TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post

07-17-2007, 08:54 AM

In case you are interested....

My wife and I have a Select Comfort bed at home. We really like it as each of us had different levels of firmness that we prefer. Now it would be great to have one in the TM, but at $1400 or so, it is out of the question. Not to mention, what to do with the huge air pump.
We followed with interest various threads on what other folks are doing to make their sleeping experience better. We caught the one about the Aerobed mattress topper, but as we purchased our TM this year we were too late to buy that one as it was discontinued. Now, perusing a Sportsmans Guide catalog we found a dual control Aerobed for sale (being discontinued again). We thought we would give it a try.
We are very happy with the unit as we now can pump up each side to the desired firmness. The bed is 9 inches high inflated so it is necessary to deflate prior to takedown. Three issues arose with this bed:
1. The two pumps that are built in require AC power. Not an issue when camping with utilities, but we also have a Xantrex power converter that is adequate for inflating/deflating the mattress when no power is available.
2. The two pumps are on one end of the bed, right under the fluorescent light. We found out the hard way about that, when I had a hard time locking down the back shell. When we opened up I found that the bulb was broken. So, it is necessary to deflate the mattress AND flip that end toward the middle of the bed where there is enough room for proper closure.
3. Lastly, we noticed that when in bed the metal of the TM coming in contact with the plastic of the bed made squeaking sounds whenever someone climbed in or turned over. To resolve that, my wife found a older queen sheet set. She used the flat sheet to put under the air mattress. That resolved the squeaking problem. She used the fitted one over the mattress, we then place our sleeping bags on top of them.
Again, we are very pleased with this setup, albeit a little more involved than before.
Oh...we did find that the stool provided in the TM was a bit low now that the bed is higher when inflated. Have ordered a two step folding stool to resolve this one.

Mike Anderson

07-17-2007, 08:54 AM	#1
ragmopp Guest Posts: n/a	Aerobed mattress In case you are interested.... My wife and I have a Select Comfort bed at home. We really like it as each of us had different levels of firmness that we prefer. Now it would be great to have one in the TM, but at $1400 or so, it is out of the question. Not to mention, what to do with the huge air pump. We followed with interest various threads on what other folks are doing to make their sleeping experience better. We caught the one about the Aerobed mattress topper, but as we purchased our TM this year we were too late to buy that one as it was discontinued. Now, perusing a Sportsmans Guide catalog we found a dual control Aerobed for sale (being discontinued again). We thought we would give it a try. We are very happy with the unit as we now can pump up each side to the desired firmness. The bed is 9 inches high inflated so it is necessary to deflate prior to takedown. Three issues arose with this bed: 1. The two pumps that are built in require AC power. Not an issue when camping with utilities, but we also have a Xantrex power converter that is adequate for inflating/deflating the mattress when no power is available. 2. The two pumps are on one end of the bed, right under the fluorescent light. We found out the hard way about that, when I had a hard time locking down the back shell. When we opened up I found that the bulb was broken. So, it is necessary to deflate the mattress AND flip that end toward the middle of the bed where there is enough room for proper closure. 3. Lastly, we noticed that when in bed the metal of the TM coming in contact with the plastic of the bed made squeaking sounds whenever someone climbed in or turned over. To resolve that, my wife found a older queen sheet set. She used the flat sheet to put under the air mattress. That resolved the squeaking problem. She used the fitted one over the mattress, we then place our sleeping bags on top of them. Again, we are very pleased with this setup, albeit a little more involved than before. Oh...we did find that the stool provided in the TM was a bit low now that the bed is higher when inflated. Have ordered a two step folding stool to resolve this one. Mike Anderson