Tell Me All About Your Air Mattress!

[jsmla]

I've spent a small fortune on air mattresses and NEVER been happy with any of them. We've had three- a Coleman, an Aerobed and a cheapie from WalMart. None of them would hold air through the night-we'd go to bed all snug and comfy and wake up somewhere 3:00 AMish lying on the hard ground.

At this point ALL I care about is that it holds air. I'm not going to worry about the price, the weight or anything else.

Does anyone have an air mattress that they just love?

 

[dbenlee]

We have a queen size, 18 inch thick Coleman that we got in 2005 and a cheap Walmart brand (Ozark?) that is 16 inches thick. The both lose some air during the night but not enough to be a real problem. Our Coleman got a small hole in it one time, but I patched it and it has been as good as new since. I have always used the 18 inch thick for comfort.

 

[TwinPrincessMama]

A hint so your mattress doesn't get holes in the first place: Use a blanket or rug between the ground and the air mattress. Also don't lay on your air mattress with anything sharp in your pocket!

 

[jsmla]

I don't think that they deflated due to holes. The AeroBed and WalMart cheapie were both used first inside and on carpet. My nieces sleep on them when they visit and the suckers always deflated overnight.

Is there such a thing as a REALLY good air mattress? My DH spent what I thought was an outrageous sum on a professional grade lawnmower and it's still running great 20 years later. I want that, just in an air mattress.

 

[duffy]

I hear you! We had to buy a new air mattress every year, it seemed, and often several times. It always made me crazy! All that wasted money, all that plastic-useless after only half a dozen times, it seemed! We'd put padding underneath them, everything we could think of: nothing really helped.

Finally, one night at about 2 am, as I was lying on the hard ground AGAIN, I vowed to spring for a self-inflating compressed foam mattress. We've used this style of mattress for over 10 years and never looked back. Here's a company that makes great ones: Therm-a-rest.

They're so nice, but yes, expensive. Basically, they're made by taking a big piece of soft foam, and enclosing it in a sealed, really heavy plastic bag. You don't have to inflate them, you simply open a valve and the squished foam inside sucks in air. To pack, simply roll them towards the open valve to squeeze out air. When you're packing it, you're really squishing all the air out of the foam mattress inside.

We've used various ones for over 10 years and have NEVER had one develop a leak. Ever.

 

[Running_Bell]

We own about 5 air mattressess... all Coleman (twins and doubles). We have never had a problem with them at all. We've used the same ones for about 3 years and they even lasted 10 days at Disney..... We do use foam pads beneath them in the tent and we do notice a bit of mattress change when the weather goes from hot to cold in the evening... but nothing major. We are careful not to stand or kneel on the beds and all air is out of them before rolling up and storing. We also use mattress pads on top as extra protection.

 

[mikeymouse1]

We have owned several brands also and have woke up on the ground 9 out of ten times! I finally bought 2 Colman cots. They are not a lot more comfortable than the air beds but you dont wake up on the ground

 

[Bearikens]

We've been unable to find any air mattresses that will hold any air overnight (we've tried cheap and expensive models) and have finally given up trying. The next time we go tent camping we're planning on taking cots and pushing them together..this is yet another reason why we bought the PopUp camper.

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

We have a Aerobed with memory foam top, I have never had any issues (2 years) and we are mean to our mattresses.. 5 kids, sugared up at the fort.. and it has survived all that and then some. They are alittle pricey and the foam top can be a P.I.T.A to roll up but well worth it, I'm not a spring chicken anymore and I need my sleep!

 

[jsmla]

Thanks everyone!

We have the cots and thinner Thermarest pads. I was just hoping for a big comfy raised queen-sized mattress! Hubby (broken down cowboy!) just isn't up to sleeping on the ground anymore, we kind of need the height. Do you think the foam top helps with it staying inflated? Our Aerobed was worse than the Coleman.

 

[jonimce]

Queen Aerobed from BJ, 100.00. 2 at BB&B. Not the camping one. Bed frame from Cabelas, I think it was around 80.00. Best investment ever made for tent camping. We have recently bought a camper, took out the mattress and added the Aerobed. Love it.

 

[dudelydude]

I'm not a camper, so I don't really know what I'm talking about here, but I am so surprised that so many people wake up on a flat mattresses. The air mattress that we use inside our home always stays inflated. Sure, I understand the affects of hot/cold temp changes on the air in a mattress, but I would still think that camping outside would only make a mattress lose a little bit of air if any. I learned something today....if not the realization of the environment on the air in a mattress, than I sure learned that air mattress makers are not doing their jobs properly.

 

[TinkMomma]

We have two that we have found at KMart. It's their Northwest Territory brand, and it's called Queen Size Anywhere Bed. We bought one last year for camping (for us), and it has lasted 3 different week long camping trips, plus my BFF is living with us right now, and has been on that bed since January 29. She says that she puts more air in maybe once a week. I remember it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $180 last year. However, if you remember, I said we have TWO. We were out this weekend looking at camping stuff everywhere, and I saw the same bed at Sears Grand. The building used to be a KMart, but when they started closing some of those a few years ago, this became a Sears Grand. Anyway, to make a long story short, I saw the same bed with a price of $67!!!! I took it to a scanner and double checked it. It really was on clearance. I cannot say enough good things about this bed. It comes with a frame that you pull apart like a pack-n-play, an air mattress, and a pump. And it's fairly easy to get back in the bag. So now we can take more people camping, we have more beds in the house if necessary, and my parents don't have to pack their air mattress (which is a Coleman and leaks like crazy!!!) when they come to visit. Good luck! We figured we'd have to buy a new mattress for it this year, but that the frame and pump would last as an investment, but we haven't had to do that yet! Enjoy mattress shopping!!!

 

[Jedana]

When we first moved to Florida, we slept on air mattresses until we got our new bedroom sets (we sold all our furniture in NV to save on the shipping costs--but it was all either stuff we had outgrown, like DS's toddler stuff or stuff that was old, like the living room set, which was almost 10 years old).

we have the air mattresses that are "double" and flocked, and we've never had a problem losing air. Are you putting the seals back in correctly (where you add the air in)?

We have had both Ozark Trail and Coleman. The colemans lasted longer, almost 10 years on the one we have now. The kids, well, they get theirs replaced more often, about every 2-3, mainly because they forget and either "flop" onto them and forcing a pop, or they ahve something in their pockets and it punctures the mattress. (Or the cat attacks them and punctures the mattress. It happened several times while we were waiting for the new furniture).

 

[dbenlee]

In my opinion, you should only use the thicker, 16 to 18 inch thick, these are the only ones I have ever had any luck with. I feel that all air mattresses leak some when being slept on, but that small leak is more noticeable in the thinner, 8 inch mattresses. Thats why I like the thicker ones.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

We have had I don't know how many over the year, only 1 has survived the whole time. It's a coleman, we just got a Northwest Territory raised queen and so far so good. I just wanted to mention since you need height you don't have to get the raised airbeds you can buy a frame for them and use a normal sized air bed. When we stayed with family last year we used a frame and we loved it. Of course you have to find an air bed that will hold air though lol.

 

[mikron]

We have two air number air mattress and they hold for months. Our coach has an air mattress sofa and holds all night.