Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best 'firm' mattress...recommendations...

Not at all. You need a solid foundation that it sits on. It takes the place of a box spring. I built one out of plywood that sets over the frame rails. They'll gladly sell you a heavy plastic one for 10 times what I spend on plywood. 4x8 plywood isn't wide enough to make the foundation from 2 sheets so I made it as 2 half size boxes. It's easier to move that way. I think the factory one is that way, too.

Going to check out the sleep number...see how it feels.

Thanks for the insights here, appreciated fellas.

We have a plywood frame (self built), with just a good mattress on top. Mattress gets replaced every 10 years or so -- we are on the third... at" home" in Soldotna. of course, it's hardly been slept on in the last 8 years, butt we did buy our own apartment box spring/mattress 6 years ago up in Kotzebue apartment. That's getting pretty bad.. soft, formed, etc..

Wife keeps stealing my blankets too....

Even in my late 60's, I have no problem sleeping on the ground when camping, or a floor as required, with just a closed-cell insulating pad under me. It ain't the firm... I like firm....it's the cold!

You puzzies that need a camp cot while out hunting...... well.........

ROFL, continue counselor...

I’ve read this thread with great interest. Like a lot of you, I’m dealing with back pain. I’m on my 4th $$$ latex foam mattress and am sick of them. No matter how firm, the all sleep like crap. All guaranteed not to sag in the middle....horse hocky. Try to turn over in the night and you have that “trying to roll uphill” crap going on. Sex on the mattress is about impossible (don’t laugh) because of the contorted angles.

I’m going back to a coil spring mattress. I have a friend who sells appliances, bedding, etc, and he told me about a month ago that you’d be surprised at how many people are going back to coil springs now, especially the crowd that experiences back pain. He said they are much better made now, obviously much cheaper than latex foam. He suggested looking at a thousand coil spring mattress. He has em for $399 for queen size and they can’t keep em in stock. It’ll give you 5-7 years and then buy another one if need be.

Son and his wife bought a sleep number bed six months ago and neither can sleep on it...they hate it. They’ve tried to return it, taking advantage of their guarantee, and experienced all sorts of red tape bs from the sleep number folks. Turns out they aren’t the only ones who don’t like that bed. Seems there are about the same percentage of folks that hate it as love it.

If it was good enough for John McCain.........?

Based on posts by Rocky and others, we bought a Sleep Number bed earlier in the year. I thought it was not a big deal to me, but my wife has some spine issues from working as a floor nurse in an inner city public hospital in the days before OSHA had any teeth. It has made a huge difference for the both of us. She can sleep at night and I sleep better. We have a hard time sleeping in hotels now because of the beds.

We had thought about a Tempurpedic, but it costs the same and is not adjustable. It turns out that my wife and I sleep on vastly different settings.

Humans spend between a fourth and a third of their lives in bed, and good sleep impacts the entire day. It is worth it to invest in decent sleep, whatever bed one ultimately chooses.

I'm very happy for you both, Cheyenne.

Guessing Birdwatcher's habit is an Africa-obtained one.

Sleep number, it will ruin you for any other mattress.

Drawbacks,
Ours is not comfortable if you sleep right in the middle.

When you find yourself on your hands and knees in bed,
you discover the mattress is better for sleeping than playing.

But, anymore we sleep more than play,
and at playtime, I always persevere!

A sleeping bag on the carpet with one pillow will work miracles.

I hate any mattress with memory foam. 3 or 4" of the stuff on top is something I can't sleep on. I hate the way you sink in and can't roll over or get out of the hole.