Sea to summit self inflating mattress - how is it in use over time?

[IanE]

With some trepidation we’re off for three weeks in France on 1 September using our new mattress. We’ve had a few goes in the house at inflating/deflating and getting used to the operation of the valves - and we’re taking two backpacking sims in case of disaster. We’ve got one of the dinky little rechargeable pumps which seems to work fine.

We do have a few queries, (that we really should have asked about before buying!) if existing users could help?

1. How has the mattress been having used it for a while? Any issues/tips?
2. We most certainly intend to leave the mattress, suitably deflated, in place upstairs. If this wasn’t possible, we wouldn’t have one. Has this been possible in practice? The manufacturers say the mattress should be stored inflated when not in use. We would hope just to leave it upstairs in the van in a not completely deflated state, as we don’t have much storage space in our house.
3. There is a warning on the packaging not to leave the mattress inflated and sealed in a hot vehicle during the day. Have you paid heed to this? When camped for days at a time, I can imagine this might be forgotten - resulting in an exploding mattress!?

Any thoughts gratefully received and thank you in advance.

 

[California Dreamer]

Hi I’ve done a few overnights with it - not extended trips so can’t answer all your questions- but I’ve decided to ignore the advice about leaving valves open when stored because it does continue to inflate a bit (over time) when left with valves open in ‘deflate’ position. Other than that it’s great!


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[IainB]

We've had our S2S for a couple of months now, we use it downstairs all the time. Tend to deflate it, close the valves and fold it in thirds to sit on the rear shelf. We put the VW comfort mattress on top of it. We never store it inflated as it lives in our van, and it has never inflated of its own accord that we have noticed. Not tried using it upstairs though as we are happy with the mattress that is there. Only a couple of issues for us: 1/ air temperature impacts how quickly it self inflates, in colder nights we use a usb rechargeable pump to boost it. 2/ it can be difficult to get consistency in comfort (particularly if using the pump), sometimes it can be too soft / hard, takes a bit of playing around with the valves to get the right balance.

 

[Sad]

With some trepidation we’re off for three weeks in France on 1 September using our new mattress. We’ve had a few goes in the house at inflating/deflating and getting used to the operation of the valves - and we’re taking two backpacking sims in case of disaster. We’ve got one of the dinky little rechargeable pumps which seems to work fine.

1 - How has the mattress been having used it for a while?
Great, very comfortable
Any issues/tips?
Yes, we use a little battery pump too for both inflate and deflate.
We most certainly intend to leave the mattress, suitably deflated, in place upstairs. If this wasn’t possible, we wouldn’t have one. Has this been possible in practice?
I wouldn't do this unless you're taking the top mattress out. Anything left in the top with the original mattress may damage the roof.
The manufacturers say the mattress should be stored inflated when not in use. We would hope just to leave it upstairs in the van in a not completely deflated state, as we don’t have much storage space in our house.
Ours lives on the parcel shelf deflated. Didn't realise it was supposed to be stored inflated.
There is a warning on the packaging not to leave the mattress inflated and sealed in a hot vehicle during the day. Have you paid heed to this? When camped for days at a time, I can imagine this might be forgotten - resulting in an exploding mattress!?
Been left in our van at late 30 Celsius over this summer. No explosion!

 

[dspuk]

With some trepidation we’re off for three weeks in France on 1 September using our new mattress. We’ve had a few goes in the house at inflating/deflating and getting used to the operation of the valves - and we’re taking two backpacking sims in case of disaster. We’ve got one of the dinky little rechargeable pumps which seems to work fine.

We do have a few queries, (that we really should have asked about before buying!) if existing users could help?

1. How has the mattress been having used it for a while? Any issues/tips?
2. We most certainly intend to leave the mattress, suitably deflated, in place upstairs. If this wasn’t possible, we wouldn’t have one. Has this been possible in practice? The manufacturers say the mattress should be stored inflated when not in use. We would hope just to leave it upstairs in the van in a not completely deflated state, as we don’t have much storage space in our house.
3. There is a warning on the packaging not to leave the mattress inflated and sealed in a hot vehicle during the day. Have you paid heed to this? When camped for days at a time, I can imagine this might be forgotten - resulting in an exploding mattress!?

Any thoughts gratefully received and thank you in advance.

1 - We use upstairs. Tops off an already comfy space perfectly. We just leave outside the van for an hour and let it self inflate. Perfect depth for us then. Fully open the pop top front and just slip it in.

2 - We don’t and wouldn’t. Many do, but just not going to risk it. We deflate with a usb pump in 2 mins and fold back in the sack. Easy beer. The new bag is a compression sack so works great. We store ours deflated. Zero issues.

3 - Not something we can advise on.

 

[66tim99]

With some trepidation we’re off for three weeks in France on 1 September using our new mattress. We’ve had a few goes in the house at inflating/deflating and getting used to the operation of the valves - and we’re taking two backpacking sims in case of disaster. We’ve got one of the dinky little rechargeable pumps which seems to work fine.

We do have a few queries, (that we really should have asked about before buying!) if existing users could help?

1. How has the mattress been having used it for a while? Any issues/tips?
2. We most certainly intend to leave the mattress, suitably deflated, in place upstairs. If this wasn’t possible, we wouldn’t have one. Has this been possible in practice? The manufacturers say the mattress should be stored inflated when not in use. We would hope just to leave it upstairs in the van in a not completely deflated state, as we don’t have much storage space in our house.
3. There is a warning on the packaging not to leave the mattress inflated and sealed in a hot vehicle during the day. Have you paid heed to this? When camped for days at a time, I can imagine this might be forgotten - resulting in an exploding mattress!?

Any thoughts gratefully received and thank you in advance.

1. I’ve now worked out how much to inflate it (much less than I did at first) to make it comfortable.
I use it upstairs and wish there was a slightly wider one to fill the space up there. My mattress always inflates itself in its bag, I just can’t keep it deflated properly.
2. It can stay up there without the vw mattress
3. I always leave it inflated (which might explain why it won’t deflate easily?)

 

[IanE]

Thanks so much for the replies - really useful to guide our use of the mattress - it’s on trial really!

 

[Poodlehat2222]

We are coming to the end of a 3 week Euro trip. We use the S2M upstairs. Even after 18 nights, I still look forward to climbing into bed.
We use it without the VW mattress and keep it upstairs. On moving day we pull the plugs, fold it in half, lie on it, then replace the plugs.. Takes minutes.
I should say I'm a hefty 16 stone and 6'7" and usually struggle to get a comfy mattress due to pressure points on my boney hips and shoulders......not with the S2S.
Probably the best thing we have bought for the van. You can face most challenges after a good night's sleep.

 

[inthemidnighthour]

S2S best addition to the van , deflate ours every day takes minutes to inflate. Been touring Scotland for 3 weeks with some hotel stops as well , and to be honest haven’t slept well in any of the hotels and looking forward to being back in the van.

 

[WelshGas]

With some trepidation we’re off for three weeks in France on 1 September using our new mattress. We’ve had a few goes in the house at inflating/deflating and getting used to the operation of the valves - and we’re taking two backpacking sims in case of disaster. We’ve got one of the dinky little rechargeable pumps which seems to work fine.

We do have a few queries, (that we really should have asked about before buying!) if existing users could help?

1. How has the mattress been having used it for a while? Any issues/tips?
2. We most certainly intend to leave the mattress, suitably deflated, in place upstairs. If this wasn’t possible, we wouldn’t have one. Has this been possible in practice? The manufacturers say the mattress should be stored inflated when not in use. We would hope just to leave it upstairs in the van in a not completely deflated state, as we don’t have much storage space in our house.
3. There is a warning on the packaging not to leave the mattress inflated and sealed in a hot vehicle during the day. Have you paid heed to this? When camped for days at a time, I can imagine this might be forgotten - resulting in an exploding mattress!?

Any thoughts gratefully received and thank you in advance.

In case you haven't seen this thread. Not really a problem as the company seems to be honouring the lifetime warranty.

Sea to Summit Mattress micro leaks.. Solved

Love my Sea to Summit self inflating mattress, it's so comfortable and light. My 2 year old mattress recently started to deflate slowly overnight which isn't as bad as it sounds as even deflated it's okay to sleep on as has a foam core. Got it in the bath and wiped it over with soapy water to...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[EddieEagle]

They sent me a new one after just over two years.
It went down overnight and when rolled up would expand.
I put it in the bath but couldn’t find any obvious leaks.
Good that they responded positively so as well as being supremely comfortable it is warranted to remain so.
Very tempted to sell it though, brand new, still in its box!!

 

[Stoo24]

Really pleased with mine. Use it downstairs and find it comfier than the mattress upstairs. I just leave it deflated and rolled up in the back between trips. If travelling from site to site we just do a quick rough and ready deflate and fold or roll onto parcel shelf. For sleeping I think leaving it well short of fully inflated seems to be comfiest for me, just self inflated amount or a couple of puffs more. Never used it upstairs and quite happy with the mattress there tbh.