Oh that is a problem - both valves being at the wrong end of the bed. I thought the recent video showed the valves being opened at the right end - that is, so that you can inflate/deflate from the front of the van, without having to crawl up to the other end. This is a deal breaker!
How is it difficult when in the roof - just turn it the other way around with the valves towards the front seats - then you can inflate it by standing up downstairs using an electric pump hooked up to the power supply beside the sink and deflate it the same way - couldn't be easier . We sleep with our heads towards the front and the cut out bit is neither here nor there not unless you have a head where your shoulders are - the cut -out bit it is relatively small anyway !
With the mattress in the downstairs mode the two valves are at the back of the van. Just open the boot and you can top up/deflate from outside. We won’t be fully deflating the mattress so it will only be couple of pumps to top up. Do it at the same time as pulling up the blind and getting the duvet from the back.
After you spend some time on one you'll want to make it work. Inverting the mattress upstairs as already mentioned solves the access problem. They are super comfortable and I plan on using it as a temporary mattress at home, once my belongings arrive from the USA.
That’s good to know, I was wondering if having the cutout at the front would trap something at the back but if it can be turned round that’s problem solved.
If you did reverse it you could either have the corner scrunched up a bit or have the mattress located a few inches away from the door. The only problem with the former could be putting pressure on the cupboard door.
I think Keith was considering the inconvenience in the pop top.
Another option might be to use 2 regular sized S2S SI sleeping pads upstairs. These are available as 8cm and 5cm thick. The regular sized Comfort Delux would be too wide to double up upstairs.Not having a separator down the middle can be an inconvenience as I weigh 95kg and Mrs Loz only 42, she can get thrown into the air if I roll over too quickly
I will have a good look at the C&M show next month and see what other vendors are doing.
I think a twin mat at 10cm thick would be ideal although the Small-double width products are hard to come by.
I wonder if 2 singles (as they are often wider) would be better?
www.seatosummit.co.uk
Doh! A senior moment from me! In my mind I was thinking the cut out mattered upstairs. It’s back on my must have list.
Some of us are talking upstairs and some downstairs
Thanks very much for this advice - I guess it’s a question of judging how much air to leave in. Certainly I wouldn’t be interested in buying the mattress if I couldn’t leave it in situ.
I just partially deflate then roll or fold into 3 and leave on the rear shelf. The instructions that come with the mat say it should be left inflated when stored, which is a bit of a pain.
Interesting post. Just wondered where you got this information from? Was it direct from the makers?
Yes, I have read that too. What I'm asking is where he got the information from? The user manual as you have shown states "PU foam can form a memory" key here is can, the supplied manual does not state: "it will lose its ability to expand because the foam/springs become permanently compressed"
www.thermarest.com
www.terrycralle.com
www.norwichcamping.co.uk
2x single red ones would be 6cm too wide for the poptop. The 7.5cm should work though, as they are only 60cm wide. The egg crate foam insert isn't going to be as comfortable as the delta in the S2S.Has anyone tried these?
Kampa Dometic Kip Double +10 Self-Inflating Mattress - 335082 | Self-Inflating Mats | Norwich Camping
Kampa Dometic KipDouble+10 Self-Inflating Mattress is a high-quality, lightweight mattress made from 150D Oxford Polyester material with water-repellent coating, egg-crate foam for more comfort, quick-flow valves for easy inflation/deflation & stuff sack.
or 2 of the red singles for a better fit, both are 10cm thick.
I've had my old camping original Thermorest self inflating mattresses for over 30 years and they have both been stored fully deflated and rolled after every use and sometimes not reused for years but both still work fine and I now use them in my Cali pop top under the original mattress to provide a comfortable sleep. They are only 2cm when inflated but provide great comfort and can be deflated whilst laying in bed and left stored in the pop top whilst travelling without damage or water ingress over the last 10,000 miles
We sleep downstairs with the S2S on top of the comfort mattress and only store the S2S in the roof. We originally used a memory foam topper, which was a little better for us than the comfort mattress alone, but found swapping the topper for the S2S was a big improvement, for us anyway.
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