TX Renaissance Festival 2023 - Page 2

lchukar · 11-26-2023, 11:10 AM

Memory foam might be fine if you stay in the warm parts of Texas. But in cold weather it turns into a rock, conforming to only the body part that is in contact to warm it up. Every time you move in the night it take a while to warm the new area. We tried a memory foam topper but gave it up after the first winter. We prefer Thermarest self-inflating pads for added cushion on the penthouse bunk.

dbhosttexas · 11-28-2023, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lchukar

Memory foam might be fine if you stay in the warm parts of Texas. But in cold weather it turns into a rock, conforming to only the body part that is in contact to warm it up. Every time you move in the night it take a while to warm the new area. We tried a memory foam topper but gave it up after the first winter. We prefer Thermarest self-inflating pads for added cushion on the penthouse bunk.

How cold are you talking about? I have already done 40 degree F nights unheated in the van and it has been fine. I get anywhere below that I am turning the heat on...

lchukar · 11-29-2023, 05:29 AM

I am talking winter nights where it is always below freezing, and generally between 0°F and 20°F. Many factors lead to having to conserve the battery, and use minimal heat: Always boondocking without shore power, camped and not running the engine while driving, snow covering the solar panel, cloudy days w/o much solar input, weak battery at such low temps, etc. Truth is when it is so cold we rarely raise the penthouse, as the van is so much colder that way. But not all memory foam is the same, so some of it may work OK at higher temps. Good luck.

Steve Hunt · 11-29-2023, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lchukar

Memory foam might be fine if you stay in the warm parts of Texas. But in cold weather it turns into a rock, conforming to only the body part that is in contact to warm it up. Every time you move in the night it take a while to warm the new area. We tried a memory foam topper but gave it up after the first winter. We prefer Thermarest self-inflating pads for added cushion on the penthouse bunk.

We used a 3" memory foam pad that we cut around the fender wheels and took in and out. It was ok but 2-3 nights and i was hurting. We've used the memory foam in 32ish-55 degree ambient temps and I had no issue. When ambient was 65+ then I always go hot on the memory foam.
We finished the bed platform recently and that now puts us about 20" off the floor now. The first time out was about 55 degress and we used the memory foam again. Maybe a tad warmer being elevated and not on the floor but the floor is insulated so not really much overall difference. So just a few days ago we went to REI and tested sleeping pads. Big Agnus, Xped and Hest. We eliminated Big Agnus right off the bat as it definitely had a strong emphasis on light weight for hiking. Probably could have gone either way on the Xped vs Hest relative to comfort but the Xped was easier to deploy and stow. It's a little over 3" thick and seems very durable but only time will tell. I hear Thermarest is good too but i have only store tested one a year or so ago. Hope to do the first night out on the ExPed soon. REI has the ExPed 25% off but not sure how long that is for.

Twoxentrix · 11-29-2023, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Hunt

...Big Agnus, Xped and Hest. We eliminated Big Agnus right off the bat as it definitely had a strong emphasis on light weight for hiking. Probably could have gone either way on the Xped vs Hest relative to comfort but the Xped was easier to deploy and stow. It's a little over 3" thick and seems very durable but only time will tell.... Hope to do the first night out on the ExPed soon. REI has the ExPed 25% off but not sure how long that is for.

Good Choice! Been very pleased with our ExPed.

dbhosttexas · 12-01-2023, 01:57 PM

I may have an issue with uh, load capacity on sleeping pads. I have blown the seams out of a Big Agnes already, part of the reason I went with memory foam in the first place. Working with the Dr., Physical therapist, and dietician to get things under control. But I digress. The low temp issues with Memory foam are known. For the time being, I am going to be using when it gets under 40 deg in the camper my Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater to chase the chill off. HOWEVER, I have on order and it is en route, a Velit Camping gasoline heater. A USA Engineered variant of the chinese diesel heater, but a LOT closer in spec / quality to an Espar, and it burns gasoline not diesel so I can tap my fuel tank instead of having yet another fuel source... The install will take place once I get my spare relocated to the back door, custom battery box for my battery bank built and installed where the spare tire well is now, then I will have room to install the heater... Probably farm that job out since I do NOT want to be dropping the fuel tank. Will go ahead and do a new fuel pump / sending unit while it is out and dsiassembled...