20 cm thick if you are stacking two.

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Here Stored with the Cali Lower bed Topper.

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I liked the storage covers that hold the mattress in its flat stowage position and found that the toppers sat nicely flat on top of the rear shelf and used minimum space when stored.

Unfolded the size of these toppers make them much easier to manoeuvre into position in the roof bed than a full width topper. I found the best technique was to put one in position, kneeling on the roof bed, then kneel on the first to put the second in position.

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I found they fitted the roof bed well and they also flatten the area where the VW mattress joins the bottom section of the roof bed. Another good thing about theses toppers is that you can camp with your standard bedding. I found a normal single size fitted sheet fitted the topper and if you are using two the sheets can still be fitted without too much difficulty by again kneeling on each side in turn. Fitting a normal double size duvet this makes up a cosy roof bed and I found the toppers very comfortable to lie on.

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So in conclusion I feel that these topper's are excellent value at £110 for the pair ( £99 if you are a Club VIP member). Nick has produced some versatile very useful toppers for the Cali roof bed which I highly recommend.

Finally one of the common problems that some Cali and Beach owners have with sleeping in the roof bed is that they can wake up without a pillow. A standard pillow can fall off of the end of the roof bed and end up in the lower cabin.

One idea would be a extra foam filled compartment at the end of the topper which when folded under the topper would provide a fixed pillow. Nick sent me a sample topper with this extra compartment to try.

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The second idea would be to have a pillow case that would accommodate your own favourite pillow. This could be attached to the end of the topper by say a 2inch web or straps with a zip or Velcro fasteners. The pillow case would then sit on top of the topper for sleeping and could be removed for stowage and washing.

Please feel free to post any ideas you may have that would stop pillows going AWOL in the night.

John

You can contact Nick at Comforts Pet Supplies;

Telephone 01246 825873

email comfortzpets@aol

Web address comfortspetsupplies.co.uk
 
Re: Review Club Partner Tailor Made Cali Beach Roof Bed Topp

We have just received our roof bed toppers (thanks to Nick for the excellent service!) and tried them out earlier this week for a few nights. They are really great, easy to lay out and remove, and a wonderfully comfortable sleep is guaranteed! They stow away easily in the back as shown above.

Our only (slight) criticism is that the storage bag zip could have been a bit longer, you have to scrunch them up a bit to fit them in, and running the zip slightly round one corner would have prevented this.

We also bought a dog-bed from Nick's firm and our dog enjoyed kipping in it. Like the roof toppers, well-made kit at a reasonable price.
 
Re: Review Club Partner Tailor Made Cali Beach Roof Bed Topp

Thanks John, will get those. they would have been useful on our wanderings.

After just returning home after 65 consecutive nights using the Tailor made roof toppers, we can wholeheartedly recommend them. A perfect night's sleep every night - apart from the one where we stopped in a rural German lay-by and about twenty cars hooted as they passed us - Germanic sense of humour perhaps? :crazy
 

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