A camping air mattress offers tent campers the comfort of sleeping at home—many trailer campers do not have as comfortable a bed.The main purpose of an outdoor air mattress is to cushion a sleeping camper from hard ground and provide a smooth, flat, comfortable sleeping surface inches above any roots, sticks, stones, acorns, or small depressions.An inflatable mattress is often too large to be blown up by breathing and is instead usually inflated with a pump or inflator.These mattresses are about 8" high and available in standard, bed mattress sizes and widths: Air mattresses can be inflated to different levels of firmness to suit just about any tent camper.Among all types of outdoor sleeping cushions, an air mattress is usually the least expensive and packs down to the smallest size.Some campers prefer to sleep higher off of the ground, in order to get in and out of bed more easily.To provide an elevated sleeping surface, raised air mattresses are available that stand 16 to 22" off the ground.
This is roughly knee height for most people and is comparable to the height of a home bed.These double-high mattresses are usually divided into dual over-and-under air chambers. The lower air chamber is often referred to as the "box spring or the "frame", and the upper chamber as the "mattress". A raised air mattress is also referred to as a camping air bed.A raised air mattress won't give much more sleeping comfort than a standard, but it will get campers higher off of the ground, so they can stand more easily.Due to the height, campers will need a large tent for these raised air beds.Air beds are mostly available in queen size, but raised, twin-size beds can also to be found.Many camping air mattresses and almost all camping air beds include a raised cushion for the head. This surface is built into and inflates with the rest of the mattress.An air mattress with this feature is referred to as a 'pillow-top' mattress.This feature saves campers from needing to bring extra pillows from home.
Many air mattresses have flocking on top, which is fine hair-like fiber strands that are bonded to the top surface of the mattress. Flocking provides a plush, suede, velvety surface that keeps sleeping bags or covers from sliding around.A flocked air mattress and a flannel, rectangular sleeping bag offer the comforts of home to campers at a campsite.With flocking, a sleeping bag is less likely to shift as campers turn in their sleep, and they can turn inside the bag just like they would under sheets and blankets.If the top surface of the mattress is not flocked, a fitted sheet or mattress pad can be used instead to help keep a sleeping bag or covers in place.Air mattresses have developed home-mattress features to make camping more comfortable.The top surface can be tufted (dimpled), featuring "pillar construction" or "coil construction". Tufting means that the top and bottom fabric surfaces of the mattress are connected inside the air chamber by cylindrical pieces of fabric.Tufting maintains an even distance between the top and bottom fabric surfaces when the mattress is fully inflated.
It better distributes the air pressure inside the air chamber.Camping air mattresses on framesA camping air bed frame (or stand) provides a raised platform for a standard camping air mattress.It is usually an accordion-fold stand that folds compact and extends out in both length and width to form a frame, which consists of a set of legs that runs the length and width of an air mattress.Air-bed frames usually have a heavy fabric (canvas) top. An 8" inflatable air mattress is then placed on the frame fabric to provide a raised sleeping cushion.It is recommended that raised air beds should always sit on level and even ground. An accordion frame is not quite as stable as the ground, and the combination of a somewhat-wobbly, dual-chamber, raised air bed on top of an accordion frame could be unstable, not to mention waist high.Camping air mattresses and cotsPlacing a twin single-high air mattress on a narrow cot is a risky endeavor. An 8" high mattress will raise the center of gravity without widening the base of the cot.
The air mattress will also likely extend beyond the edges of the cot, and campers may well find themselves "man overboard" in the middle of the night!An integrated cot & mattress combo is a much better solution. The mattress is shallower and sized to the cot frame, making it a much more stable combination.ConclusionCamping air mattresses are probably the most comfortable sleeping cushion for campers. They pack away in a small space, offer a large sleeping space, and are available in standard bed sizes.If you are interested in further information about air mattresses, have a look at the links at the bottom of this page.Air-mattress brands include: Aerobed, Coleman, Greatland (Target), Intex, Kelty, Northwest Territory (Sears/Kmart), Ozark Trail (Walmart), Sevylor, Stansport, Swiss Gear (Wenger), Texsport, and Wenzel. Air Mattress InflatorsAir mattresses can be inflated by several means: blowing into the valve, hand pump, foot pump, 12V inflator with cigarette lighter adaptor...Air Mattresses and WeatherAlthough camping air mattresses are great cushions, they are poor insulators...
Air Mattress vs. Tent SizeThe size and shape of the tent play a major role in the number and type of camping beds that can be used inside...Air Mattress Leaks and RepairFinding an air mattress leak can be done with different methods. The method you choose depends on how quickly you need to use the mattress...Air Mattress Buyer's GuideAir mattreses and beds are available in indoor and outdoor versions. Outdoor air beds for camping can also double as indoor guest sleeping accommodations and are priced between $20 and $100...Welcome to the March update of the guide on the best air mattress and their reviews. March finds us on a kind of a high, because we finally have a change in the 3 TOP-rated airbeds. A new exciting (well, exciting for us) arrival to the market is now ranked 3rd behind the undisputed SoundAsleep. The Dream Series by SoundAsleep has been lounging comfortably at the top with a significant gap in ratings over the runner-up for more than a year now. You’ll understand the reasons of our (it might seem) frivolous excitement, as you scan and hopefully read the reviews of the air mattresses.
Alas, we don’t see that happening anytime soon, at least not for the title of the best-air mattress and the # 1 spot where the SoundAsleep Dream Series has, as we said, dominating for almost 2 years now. However, after 6 months of calm seas, any change is good. See the rankings just below the introductory video ( which explains who I am and what we do at BestAirMattressGuide). Make sure you take a minute to watch the video demo below, it’s crucial for understanding the advantages of the currently top-rated airbed. It will also help you understand everything discussed in the reviews. Let’s summarize and see the top choices side by side, along with their basic specs and overall ratings. Below, we’ll just go into some airbeds that were close but didn’t quite make it to the TOP 3 In other words, a few honorary mentions that we didn’t have the heart to leave out. The Serta Raised with the never flat pump is one of the air mattresses that never left the TOP 10.
Literally never when it comes to our website – since we started it back in 2012 it was below the place #10. It’s low point was at the very beginning when it was dancing from place 7-10 for about a year. But, to be honest, back then we were still trying to tweak our testing and rating methods to truly reflect the quality of the air mattress. As things settled, this Serta quietly found its way into the TOP 5 and, then, the TOP 3 where it stayed for over 6 months. Up to this month’s update, that is. Version of the Serta Never Flat with a flocked top * and a TOP CHOICE among EZ airbeds with a frame The Insta EZ is a high-end product with a price tag to match but if you want an airbed that will be the talk of the breakfast table What people who own it say: * and a top budget solution If you need an airbed that will be used often, this budget-friendly blow up bed might be the choice for you. Intex is one of the industry’s most established brands.
However, airbeds for home use are not their primary field, it’s stuff like lilos, above-ground pools, inflatable sofa and lunges and inflatable chairs. Among their air mattresses, this one is by far the best choice. Opposed to their outdated models that might be cheap but rightfully so, the Comfort Plus is different. Primary because of the new Fiber-tech technology. It was always our mission to be as precise as possible and that led to diversification of our guides. I am a brand man and if that makes me shallow so be it, it’s the simple truth that some brands simply make the best air mattress. I buy same brand jackets whole my life, same brand jeans, I simply like the “energy” surrounding certain brands. And I believe that I have now found my brand of air mattresses. I’ll tell you here and now, when it comes to inflatable beds, I like Aerobed. Nowadays, Most of the bigger brands like Intex, Coleman, Serta have similar models and it’s a rat race. And the rat race is good, it results in better products and more attention to what we, the customers, need.
And lately, some newbies, like Sound Asleep with their Dream Series have been shaking and baking in the market. These are your top picks when it comes to air bed brands. In the comparison tables we look at some other options because you can never have too much information, but in my honest opinion these brands are top notch, tested over time and passing the tests with flying colors. each of these brands has some fluke models, but we won’t be talking about those here. We’re interested in the best products. Now we are coming to the “meat” of this page – the top 5 airbed reviews (in no particular order) . Just five inflatable beds that I humbly concluded are the best all things considered. Please read it, I lost my eyesight in front of that screen to compile this info. Here, we wanted to mention the airbed that were at some point among the top 5 or 10 but have since seen a significant decline in ratings. We are trying to keep tabs on all the air mattresses we review here to better understand why quality declines happen so that we can better understand the industry trends and know what blow up beds need re-testing.
We do update our guides every two months but we don’t test the beds every two months, the updates are a result of updated reviews from our featured testers. Only when we see a significant decline is when we re-test the airbeds from scratch. These three have seen such a decline at some point over the last two years but we still can’t out our finger on the reason. All the indicators with these beds (primarily leak development after 1, 3 and 6 months) have gone up, and not by little, hence the drop in ratings. Ratings – 78 / 100 If you are here you are either looking for a guest bed for your house of camping gear like inflatable pads. If you are looking for the later, I’ve got you covered – here is my ultimate guide to sleeping pads. It’s where you’ll find comparison charts, recommended products and reviews of the best rated sleeping pads. But here, we’ll mostly deal with air mattresses, most of them to be used for around the house or for less extreme camping conditions.
And it is a big decision, granted. Especially for those who have people over a lot. If you are not going to pamper yourself in these kind of things that determine the quality of your life, where else? I am a perfectionist and at times very indecisive. My most recent search started with me having the feeling that I’ll go over to Amazon and order an air bed within 10-15 minutes. But this seemingly simple decision turned into hours and days of research, especially when I saw all the options, new brands, types and pros and cons of each of them. And let’s not forget here that I am an aged camper and I can safely brag that I do know a lot about air mattresses. Well, this is not gonna happen to you. Because you found this website. When things got complicated I started making notes and that turned into a notebook with tables and comparisons… OK, you must be thinking, “What a nut…” And you’re probably right. But be nice now, this nut is going to help you find the best air mattress for your money.