Mattress

[Finhawk]

I thought about changing out the mattress to a Sleep Number. Then I heard about the Bear Bed which is a lot less money and it looks really good on their website.
Does anyone have any experience with that mattress?

[Gary RVRoamer]

We bought a Americana Bear (the Ultra model) last fall and are happy with it. It was about $175 less than the equivalent Sleep Number (roughly 15%). Construction is essentially identical. The remote on the Bear bed has no display and therefore no number. You just push the switch one way or the other for more or less air. The only downside to that is that you don't get to talk about your "sleep number" with your buddies.

[Suncircles]

I know that I am in a minority, but the DW and I are unhappy with our Sleep Comfort bed that was a stock item in our 2005 Journey. In fact we have started looking for a replacement pillowed queen mattress to replace it.

So far, we have had to replace two air pump systems and one air bag. The displays on the controls went bad on the first pump. The replacement pump leaked and had to replaced again. The pump we have now works and hold pressure. One of the air bags sprung a slow leak (flat by the AM) and we had to replace it at our cost since the bags were out of warranty when the leaked started.

The mattress is made up of two baffled air bags with 4-5" urethane foam surrounding the air bags. That includes a 4-5" foam insert between the bags. Both of us move around a lot while we sleep. Naturally the height of the air bags is different than the fixed height foam. This gives the bed a non-uniform surface, making it uncomfortable if you roll around at night or try to lay diagonally across the bed.

The air bags do conform to one's body and if you are not a restless sleeper: the bed will support your body uniformly. Setting the "number" results in adjusting the pressure in the air bags, so one can adjust the bed to your optimum comfort level. Should the air bags develop a slight leak, the pump system on our bed does not automatically keep the "number" at the setting you set it. When I had the leaky bag, I found myself "bottoming out" at about 3 AM, waking me up. I would then have to re-enter the number to get my comfort level back up.

All air bag mattresses require attention if you change altitudes as you drive across the country. So, if you expect to go up in elevation of a 1000 feet or more, you MUST empty the air bags (lower the sleep number to "5") before heading out. If you don't let the air out of the air bags, one or both of the bags could explode. Since I live at almost 6000 feet above sea level, I have to include "check mattress pressure" on my check list.

So this is my two cents on the Sleep Comfort Beds.

Suncircles

[KIX]

I just have to post my $.02. We had a mattress made several years ago for the stick house by a local mattress maker that makes alot of yacht adn semi sleeper mattresses. It's latex foam covered in memory foam. VERY comfortable and good as new after several years. About a year ago we replaced the coach mattress with a high dollar queen pillow top. It's shot in about a year. The reason is that there are no box springs under it (in my opinion). If you search the yellow pages in a large city I'm betting that you'll find a mattress "factory" that will make a good one for you at a reasonable cost. In Jacksonville, FL you could see Butch at Mastercraft Bedding on Beaver St. Good folks and can make what you want.

[Suncircles]

Kix: Thank you for the input. There is a mattress manufacturer here in my hometown also. I will take you information and talk to them directly to get their opinion. I was worried about putting a regular mattress on a hard base.

Suncircles

[Tom and Patty]

We have a sleep number bed (expensive one) at home and are very happy with it. Sleep number 100 for me and 60 for DW. When it came time to change out our bed we went to Costco.

First we could return it after 1 year? plus iy was about $400.00. It is heavy to move, but comfortable for us.

Patty says it ts more comfortable her, but I find the Sleep Number works better for me, a stomach sleeper.

Just another option.

[NeilV]

Quote:

Originally posted by KIX: I just have to post my $.02. We had a mattress made several years ago for the stick house by a local mattress maker that makes alot of yacht adn semi sleeper mattresses. It's latex foam covered in memory foam. VERY comfortable and good as new after several years. About a year ago we replaced the coach mattress with a high dollar queen pillow top. It's shot in about a year. The reason is that there are no box springs under it (in my opinion). If you search the yellow pages in a large city I'm betting that you'll find a mattress "factory" that will make a good one for you at a reasonable cost. In Jacksonville, FL you could see Butch at Mastercraft Bedding on Beaver St. Good folks and can make what you want.

Box springs can actually reduce the life of the mattress so I am told. You can get a solid fondation instead of a box spring for many matresses.

I went with the Serta from the wholesale club. It matches my sleep number ($$$)and has one of, if not the best, fire safety ratings in the industry.