Driveway camping with new mattress!

[85MH325]

Couldn't wait for warmer weather! Had a new memory foam mattress delivered this week for the Behemoth. I lugged the deep-cycle batteries out of the basement on the first 60 degree day we had a couple of weeks ago, and plugged the Behemoth in. We slept in the trailer on it's parking pad last night. Our fifteen year old thought we were nuts! Oh, well... the season is arriving quickly, and the furnaces worked VERY well!

BTW, the memory foam matress is a REALLY good investment for any of you who are thinking about upgrading your RV mattress. They're not cheap; ours was about $750 on sale and delivered, but VERY comfortable, and about the same weight as a standard-size, 11" deep queen pillow-top coil-spring mattress.

FWIW, for those of you with rear queens... who aren't happy with your "shorty" RV mattress (typically 60 x 76 rather than 60 x 80) if you take the upholstered headboard out, it gives almost three inches more clearance at the head for a full-size mattress. We bought a full-size queen (I'm 6'5" tall).

With the headboard out, a full-size queen only hangs off the platform by about an inch and still leaves adequate walk-around room. (While I'd like to take credit for this idea, it was entirely my wife's. She removed the headboard, and put an older full-size queen matress in last summer all by herself with the help of our son!)

With the taller mattress, pillows and and a comforter on the bed, you can't tell that the headboard is missing!

Happy anticipation of spring to you all!

Roger

[67caravel]

Nice work!!! I bet you are loving it!

We're looking at Royal-Pedic to replace our 22'CCD's mattress. They do yachts, etc. too, custom cut and finished to the layout in need. www.royal-pedic.com.

X

[luckydc]

Where did you get the memory foam mattress? Sounds comfy...

[maxandgeorgia]

memory foam mattress pads-priced at $100, I believe? I saw some for sale back in the winter, but I haven't been back to see if they are still available. I wonder if that depth would make a good cushion over an AS mattress? We ordered a 3" memory foam mattress pad (@ $300) for my 85 year old mother (lots of arthritis aches and pains), she swore nothing could make her sleep well again, but this changed her tune. She loves it, except for having to "climb" into her bed now! We are thinking of ordering one for our King-sized bed in the house.

[overlander63]

Originally posted by maxandgeorgia
. She loves it, except for having to "climb" into her bed now! .

Guys, why not cut down the legs of the bed? Or, even, take the legs off completely, if it is tall enough?
Just a thought...
Terry

[67caravel]

Some thoughts found on the internet regarding memory foam mattresses. Use your own judgement on whether you would sleep on one or not.

Memory foam, also known as Visco-Elastic, is made of man made chemicals. Memory foam mattresses can work well for people that do not move in their bed. Some users remark it is like "sleeping on jello" and "quicksand." When sleeping on memory foam, it creates a body impression in the mattress. And when you move, it takes a while before it goes back to shape. In the mean time, it can feel lumpy. Folks have reported that they felt "sea sick" because of this. Another common problem is that the body can sweat a lot because memory foam is synthetic and does not breathe. Some people have had trouble with the chemical smells from the memory foam. Some people describe the smell as being similar to rotten cabbage. Memory foam mattresses outgas man made chemicals and are sold under several different names. Some of the brand names include Contour-Pedic®, Craftmatic Adjustable Beds®, Isotonic®, Nautilus Sleep Systems®, NovaForm®, Tempur-Pedic®, and True Sleeper®. When researching mattresses, make sure that you get the details on what the mattress is made out of...no matter how slick and expensive their advertising is.*Some of these mattress companies spend literally millions of advertising dollars every year trying to convince you that their memory foam is better because it is high tech or developed by NASA.

[85MH325]

Originally posted by Xray
Some thoughts found on the internet regarding memory foam mattresses. Use your own judgement on whether you would sleep on one or not.

Memory foam, also known as Visco-Elastic, is made of man made chemicals. Memory foam mattresses can work well for people that do not move in their bed. Some users remark it is like "sleeping on jello" and "quicksand." When sleeping on memory foam, it creates a body impression in the mattress. And when you move, it takes a while before it goes back to shape. In the mean time, it can feel lumpy. Folks have reported that they felt "sea sick" because of this. Another common problem is that the body can sweat a lot because memory foam is synthetic and does not breathe. Some people have had trouble with the chemical smells from the memory foam. Some people describe the smell as being similar to rotten cabbage. Memory foam mattresses outgas man made chemicals and are sold under several different names.

I don't know! With an entire night's sleep behind us, I can tell you that our visco-elastic mattress has no odor. We've had the visco-elastic foam pillows for about two years and have had no problems with them. Our experience with the pillows caused us to begin looking at these. We have an "air mattress" at home; a Comfort Aire. Same idea as the Nautilus and Select Comfort, but a lot less expensive.

My wife was concerned about the "memory" issue as well, but again, with one whole night behind us, she said she didn't notice it at all, nor do I. We have gone through three coil spring mattresses in fifteen years, all with coil sag. The idea that sold me was that there is nothing to blow up (no electricity necessary), and no coils to weaken and sag. Additionally, it is as comfortable as our air bed, which I didn't think possible.

The only issue that remains to be seen is the summer heat; however, the foam has a cloth mattress cover, and we will use a mattress pad over that, so there ought to be enough fabric to "breathe" under us.

Our mattress was made in Marion, IA by the Lebeda Mattress Company, a prominent local area mattress factory. We are also investigating the 2" mattress pad from Sam's for my folks' motorhome bed.

Roger

[gklott]

Just weighed the original matress in our 30' Classic - about 70 lbs.

Most of the more dense memory-foam Queen matresses run in the 90-100 lb range. Some of the cheaper ones tend to run 50-70 lbs. Once major item to compare is the foam density. While the viso-elastic foam may be the same, the manufacturing differences can be considerable.

Nice idea on removing the headboard. Thanks.

Anyone had experience in the lift-up system for access to underbed storage? Will those shocks hold the heavier mattress, near 100 lb matress?

73/gus

[74Argosy24MH]

Originally Posted by gklott

Anyone had experience in the lift-up system for access to underbed storage? Will those shocks hold the heavier mattress, near 100 lb matress?

73/gus

They work great, the gas springs come in different weights. I built an electric lift for my bed, I think I will dump it in favor of the gas springs, less weight and space.

John

[Big Dee]

I got a custom mattress that weighs at least a hundred pounds. I can still lift my bed but it won't stay up. I figure I would just stick a broom stick to hold it up if I needed the access. That old mattress was terrible and super cheap. But now my custom mattress is as good as any mattress at any hotel! I love hitting the hay!

[gklott]

Which mattress did you get for the 2004 30' Classic? Is it a standard queen size?

73/gus

[maxandgeorgia]

Chiming in here to report on the Sam's Club 2" memory foam mattress pads. For anyone not ready to invest in the whole foam mattress, we can report that these pads make a huge difference when put over the provided mattress in the AS. After buying and trying the queen sized one for the AS, we slept so well that I did go back and buy the king-sized one for our bed in the house. For a little over $200, we have made a terrific improvement in our sleeping without purchasing new mattresses. These come with a zipped fine-cotton cover that is removable for washing. Anyway, we recommend them!