Top Bed Too Hard

[Hammers]

Hi we slept one night in the top bed of our new 2018 Cali but find it too hard. What’s the easiest most comfortable solution regardless of cost?

Be ideal to have more comfort and to be able to keep everything up there and close the roof.

But ultimately good nights sleep is more important than closing the roof

 

[Borris]

It sounds like you need a mattress topper. They do make a slight difference to the rather firm beds. I believe the club shop sells them. Alternatively, you might consider using self inflating mattresses. These are only about 25mm thick when un-rolled but you can adjust how hard you make them. They can be purchased from most camping/outdoors type shops and will probably provide even better comfort.

Don't be tempted to leave anything in the roof when you close it as there isn't any spare room when the roof is down. Damage to the roof may occur if you do.

We found the beds firm to start with and also looked for ways to make them more comfortable. After spending out on toppers and self inflating mattresses we now don't bother with them. It surprised me how quickly I became used to sleeping on a less forgiving surface.

Lovely van by the way. Did you have it imported or do VW sell them in NZ?
I hope you have many happy adventures ahead.
Paul

 

[Keith Smith]

We bought a Zonesleep and thinner foam mattress so that we could have more comfort and still be able to close the roof, but it hasn't worked for us as we still find it far too firm. We now use a topper as well, which we need to store behind the seat, which defeats the purpose of buying the expensive Zonesleep but at least we get a decent nights sleep.

 

[Bellcrew]

We bought a Zonesleep and thinner foam mattress so that we could have more comfort and still be able to close the roof, but it hasn't worked for us as we still find it far too firm. We now use a topper as well, which we need to store behind the seat, which defeats the purpose of buying the expensive Zonesleep but at least we get a decent nights sleep.

We use a mattress topper from Dunelm, made all the difference, it rolls really tight with a luggage belt and sits on the rear shelf with the pillows/quilt, obviously when on site it all stays on the upper bed, so good we use it on our own bed at home.

 

[Keith Smith]

We use a mattress topper from Dunelm, made all the difference, it rolls really tight with a luggage belt and sits on the rear shelf with the pillows/quilt, obviously when on site it all stays on the upper bed, so good we use it on our own bed at home.

We got our additional topper from Dunelm too.

 

[larrylamb]

We use a mattress topper from Dunelm, made all the difference, it rolls really tight with a luggage belt and sits on the rear shelf with the pillows/quilt, obviously when on site it all stays on the upper bed, so good we use it on our own bed at home.

What size do you use? cheers.

 

[Hammers]

Thanks we bought directly from the VW dealer here in Auckland. We were going to import but the wait was too long and it was not that much difference in price in the end especially when you can sell NZ new vehicles for more than imports.

 

[Hammers]

We use a mattress topper from Dunelm, made all the difference, it rolls really tight with a luggage belt and sits on the rear shelf with the pillows/quilt, obviously when on site it all stays on the upper bed, so good we use it on our own bed at home.

Yes what size do you have as dunelm seem to sell various models. We need to import to Nz or find something similar here. Is it memory foam?

 

[Bellcrew]

What size do you use? cheers.

Dorma Full Forever Anti Allergy Mattress Topper, king size 200 x 150 x 3 cm. £56 currently.
It has a cotton cover with polyester filling, The extra width allows it to be tucked under the mattress and trap the sheet, the length is ideal for the the upper bed to cover the exposed metal at the end of the main upper mattress. Obviously anything like this is subjective but my wife now sleeps happily on the upper bed when it is used.

 

[frenchie]

I to find the bed too hard.the van came with a comfort topped but I just hated it. After looking at all the expensive options i went with the cheapest a gel mattress off ebay. I found this to be very supporting for my 17 stone, not hot making like memory foam. My other half made up a cover and it was good to go. Cost 40 pounds.

 

[Paul Grice]

I got a kingsize foamy topper and cut it down to size so it fits exactly, then I bought a single size duvet cover (yes single) from dunelm and put the foam topper inside it..... absoluely perfect fit as a duvet is sized wider than the same size mattress. I roll the whole thing up and bung it on the back shelf, duvet cover acts as a bottom sheet so a doddle to make the bed... chuck it upstairs and let it unroll.

 

[oryx white]

Our solution is the wonderful Duvalay bedding. These are like a cross between a duvet and a sleeping bag and have a memory foam mattress. Plenty of others use these too. Makes bed making/unmaking a breeze too! And they've a 25% sale on atm (although we got a couple via Ebay). See

http://www.duvalay.co.uk/?utm_sourc...ail&utm_term=0_c323603a91-5ddb25d490-13901097

Get two and it makes a lively cosy double ...

 

[KiwiCali]

Hi we slept one night in the top bed of our new 2018 Cali but find it too hard. What’s the easiest most comfortable solution regardless of cost?

Be ideal to have more comfort and to be able to keep everything up there and close the roof.

But ultimately good nights sleep is more important than closing the roof

Hi - We have just purchased a new Cali here in NZ, and I am interested to learn what you went with in terms of making the upper bed more comfortable. Based on my research, I plan to just use 2 x single self inflating camping mattress that we have and put them on the slats. Or maybe get a new mattress made locally and try to keep it around 5cm, the same as the existing one. Anyway ... keen to hear what you have found works for you!

 

[Kiwi]

Hi - We have just purchased a new Cali here in NZ, and I am interested to learn what you went with in terms of making the upper bed more comfortable. Based on my research, I plan to just use 2 x single self inflating camping mattress that we have and put them on the slats. Or maybe get a new mattress made locally and try to keep it around 5cm, the same as the existing one. Anyway ... keen to hear what you have found works for you!

Hi, Alistair ‘s bamboo mattress toppers from Briscoes on half price sale is good economical option
We use Duvalays downstairs

 

[Perro maika]

I am very confused with all this.
We are not allowed to leave anything on top because of possible damage to the roof, but the Isotop IV Brandrup cover can stay on when closing the roof ????

We want to improve the comfort upstairs and will add an airflex layer. These are available in 2 - 3 - 4 cm.

Does anyone know exactly :
1) how thick the Original mattress is ? (we consider changing the Original foam with the 4cm airflex)
2) how much space there is in total to be able to safely close the roof ? (in case that we go for an extra layer. We've read on this forum that the zonesleep thinner topper of 2,5cm can stay in place. Would a 3cm extra layer also be possible ?)

Thanks for your advice !

 

[Kiwi]

Hi we slept one night in the top bed of our new 2018 Cali but find it too hard. What’s the easiest most comfortable solution regardless of cost?

Be ideal to have more comfort and to be able to keep everything up there and close the roof.

But ultimately good nights sleep is more important than closing the roof

Hi
We have a NZ Cali owners group going:
VW California NZ

You should join us

 

[Kiwi]

Hi - We have just purchased a new Cali here in NZ, and I am interested to learn what you went with in terms of making the upper bed more comfortable. Based on my research, I plan to just use 2 x single self inflating camping mattress that we have and put them on the slats. Or maybe get a new mattress made locally and try to keep it around 5cm, the same as the existing one. Anyway ... keen to hear what you have found works for you!

Have you joined our nz group on Facebook
VW California NZ

 

[calikev]

The zonesleep ultra has been designed specifically so you can leave it in place with the roof down

 

[SailSki]

Hi @calikev, I’m also looking at this at the moment. Do you know if the zonesleep ultra can also be left in place if a Brandrup internal topper is also being used (in my case an original rather than mk4) or both then taking up too much volume for the roof to close?
Many thanks, Mike

 

[calikev]

i have both in place closing the roof is no problem the zonesleep ultra was designed to be left in the roof as its the same as the vw mattress

 

[Hammers]

Hi after much searching in NZ we bought the ecosa mattress topper which has made a big difference to our sleeping on the top bed. We went away for three weeks in the south island and when we came back we missed sleeping in the camper! We just needed something else to give that cosy feel.

It does not stay up top and we have to bring it down each night but that's life.

We got this one https://www.ecosa.co.nz/ topper and bought the double. Then we unzipped the cover and trimmed the foam by 10 cm so that it fit without touching the sides in case it rained.

 

[KiwiCali]

Thanks for sharing. I love the idea though I dont want to take up that much room for 'storage'. Do you mind posting a picture of this rolled up so I can see the room it takes up. I am also in NZ and use a camping self inflating mattress but think I can do better ...

 

[jcshnz]

Hi after much searching in NZ we bought the ecosa mattress topper which has made a big difference to our sleeping on the top bed. We went away for three weeks in the south island and when we came back we missed sleeping in the camper! We just needed something else to give that cosy feel.

It does not stay up top and we have to bring it down each night but that's life.

We got this one https://www.ecosa.co.nz/ topper and bought the double. Then we unzipped the cover and trimmed the foam by 10 cm so that it fit without touching the sides in case it rained.[/QUOTE

Hi, we’re also in nz looking for a more comfortable solution up top.
It strikes me that a 50mm mem foam *might* squash down by the closing roof. Have you tried it?
Cheers

 

[KiwiTiki]

Hi
We have a NZ Cali owners group going:
VW California NZ

You should join us

Can I join if I'm a Cali owning Kiwi overseas?!

 

[WaikatoCalifornia]

Hi
We have a NZ Cali owners group going:
VW California NZ

You should join us

Hi Kiwi, I am a fellow Cali owner from NZ too (2018 Ocean) … that sounds interesting … but I couldn’t find the group; is it an sub group on this page, or a separate website? Thanks!