Pat B: I posted this about a year ago and thought it might be of interest to you:
I recently purchased a Beauty Rest Black X Hybrid Plush to replace my old POS worn-out mattress. It was rather expensive, but I am sleeping better and it has helped my back tremendously
I conducted a great deal of research.
I'm sure many of these mail-order mattress in a box companies have good to excellent mattresses, the problem is that you're unable to try them before you pull the trigger, and I decided I didn't want to gamble on that.
I had specific requirements for a mattress/bed, since I have problems sleeping and I have a bad back - dead disc and a bone spur. I wanted a mattress that was cool since I sleep rather hot, good for side & back sleepers, had an edge that was substantial, was soft enough to allow pressure point relief (shoulder, hips & my hog) to sink in for proper spine alignment, but that was firm enough at the same time. With the Beauty Rest Black X Hybrid Plush I mentioned earlier in the thread, they achieve this by using different grades and layers of cooling foam and they use a special "T3" pocketed coil, which is 3 wires wrapped into one for a more substantial, longer lasting support. Whereas my old, worn out mattress heated me up at night and caused me to wake up repeatedly during the night, sweating, the Black X Hybrid has a cooling cover with silver woven into it and I can attest that coupled with the cooling foam, it does indeed work to keep me cool at night.
It's difficult to explain, but the mattress is soft enough to allow my shoulders and hips to sink in for pressure relief but is also firm enough underneath to support me and my spine. As an example, on my old mattress, if I laid down on my back, it would begin to hurt within just a few minutes and getting up was always painful - especially in the AM. That problem is now gone with the Black X Hybrid. I no longer toss and turn all night, waking up every 30-45 minutes as I used to. Now, I only wake up once or twice, my back pain is greatly alleviated and I awaken a helluva' lot more refreshed than I used to.
All in all, I'm pretty danged happy with the Beauty Rest Black X Hybrid Plush and, for what my opinion is worth, I highly recommend it.
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gemcat, who has extensive industry experience, responded:
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HN, it’s a “hammock” style cover on the BRB Hybrids. I’ve posted at length being in the industry so won’t regurgitate again. I work in design, sourcing, and manufacturing. I have 6 of the top of the line mattresses in my house, some prototypes never released. The BRB Hybrid in 2 Twin XLs with spilt adjustable bases is as good as it gets. The reason you sink them still feel support is the micro coil technology under the top layers of foam. They also use a stranded pocketed coil vs. a single wire pocketed coil. Getting two TXLs allows you to get a separate firmness from your spouse while still using a king size comforter. Obviously you’ll want dedicated fitted sheets if you get the split adjustment base.
Big Lots is starting to look at slightly higher end beds. Many of the low to mid priced are all foam or Open Coil. I’m an insomniac with a very damaged leg and two disc hernia toons in my back. I’d take a BRB Hybrid over anything offered by any brand currently. I also am more large/muscular framed so having to side sleep leaves my shoulder/neck sore but a bed soft enough to correct that leaves my back sore. There are some new technologies coming out but for current availability the BRB Hybrid is the one to consider. I personally skip Sleep Number or Tempur but won’t really elaborate beyond that.
Bb, consider a split adjustable base. I had to sleep in a recliner for months after a bad accident. An adjustable base with the head adjusted a little and foot adjusted up slightly lower than the head or flat will sort of encourage or force you to side sleep.
Many/All mattresses right now have extended lead times. Foam is a difficult commodity to get with a few major incidents this year constraining supply.