Mattress topper for camper?

[loubielou31]

I need to get something to put on the bed in our camper to make it possible to sleep on. At the moment I find it just too hard.
I wondered about a memory foam topper but can you cut them to size because the bed is quite narrow, and do they take up loads of space when they're not on the bed. Weight is not an issue but size is.
Looking forward to actually getting a good nights sleep in the van this year, I hope you can help.

[Ledkr]

Is it a bongo? We found the mattress topper too thin so last summer e used a blow up which is dead comfy.

[loubielou31]

No, It's a VW T5 conversion. The bed is a Rib bed. It cost more than our lovely kingsize bed because (I believe) at the time we had it fitted it was the only rock and roll bed to have been properly crash tested.
So it's properly safety tested for the DCs and their car seat but bloody uncomfortable to sleep on. It also is narrower than a double which means DH is far too close.

[Ledkr]

Yeah if go for the blow up. We chuck it in the awning during the day and it doubles as a sofa.

[Milliways]

We have a mattress topper in our van, but it is a fixed bed so just stays there. It's soooo comfy!

[loubielou31]

Thanks ladies, I'll look and see what will fit. I think an air bed will be too wide but a dbl sim might fit. wouldn't they be a bit slippy. I did think a foam topper might just fold up at the back whilst we're on site and need to put the bed away during the day but not sure they'd squash enough for when we're travelling.

[Wrigglytummy]

We bought a double sim, then if we take a tent & not the van we can still use it. We bought a huge 7.5cm one (outwell) & it is v comfy.

[loubielou31]

I looked at sims today in go outdoors. I need to measure the bed to check how wide it is but that's what I think we'll do because that will pack down quite small. I wouldn't have thought of it without your suggestions. Thank you.

[Ledkr]

What is a sim? I'd be interested in something more practical for our bongo

[loubielou31]

A "Self inflating mat" Thermarest is a brand of them, (v Expensive) but there's lots around of different prices and thicknesses.
They're sort of a combination of a foam mat and an air bed, so they're very insulating (much better than an air bed!) for proper campers who sleep on the floor but they are more comfortable that a foam mat. They have a valve at one end so when you unroll them the foam expands and inflate the mat, you close the valve so the air is trapped and it's lovely and comfy. When you want to pack it you open the valve and squeeze all the air out as you roll it up.

You shouldn't store them rolled up for a long time though, we put ours unrolled under one of the beds.

[Froglish]

Hi we have just bought a VWT5 and need to know what bed topper to buy. I'm at the age when my hips, knees and back ache with a hard surface to sleep on. What thickness should we buy?

[PaulaSmith1]

We have Rib bed in our T5 - can confirm it is quite firm.

We also have a thin self inflating mattress which lives flat in the roof when we are not camping - its probably about half an inch thick but makes all the difference.

It does have a tendency to slide in the night though so we clip one of its straps to the underside of the bed at the boot end.

[Nowthereistwo]

We bought a foam topper from Argos for our caravan- it made such a difference.

As it is only foam you could easily cut it to size. You'd have to roll/fold it up for storage though