If you love the outdoors but not so much the feeling of the hard ground beneath your tent in your sleeping bag at night, finding a quality temporary sleep solution can help you enjoy your next camping trip to the fullest. SoundAsleep offers their Camping Series air mattress. I was recently provided the queen-sized model, and it’s quite a bit different from the Dream Series model we tried out a while back.
While the Dream Series has been used in the past by customers as a camping product, it really isn’t designed for tent use. The material just isn’t thick enough to withstand rocks and other common debris. SoundAsleep recognized the need for something designed with the outdoors in mind, so let’s take a look at what they came up with.
Video Review
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About the Company
SoundAsleep is headquartered in New Jersey, and they focus on providing customers innovative new constructions in air beds. Eco-awareness and puncture-resistance are key factors in the development of all their products, and their materials are designed for durability.
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My Experience with Queen-Sized Fitted Sheet
This mattress is nine inches thick fully inflated, and this helps in a couple of ways. For starters, it lightens your load since it doesn’t weigh as much as many other air beds on the market. It also helps save room in your tent. For airbeds for indoor use, a thicker product is often preferable to make it easier to get in and out of bed.
However, in small tents, space is typically more important. I found the fitted sheet to fit a little loose, but this wasn’t a big surprise since the product is thin. All you have to do is pull the edges underneath the mattress, and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Airing Up the Mattress
Since this is a camping air bed, there is no built-in pump since there’s a good chance you’re not going to have an electrical outlet in close proximity. Make sure you have your pump charged with the car or wall chargers included.
When you do go camping, make sure you don’t misplace your air pump. It’s pretty small, and I ended up leaving mine behind. The good news is that the mattress is compatible with standard air bed pumps, so I’m still able to use it with another pump I have on hand. The patented, rechargeable pump reportedly holds a 24-hour charge, and it took about four minutes to air up firm.
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Firmness
As with any air mattress, you do have full control over how firm or plush you want your mattress. In thicker products I’ve tried out, I’ve found it more comfortable to leave a little bit of slack. However, since SoundAsleep’s camping product is thin, it made it a lot easier to get in and out of bed when the mattress was aired up firm.
Air Leakage
We used the pump over the course of a two-night camping trip, and our itinerary allowed us to leave it inflated throughout our excursion. Each of the two nights required me to top off the product while applying a combined weight of around 200 pounds. I’d recommend just keeping your mattress inflated if you can if you’re camping for several days so you don’t want to worry about having to hunt down an outlet if your pump dies. Overall, it did a pretty great job of holding air.
It’s important to note that air mattresses do go through an initial stretching phase when you first use them, and they’re more likely to lose air during this time. I inflated and deflated mine three times before we left and didn’t have any significant issues, so this is something you may want to try.
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Simple Deflation: No Electricity Needed
Deflation is very simple. Just open the cap and allow the product to lose air on its own. Any residual air can be easily removed when you roll the mattress up. You then simply place it in your carrying bag.
Durability Expectations
In terms of longevity, you typically want to look for thickness in an air mattress. However, SoundAsleep aimed to create a thinner product more suitable for camping conditions without sacrificing quality. Just some of the reasons I feel this mattress should last you several summers of occasional outdoor use include:
- Puncture-resistant materials
- Classic I-beam construction
- Multi-layer design
- Sure-Grip bottom that keeps you from sliding around
- Extra thick, waterproof flocked top
Note on Moisture
Since the materials used in this product resist moisture, you want to be careful when you roll up your mattress. I rolled mine up in the dewy morning grass. Three days later, I took it back out of the bag, and the moisture had remained. Make sure you take a couple minutes to dry off the mattress before you store it away.
Mattress Size
The dimensions of this product are 78? x 60? x 9?, and I found this to be very compatible with camping. You want to pack light but not leave out the essentials. I’ve used much larger products during camping trips, and they can be difficult to lug around and get in the tent. With the SoundAsleep Camping Series mattress, setup was a breeze.
Pricing
This product comes in queen and twin size. My tent is pretty big, so I had no trouble fitting a queen-sized mattress inside. However, if yours is smaller, I’d go for the twin-sized option.
SoundAsleep Camping Series Reviews and Feedback
Considering the extra-thick materials and durability expectations, I think SoundAsleep Camping Series offers a great value, and I found it to be very comfortable for a camping mattress. If you’re not a fan of the fact that the battery pack isn’t replaceable and there’s no battery charge indicator, it may ease your fears to know I was able to use a different air bed pump.
In order to offer you the most well-rounded review possible, I scoured the web to see feedback left by other customers.
Pros
- Easy to inflate and deflate
- Responsive and helpful customer service
- Holds air well
- 9-inch thickness makes it easy to get in and out of your tent and transport to and from your campsite
- “Sure Grip” bottom prevents slipping
- Flocked design keeps bedding in place
- Material is puncture-resistant
- Convenient storage bag
Cons
- Cover gets cold at night
- Low profile can make it hard to get in and out of bed
- Heavier people are known to bottom out due to the thin design
Our Final Verdict
I had a great experience with my SoundAsleep Camping Series air bed, and it made camping a much more enjoyable experience. During the course of this review, I had a couple of questions, so I called customer service. While the original call went to voicemail, I received a callback 12 minutes later. The man I spoke with did a great job answering my questions thoroughly. I love how lightweight this product is. Overall, I think SoundAsleep really had the camper in mind when they created this series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use a manual pump?
Yes.
Is built-in pump available?
No.
How high off the ground?
9 inches.
Good option for camping?
Yes.
How long is the warranty?
1 year limited.