Inflatable mattresses are affordable and pack up neatly but they also leak waking you up in the night with a sore hip or bad back. I wanted to see if there’s a better option so I tried out a 3” memory foam mattress.

For a couple of years I’ve used this inflatable mattress when sleeping in my car. I picked it up for about $35 on Amazon. It’s easy to inflate with a powered pump and in a pinch can be inflated using your mouth hole. One side is a slick vinyl and the other a plush feeling material. When not in use, it’s easy to squeeze the air out or use a pump in reverse and it eventually folds up into a small size that can be stored in your gear box. Given it’s cheap price and easy portability and setup it’s a great option for new Overlanders. 

However, the inflatable mattress has problems. First, it almost always loses air during the night. I typically wake up during the night with a sore hip or back from sleeping on a hard surface. Secondly, the slick vinyl squeaks on just about everything. The smallest body movements during the night sound like two balloons rubbing together. Third, because it’s filled with air it doesn’t insulate well against cold air and I typically have to bulk up on sleeping bags or blankets to stay warm. And lastly, and possibly most annoying, because it’s slick on one side I am always sliding down the mattress (or with the mattress) leaving my feet crammed against the tailgate of my rig.

So what to do… I finally decided to try a memory foam mattress. After looking at several options online and researching what most roof top tents use, I decided to go with a 3” thick memory foam mattress option. Once again I deployed my Amazon shopping minions who quickly delivered this unit to my door for $104. I recently used it on my trip to Merus Adventure where I was solo car camping. 

The memory foam mattress came boxed but after opening quickly expanded to the expected 62”x 26”x 3” size. It comes with a cover on one side and includes a convenient carrying bag with straps. I laid a single layer sleeping bag on top and promptly fell asleep. The next morning I woke up and to my surprise I slept great! I didn’t feel like an old man with a hip thrown out… my back wasn’t aching… and I stayed warm the entire night. There were no embarrassing noises created when I would roll over during the night. And because the mattress is plush on both sides I wasn’t playing slip and slide like on the inflatable mattress.

The one downside to this mattress is the size. It doesn’t go back in the genie bottle and takes up a bit of space, even in the provided carry case. Zipped up it still takes up 26″x12″x18″ worth of space. But, if you value your sleep the way I do this is a small price to pay.