Mattress topper

IrishCamper74

I did a search but want to know what works for you. Husband is not a fan of memory foam; he's a big dude & thinks after sleeping in 1 position, the memory foam will leave an uncomfortable imprint of him & he won't be able to get comfy again. 
I just want something comfortable with medium/soft firmness that won't give me an aching back when I wake up.
What do y'all recommend? 
Thanks in advance for any & all input.

scaup

We had a king size natural cotton mattress topper that we had purchased from Soaring Heart in Seattle that we had cut down at their shop to fit the T@B.......came with a cover to match. Its about 2" thick. Natural cotton is great as it doesn't get hot a night.

Homebodyatheart

Thermarest makes self inflating pads. 

Verna

I have a Thermorest (actually a different name brand but it's the same self-inflating mattress) and I decided to try something else. I bought two yoga mats to either stack on top of each other or to put side-by-side. The Thermorest could be put on top, too. I haven't tried yet so I'll find out next week. 

Ratkity

I tried the 3" thermorest pad that V mentioned and I love it. I has it's own sheets that fit it and a nice down blanket that attaches so your feets don't get cold. I tried memory foam, but since I camp until I can't sit around a campfire without icicles forming on my eyelashes, I found it gets a little too firm when cold (for my tastes). I bought the 77" thermorest that is 30" wide (fits on a queen length bed). If you go the thermorest route, the 72" is the length to get. 77" is too long.

LauraRey

I use this and love it.  They custom made it for me to fit the T@B-S:  https://www.mattressinsider.com/custom-size-mattress-topper-sofa-RV-truck-boat.html

jkjenn

I use a Thermarest with a Nemo sleeping bag (they make them big enough for 2 people, too.) Why Nemo Equipment? The bags include a pocket for holding the Thermarest so you don't slide off it! It's genius! I can't tell you how much I love this set up. So comfy! The Nemo bag was a little pricey but worth every penny.

Newfisher

In the boating world there several of us that use self inflating camp mats under the stock cushions and surprisingly comfy. Stow easy as well and not a permanant added expense. Multi vehicle use. I use them in the van too.

Ratkity

See @Newfisher!? I learn something here every day. It almost feels like the marine community has more experience with 12V issues than the land yacht community.

ericnliz

@IrishCamper74, The memory foam really doesn't keep an imprint for very long. We have a medium firm 2" memeory foam mattress with a cover we had custom made ( $225.00 shipped and with tax ) that has straps so it can be rolled up & stored behind the seat. I'm 6', and weigh over 200, so I can relate to your hubby. We use sheets, and blankets so we can adjust to the outside temps accordingly. Hot, sheet only, cold, more blankies!

Jdcouple

We went to the place where we bought our mattress (Orginal Mattress Factory) and bought a pillow topper to fit our Outback. I believe it was 72"X75". They told us it was the same as our mattress. $101. I believe. It made all the difference. We slept amazing afterwards. 

jkjenn

The one thing about memory foam, is that it can be hot.

Ratkity

jkjenn said:

The one thing about memory foam, is that it can be hot.

That cute leeetle doggie puts out some heat! 

Mudshark

jkjenn said:

The one thing about memory foam, is that it can be hot.

I found that out the hard way. I bought a new mattress for the house and just could not sleep on it. Turns out 6 to 9 percent of the population cannot sleep on memory foam. The spare bedroom now has a very expensive bed in it.

dmerzbac

LauraRey said:

I use this and love it.  They custom made it for me to fit the T@B-S:  https://www.mattressinsider.com/custom-size-mattress-topper-sofa-RV-truck-boat.html

I agree with LauraRey. I also ordered a custom topper for sleeping wheel-to-wheel.

Photomom

Just ordered two 3.5" Camp Futons from LLBean. Will report back after this weekend.

IrishCamper74

jkjenn said:

The one thing about memory foam, is that it can be hot.

yeah, I'm not a fan of that. 

texasaubiefan

We took @jkjenn 's advice and went with the Thermarest but are still deciding on everything else.  We are trying to do a mixed setup as sometimes, it will be two of us, and others just me.  So far, I'm VERY pleased with the individual pads.  They're small, comfy, and did I mention small?  When we moved into our house and were doing renovations, we slept on a king-sized blowup with memory foam.  It was great.  And I considered moving the topper cut down to the RV.  But the size and bulkiness for me (along with it being hot) has it gathering dust in the closet in favor of the thermarest. 

IrishCamper74

I like the idea of Thermarest pads. Wonder if I can use 2 side by side & use regular bedding/sheets/comforter on them. 



http://www.cabelas.com/product/camping/camp-bedding/sleeping-pads%7C/pc/104795280/c/104712480/sc/104484780/therm-a-rest-mondoking-d-sleeping-pad/2227517.uts

Verna

@IrishCamper74, I used a twin sheet on my 2 1/2" Thermorest. While it was too wide for the Thermorest, I just tucked the extra material under it, put the top sheet and blanket on and I was comfy.  

Earlier in the winter, I used a sleeping bag that had two straps on the bottom to go around the Thermorest so the sleeping bag wouldn't slip off. It worked, except Sunny Day claimed half of the sleeping bag, so I put the sheets and blanket on top of it!

I have longingly looked at the 4" Thermorest, but with an 80" length, they are far too long to sleep wheel to wheel. If you're sleeping lengthwise in the T@B (front to back), the 80" sounds perfect. 

Photomom

IrishCamper74 said:

I like the idea of Thermarest pads. Wonder if I can use 2 side by side & use regular bedding/sheets/comforter on them. 



http://www.cabelas.com/product/camping/camp-bedding/sleeping-pads%7C/pc/104795280/c/104712480/sc/104484780/therm-a-rest-mondoking-d-sleeping-pad/2227517.uts

When we bought our Thermarest pads years ago we bought a Thermarest couple kit. Basically strips of the plastic Thermarest material that slip over the pads at the shoulders and hips. Hard to describe but the kit kept the pads together if for some reason both people end up in the center of the pads. Careful if you google, some of the results (not Thermarest products) might be NSFW.

Photomom

Photomom said:

IrishCamper74 said:

I like the idea of Thermarest pads. Wonder if I can use 2 side by side & use regular bedding/sheets/comforter on them. 



http://www.cabelas.com/product/camping/camp-bedding/sleeping-pads%7C/pc/104795280/c/104712480/sc/104484780/therm-a-rest-mondoking-d-sleeping-pad/2227517.uts

When we bought our Thermarest pads years ago we bought a Thermarest couple kit. Basically strips of the plastic Thermarest material that slip over the pads at the shoulders and hips. Hard to describe but the kit kept the pads together if for some reason both people end up in the center of the pads. Careful if you google, some of the results (not Thermarest products) might be NSFW.

Here you go, this shows how the couple kit works. Ours weren't this fancy! No reason you couldn't make something like this from webbing to fit whatever pads you get.
https://youtu.be/X2mL6wMku4s

IrishCamper74

Photomom said:

Photomom said:

IrishCamper74 said:

I like the idea of Thermarest pads. Wonder if I can use 2 side by side & use regular bedding/sheets/comforter on them. 



http://www.cabelas.com/product/camping/camp-bedding/sleeping-pads%7C/pc/104795280/c/104712480/sc/104484780/therm-a-rest-mondoking-d-sleeping-pad/2227517.uts

When we bought our Thermarest pads years ago we bought a Thermarest couple kit. Basically strips of the plastic Thermarest material that slip over the pads at the shoulders and hips. Hard to describe but the kit kept the pads together if for some reason both people end up in the center of the pads. Careful if you google, some of the results (not Thermarest products) might be NSFW.

Here you go, this shows how the couple kit works. Ours weren't this fancy! No reason you couldn't make something like this from webbing to fit whatever pads you get.
https://youtu.be/X2mL6wMku4s

Thank you Photomom! I'll certainly look in to this!

Mariner459

We went with 9 "deep seating cushions" at Walmart over top of existing cushions in bed configuration and they fit almost perfectly. By being modular, there's less to move to get down to each compartment.  And we like the bed setup with the matching throw back pillows day or evening.  (We store the two awkward curvy side cushions.) Slept like babies on the extra 5.5 inches of foam.  The fabric is also soft....a Sunbrella knock off.  We can clean easy if it gets soiled as it is indoor/outdoor.  And we use the matching deep seating back cushions to elevate legs at night.  Reminds me of Jeannie's bottle in I dream of Jeannie.  :-)

The all tan (more taupe) or all navy were 25x25 and 3 snugged in perfectly left to right with bed configuration. Made 3 rows.  Beware weirdly some other colors of cushions were a tiny bit smaller I found out by buying one of them for accent.

Got all in the store but here they are online. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes-and-Gardens-Outdoor-Patio-Deep-Seat-Bottom-Cushion-with-Welt-Orange-Texture/55138415 


They also have matching rectangular deep seating back cushions that are great.  These are more rectangular than the "dining pillows.")  Using on top of the new elevated bed of cushions does put back pillows a couple of inches higher than window so we keep shades recessed if propping up in seated position.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes-and-Gardens-Deep-Seat-Pillow-Back-Tan/54561767?action=product_interest&action_type=title&beacon_version=1.0.2&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&client_guid=4fd429e8-9767-4ba1-8e90-19b062ee96dd&config_id=2&customer_id_enc&findingMethod=p13n&guid=4fd429e8-9767-4ba1-8e90-19b062ee96dd&item_id=54561767&parent_anchor_item_id=55138415&parent_item_id=55138415&placement_id=irs-2-m2&reporter=recommendations&source=new_site&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=X8sD0nKmZn187_mk8w36ug 

Also, adding the bottom foam cushions all over the bed puts your head closer to overhead storage.  Bump alert but so did other attempted solutions.

Several tradeoffs but seems to be the cush we personally needed. We can store some cushions in van if needed at site.

Had tried topper (memory foam just bottomed out on all of our pressure points, cut to 70x73 but still unwieldy as heck, and the mattress sack it was in was white, ugly, and very poor fitting).  

The exercise mats we tried under sleeping bags were still uncomfortable.

We also found our air mattresses were ill fitting, had to be deflated/rolled/stored/inflated every time, noisy and awkward to move around. Having to move something big back out of way was alot harder than modularity of cushions for us.

Bill_Cochrane

We bought two twin toppers from IKEA.  The length is perfect  and side by side the width is about 6 inch's too wide.  Will just overlap.  If it bugs us, I will trim one edge.  The cover on the memory foam is very comfortable and seems durable.

If you sleep sideways ( with the axle) the fit is perfect in length and width.

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70298243/

texasaubiefan

I evaluated a thermarest and a foam topper.  Slept on both in the tab.  Hands down was the thermarest. Not quite as comfortable but the ease of storage and size was important.  It slept great too.  Biggest advantage for me was being modular when I camp solo. When the wife joins, we add a 2nd thermarest.  Works well for how we camp and travel. 

HR_Taly

Bill_Cochrane said:

We bought two twin toppers from IKEA....If you sleep sideways ( with the axle) the fit is perfect in length and width. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70298243/

Hi @Bill_Cochrane - this is fantastic, I have one of those toppers here in Ireland on my actual bed and like it very much.  Would you be so kind as to confirm the length though (sleeping single wheel to wheel)?  I thought someone previously told me the interior width (wheel to wheel) of the sleeping area of a T@B Max S (which I see you have in the Outback version) was 72", but the Ikea measurements say this topper is 74 3/8".  Does it fit wheel to wheel or does it "curl up" or have excess?

Bill_Cochrane

cheers HR_Taly!  Nice to hear from Ireland .  Yes the Tananger IKEA Topper is 74 3/8 ".  It fits perfect IMHO but you are absolutely correct it's about an inch or so too long.  It would slightly curl up but lies flat when you are lying on it ( wheel to wheel).  It's about 3 inches too long if you put it bumper to bumper on the bed.  But that's acceptable for me.