Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

[mickeycoutts]

We just got back from our very first camping trip with 3 small kids. Everything went well and we'll definitely be doing more camping in the future.

There are a few products I now realize that I need for future camping trips and one of them is raised air mattresses. It was just too hard to get down and back up off of the 2 low air mattresses that I just bought.

But since I just bought and used them, I hate to never use them again and start all over by buying 2 raised queen mattresses. I was thinking maybe I could stack the 2 low ones I have and then only have to buy one raised one....?

[frank6160]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

I think you will have trouble keeping them from sliding apart. If you can keep that from happening then you will be OK.

[Tylert27]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

Yeah, I think you should be fine! I think frank6160 has a valid point, you might have issues with the mattresses sliding apart. I guess you could always just bring a little bit of tape and wrap it. Or maybe the mattress are sticky enough that they won't slide apart? At any rate, having the mattresses slide apart would be my only concern. If you're worried about the durability of mattresses stacking on one another, I think you should be okay.

[tplife]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

Air mattresses are NEVER FOR CAMPING! - they're for when your relatives come to stay over your heated home and you don't have room or need for full-time mattresses. I notice many high-end camping stores don't carry them and recommend against them if you ask, stores that sell these things should be beat about the head with rubber hoses, IMHO! If you camp where you have electric and can take electric blankets or electric mattress pads, they will work comfortably to counteract their natural cooling tendencies. Our Moderator RDF likes his but he's using a Buddy heater to keep the chill out of the air, so he's sleeping like a baby! I'm not comfortable with running a heater overnight inside my temp, and between our CampRest mats and Marmot goose-down bags my girls and I need not bother anyway. What you want are either: Thick covered foam pads, self-inflating sleeping pads, closed foam pads. Air mattresses are also nice if you rent heated cabins, or if you camp in late August where the air temp is so God-awful hot you want to be sleeping on something that's cold! Seriously, when the air temps drop to 50-degrees or less at night, you'll discover that hollow-tube air mattresses have an annoying habit: Like a cot or a hammock, they are heat sinks whose internal air temp seeks to be in equilibrium with the cold outside air. The solid ground underneath is a poor conductor, the bigger problem is the sides and top where heat transfer occurs. Since it works 24/7 to become the same temp inside as outside, you and your family spend the night giving up your body heat into the hollow tube (or air space under the cot). Sleep won't be as restful as it should be, and it's ridiculous to double up on insulation in the hope of halting thermodynamic law. The principles of physics responsible for this fact are scientific laws that never change, although some folks on our forum don't seem to be able to grasp the principle. The BSA and the US military long ago gave up on cots or air mattresses due to these issues, which under extreme conditions become safety related. It's your family, if they're worth a decent cot or air mattress you can afford to buy genuine ThermaRest pads or knockoffs like they sell at Costco or REI. They are available in different thicknesses, and you can buy them at discounts at places like Ebay, and they carry Lifetime Warranties so you only ever buy them once. ThermaRest sells "coupling kits" that keep connected mattresses from sliding around.

[Joyous56]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

Well, gosh darn it, I like my air mattress and always get the best night's sleep on mine. Of course, I'm camping in the warm weather, but that's when a lot of people camp. Maybe critics should give it a rest?

[Coastie]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

I think tplife misunderstood the question of the OP, it not over warmth or coolness it all about getting up or down off the ground. Not everyone able to do that as much as we wish we could. So the distance we go down to laydown means we have to get back up when we awake. Personally I hate to have to call a crane to get me off the ground in the Early AM.

I do use a walking cane even a walker time to time. If it came to it I could carry the walker with me camping to use but I rather not have that hassle.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

Maybe critics should give it a rest?

..

There are a few issues that will never go away. This is one of them. So is the "to drain, or not to drain the water." Another is the "Big tent vs multiple tents." Some people just like to argue. Some people realize that arguing isn't worth it and let it go.

[tplife]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

If a cot is your only real option due to being unable to get up off the ground, adding extra layers of insulation (or an RV or a Buddy heater) is certainly a lot more welcome than giving up on camping! And you also have the option of filling the area underneath the cot with something to block the open airflow and significantly reduce the heat sink effect - which is impossible using air mattresses. For the record, Tplife never, ever stated on this forum a theory or pronouncement - only published scientific law. If you believe you live outside of those things, I have a lovely drawbridge in my hometown that can be had for easy payments! :cool: Now back to my s'mores...

[Mike]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

I think the biggest challenge you might have if you stack the two air mattresses is how you are going to keep the kids from jumping on them!!

If it was my crew then my wife, me, and the kids would all be jumping on the double air mattresses and screaming with laughter until they popped.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

tplife lives in a different part of the country from some and is the best Boy Scout promoter I know of up and down the web.

Want to be off the ground and use an air mattress?

Here are some possibilities past the ever useful cot:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel...h-All+Products

or

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Colem...h-All+Products

frank6160 pegged my thunk on doubling an air mattress.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

Despite tplife's pronouncements, I like many posters here, have found that practical experience has shown a different outcome. As long as you have a good sleeping bag or blanket between you and the air mattress, an air mattress is warmer than sleeping on the cold ground.

On the flip side, if you're camping in the hot summer, you'll still sweat sleeping on an air mattress. Heck, if air mattresses were any good at pulling heat out of your body then everybody, and I mean everybody, would camp with them in the summer. It just ain't so. Textbook physics has nothing on observed reality in this case.

Now to back up tplifes theory in a small way, I will admit that a water bed will absolutely suck the heat out of you. air mattress no, water bed yes.

I use the sueded top air mattresses during the summer and they work quite nicely as opposed to the slip, sliding away all plastic versions. Flannel sheets (all cotton) make 'em even better. I'll be camping in a different, cooler, locale this summer and see how it compares.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

There is velcro available with adhesive backing. Maybe attach the furry side to one air matress and the hook side to the other - they can still be peeled apart but should stay together well in use.
As I am older and no longer as spry as I once was, getting up from a low bed is a chore. I just start from a kneeling position and get my feet under me, then push up on my hands - kinda like the way a baby does. It ain't pretty but it gets the job done.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

There is velcro available with adhesive backing. Maybe attach the furry side to one air matress and the hook side to the other - they can still be peeled apart but should stay together well in use.
As I am older and no longer as spry as I once was, getting up from a low bed is a chore. I just start from a kneeling position and get my feet under me, then push up on my hands - kinda like the way a baby does. It ain't pretty but it gets the job done.

Should anyone try this be sure to get extra strength Velcro with the widest width available ( it goes up to 4" w/ 2" being the most commonly available width found at brick + mortar hardware and fabric stores). Keep in mind, that the more weight Velcro is rated to hold the shorter, the lifespan.

[tplife]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

tplife lives in a different part of the country from some and is the best Boy Scout promoter I know of up and down the web.

Want to be off the ground and use an air mattress?

Here are some possibilities past the ever useful cot:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel...h-All+Products

or

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Colem...h-All+Products

frank6160 pegged my thunk on doubling an air mattress.

Tplife is from the heart of the Pine Barrens Wilderness of southern New Jersey and has over 150 miles of backpacking experience on the Appalachian Trail.

"Almost everything I ever learned was taught to me by Colin Fletcher"

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Is it OK to stack air mattresses?

Tplife is from the heart of the Pine Barrens Wilderness of southern New Jersey and has over 150 miles of backpacking experience on the Appalachian Trail.

"Almost everything I ever learned was taught to me by Colin Fletcher"

Good for you!
I'm from the Bronx originally and can't say I've done quite as much of the "tunnel" as I'd like yet have had the pleasure of hiking/walking/cycling parts of it. It's on my bucket list to do more. I spent most of my earlier years, cycle camping, as opposed to hiking or backpacking. In my book anything that gets you out and about amongst the green is good.