Sea to Summit Mattress Stored in pop-top

Viktorgeorge · Nov 6, 2022

I am wondering whether I can store my Sea to Summit 'Campervan' self-inflating mattress (fully deflated) in the pop top, over the VW supplied mattress. I.e. is there enough space over the VW mattress when the roof is down.

I remembered California time saying the mattress could be stored up there, but re-watching their video just now, I see they had removed the VW supplied mattress.

For space saving, optimum for us would to be to store the Sea to Summit up there, then bring it down for the lower bed so that I can sleep upstairs and my wife downstairs.

I will experiment myself, but, as a still very new owner I am tentative, and in the meantime thought I would check if anyone had done this.

ArunAlec · Nov 6, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
I am wondering whether I can store my Sea to Summit 'Campervan' self-inflating mattress (fully deflated) in the pop top, over the VW supplied mattress. I.e. is there enough space over the VW mattress when the roof is down.

I remembered California time saying the mattress could be stored up there, but re-watching their video just now, I see they had removed the VW supplied mattress.

For space saving, optimum for us would to be to store the Sea to Summit up there, then bring it down for the lower bed so that I can sleep upstairs and my wife downstairs.

I will experiment myself, but, as a still very new owner I am tentative, and in the meantime thought I would check if anyone had done this.

I think fully deflated and flat It would be ok, although deflating it might take awhile!

Ch1pbutty · Nov 6, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
I am wondering whether I can store my Sea to Summit 'Campervan' self-inflating mattress (fully deflated) in the pop top, over the VW supplied mattress. I.e. is there enough space over the VW mattress when the roof is down.

I remembered California time saying the mattress could be stored up there, but re-watching their video just now, I see they had removed the VW supplied mattress.

For space saving, optimum for us would to be to store the Sea to Summit up there, then bring it down for the lower bed so that I can sleep upstairs and my wife downstairs.

I will experiment myself, but, as a still very new owner I am tentative, and in the meantime thought I would check if anyone had done this.

No, there is not much space in the roof.

It might seem like it fits, but you risk putting a crease/bulge in the side of the vans aluminium roof as the motor tries to force it closed.

dspuk · Nov 6, 2022

Technically I believe you can but we don’t.

Through the day with the pop top up we just leave it up there and inflated. When heading out for the day it fits fine inflated in our “festival tent” we take with us on site to store bedding etc.

When leaving we deflate with a small USB inflate/deflate device.

To our mind, for the cost of potentially damaging the Cali, it’s not worth it.

Hawthorn37 · Nov 6, 2022

We looked at doing this with a similar (Outdor Revolution) self inflating mattress. We bought a USB pump to fully deflate, and got the thickness down to about 15mm or thereabouts. 15mm is about the thickness of (my) hand. Looking at and feeling into the roof with the top down, it felt like the gap was not big enough ( hardly any gap actually). So we just deflate, roll it and out it in its bag. We also believe that our mattress partly reinflates while in the bag, as it goes in very easy, but is hard to pull out. I’ve read about the same thing happening to S2S mattresses, probably leaking at the seams. If this were to happen when in the roof, I don’t think it would go well.

California Dreamer · Nov 6, 2022

Hi I wouldn’t do this either, Im a big fan of the S2S mattress but it does sometimes seem to inflate slightly even when valves are closed. We can get ours rolled up pretty small for the boot (secured with strap as getting back in bag is a pain) or during the day we let a bit of air out and fold in 3 on back shelf like the vw comfort mattress.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

dspuk · Nov 6, 2022

California Dreamer said:
Hi I wouldn’t do this either, Im a big fan of the S2S mattress but it does sometimes seem to inflate slightly even when valves are closed. We can get ours rolled up pretty small for the boot (secured with strap as getting back in bag is a pain) or during the day we let a bit of air out and fold in 3 on back shelf like the vw comfort mattress.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TBF to the S2S the newer bag we have solves the older size issues as it’s now a stuff sack with side ties to compress.

Viktorgeorge · Nov 7, 2022

Thank you, all, very helpful. So it is a non-starter.

The only other option which occurs is to replace the VW pop top mattress with a second self inflating mattress, and deflate both before collapsing the pop top - accepting that there needs to be enough tolerance for a small amount of natural re-inflating: and, with that in mind, not to stow them there only temporarily.

Keith Smith · Nov 7, 2022

I’ve got a S2S mattress which, when inflated, I have forgotten to inflate it on a couple of occasions, is as comfortable as our mattress at home. I’m surprised that there is any need to use it with another mattress underneath. I deflate it with an air pump gadget to get it as thin as possible but I’ve had the roof not close perfectly at the rear and had to pull the mattress forward to get it to close tight.

Viktorgeorge · Nov 7, 2022

Keith Smith said:
I’ve got a S2S mattress which, when inflated, I have forgotten to inflate it on a couple of occasions, is as comfortable as our mattress at home. I’m surprised that there is any need to use it with another mattress underneath. I deflate it with an air pump gadget to get it as thin as possible but I’ve had the roof not close perfectly at the rear and had to pull the mattress forward to get it to close tight.

Thanks, Keith. I have not used the STS mattress yet in my new van, but my 'at home' trials agree with you, very comfortable.

Just to be clear, I think you are saying that you have replaced the VW pop top mattress with a STS 'Campervan' sized mattress, and that the roof closes OK (with the STS, on its own, and fully deflated) as long as you remember to pull the mattress forward a little before closure?

Incidentally, does anyone know if there was another, pure rectangle, inflatable mattress which would fit the upper bed (2000x120mm), rather than the 'Campervan' STS (2000x115mm) with a bite out? None of the alternative STS inflatables (singe, large and double) are the right size.

couplands · Nov 7, 2022

I cant answer your question, but as an alternative we have a Panda mattress for the downstairs bed and find it folds in a "z" fashion, similar to the VW Comfort Mattress on the rear shelf.

About as convenient as we can get.

PS we have the VW mattress for sale if anyone is interested...;-)

Keith Smith · Nov 7, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
Thanks, Keith. I have not used the STS mattress yet in my new van, but my 'at home' trials agree with you, very comfortable.

Just to be clear, I think you are saying that you have replaced the VW pop top mattress with a STS 'Campervan' sized mattress, and that the roof closes OK (with the STS, on its own, and fully deflated) as long as you remember to pull the mattress forward a little before closure?

Exactly that. I don’t know if they do different sizes that fit a campervan but mine is about 100mm inflated. I’ve sewn an electric blanket onto a double duvet cover which fits over the S2S and I store the Isotop front panel up there, but there is absolutely no room for anything else (and that’s with it fully deflated). I’ve seen comments on this forum stating that you can put the S2S up there with the VW mattress but I can’t see how it would be remotely possible with the mattress I’ve got.

Viktorgeorge · Nov 7, 2022

Keith Smith said:
Exactly that. I don’t know if they do different sizes that fit a campervan but mine is about 100mm inflated. I’ve sewn an electric blanket onto a double duvet cover which fits over the S2S and I store the Isotop front panel up there, but there is absolutely no room for anything else (and that’s with it fully deflated). I’ve seen comments on this forum stating that you can put the S2S up there with the VW mattress but I can’t see how it would be remotely possible with the mattress I’ve got.

Thank you, I think this is the way to go for me too.

Your electric blanket mod sound a good tip too, presumably you can only do that with EHU, otherwise you will empty the leisure batteries?

Keith Smith · Nov 7, 2022

We have two electric blankets. The one I’ve stitched in is electronic so we only ever use it on hook up. Before I stitched it in, (very carefully just around the edge well away from any wires) it would move about in the night which was a pain. The other is a simple two temperature 60W blanket and we’ve used that with the inverter to take the chill off the bed before getting in. Worked a treat without draining the battery too much. The stitched in one is more powerful and on low it can be left on all night or just set to keep your feet warm. Makes a massive difference when it drops cold at night.

Viktorgeorge · Nov 7, 2022

Keith Smith said:
We have two electric blankets. The one I’ve stitched in is electronic so we only ever use it on hook up. Before I stitched it in, (very carefully just around the edge well away from any wires) it would move about in the night which was a pain. The other is a simple two temperature 60W blanket and we’ve used that with the inverter to take the chill off the bed before getting in. Worked a treat without draining the battery too much. The stitched in one is more powerful and on low it can be left on all night or just set to keep your feet warm. Makes a massive difference when it drops cold at night.

Thank you, sounds excellent.

Californication69 · Nov 7, 2022

Keith Smith said:
We have two electric blankets. The one I’ve stitched in is electronic so we only ever use it on hook up. Before I stitched it in, (very carefully just around the edge well away from any wires) it would move about in the night which was a pain. The other is a simple two temperature 60W blanket and we’ve used that with the inverter to take the chill off the bed before getting in. Worked a treat without draining the battery too much. The stitched in one is more powerful and on low it can be left on all night or just set to keep your feet warm. Makes a massive difference when it drops cold at night.

Sounds like a really good idea.

Skootyalan · Nov 11, 2022

I use the Se to Summit mattress. It is much more comfortable than the VW supplied. It works well with the roof as long as:

1 you remove the VW mattress;

2 you fully deflate.

I have a small pump acquired off a tropical rainforest that speeds up both inflation and deflation. But you have to fully deflate. It takes just a few minutes to do either. I wouldn't recommend trying to squeeze the air out.

If you want details of the pump, just ask.

I also use the S2s pillow and find it very comfortable and amazingly small when packed. Both products I would recommend.

I hope this is helpful

ClanTimmins · Nov 11, 2022

I've read this thread which sounds exhausting! For any newbies out there we love our Duvalay sleeping bags and they are great upstairs or downstairs and roll up and store beautifully on the shelf. We are so cosy and on a cold night have the heating on low. We use them on top of the VW comfort mattress downstairs and the supplied mattress upstairs. Perfect!

GollyOlly · Nov 11, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
I am wondering whether I can store my Sea to Summit 'Campervan' self-inflating mattress (fully deflated) in the pop top, over the VW supplied mattress. I.e. is there enough space over the VW mattress when the roof is down.

I remembered California time saying the mattress could be stored up there, but re-watching their video just now, I see they had removed the VW supplied mattress.

For space saving, optimum for us would to be to store the Sea to Summit up there, then bring it down for the lower bed so that I can sleep upstairs and my wife downstairs.

I will experiment myself, but, as a still very new owner I am tentative, and in the meantime thought I would check if anyone had done this.

I leave mine up there all the time in my Ocean. I took out the original mattress though and just use the S2S. When I close the top, I fully deflate it using a Flextail mini pump and so as not to deform the valves, once the mattress is fully deflated I insert two rubber test tube stoppers in the valves to keep the mattress from re-inflating. Works fine.

SailSki · Nov 12, 2022

Hi, I had a S2S mattress for my Ocean for 2 years until was sold recently. Excellent bit of kit but IMO there is no need to go to all the effort of fully deflating and putting back in the bag.
Simply open one of the valves, fold in half (or back again to 4, lean on it for 20 seconds to get a fair amount of the air out, put the valve back in and then leave folded in two on the back shelf. It fits perfectly and just used a small 2m x 1m tarpaulin over it and then loaded anything to go on the rear shelf on top of it. Worked absolutely perfectly.

Sea to Summit Mattress Stored in pop-top

Viktorgeorge

Starlight Blue Ocean 4Mo MY2023 older bellows

ArunAlec

Ch1pbutty

dspuk

Dave

Hawthorn37

Retired, and working hard at it

California Dreamer

dspuk

Dave

Viktorgeorge

Starlight Blue Ocean 4Mo MY2023 older bellows

Keith Smith

Viktorgeorge

Starlight Blue Ocean 4Mo MY2023 older bellows

couplands

Keith Smith

Viktorgeorge

Starlight Blue Ocean 4Mo MY2023 older bellows

Keith Smith

Viktorgeorge

Starlight Blue Ocean 4Mo MY2023 older bellows

Californication69

Bill

Skootyalan

ClanTimmins

GollyOlly

SailSki

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