Lightweight, Medium Firm Mattress?

[Chotu]

Mattresses are heavy. Very heavy.

Does anyone know of a lightweight, medium firm mattress, for a reasonable price? I want to say reasonable, I mean as low as I can get, but still get the characteristics I’m looking for above.

Mattress goes on a flat, hard surface.

I’m quite overwhelm by all the choices. I feel like the highest quality air mattress would be exactly what I need, but they are way too tall. Need a standard or less than standard thickness.

Need one right now for my current sleeping spot and need them later for the boat too.

I like to sleep on the mattress instead of down in the mattress if that helps. I don’t prefer to sink way into it But need just enough give to sleep in my side too. I think this is called medium-firm or firm-medium

[JustMurph]

I'll be interested to see what people suggest. I need some new ones too and my preferences are much the same.

[GordMay]

'Camping' type air mattresses are, typically, only 4" to 5" in height.
Fully inflated, 'hard', I enjoyed sleeping on them.

[sailorboy1]

mattress weight on a "big" boat

I have a 12' thick gel foam queen mattress on the boat that I got off Amazon for $250 3 years ago on special and have the same one in the room I use at my daughter's house. I was looking at replacements the other day and it is now around $450. I can pick it up by myself, the weight isn't the problem. It is the size that causes problems handling/moving it.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

mattress weight on a "big" boat

I have a 12' thick gel foam queen mattress on the boat that I got off Amazon for $250 3 years ago on special and have the same one in the room I use at my daughter's house. I was looking at replacements the other day and it is now around $450. I can pick it up by myself, the weight isn't the problem. It is the size that causes problems handling/moving it.

I’ll take a look at those type. Thanks.

Also, average mattresses would weigh more than 1/4 ton on my boat. So it is a VERY big deal. Just the two forward ones weigh more than a motorcycle for instance.

It’s good to keep things in perspective when managing weight on a performance boat. You go after the low hanging fruit first. Saving 600 lbs on mattresses is definitely low hanging fruit. That’s the same as eliminating 2 motorcycles from the boat and I hope to take one.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by GordMay

'Camping' type air mattresses are, typically, only 4" to 5" in height.
Fully inflated, 'hard', I enjoyed sleeping on them.

This is exactly what I was hoping to do. But the reviews keep scaring me. Every time I find one that looks good, I find a lot of negative reviews about it deflating at night and leaving them on the ground. I also find reviews about it developing pinhole leaks you can’t find over the first week or two of using it.

Was this not your experience?

I think I’d like to give one a try. But the reviews have scared me off.

Were there any brands that stick out in your mind? Someone suggested Coleman to me before.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Chotu

This is exactly what I was hoping to do. But the reviews keep scaring me. Every time I find one that looks good, I find a lot of negative reviews about it deflating at night and leaving them on the ground. I also find reviews about it developing pinhole leaks you can’t find over the first week or two of using it.
Was this not your experience?
I think I’d like to give one a try. But the reviews have scared me off.
Were there any brands that stick out in your mind? Someone suggested Coleman to me before.

I had none of those negative experiences - not on land camping, nor on boat.
Don't recall brand, but could very well have been Coleman [common brand].
Were canvas exterior [red & blue], bonded to [some kind of] rubber/pvc liner.

[citlab]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I’ll take a look at those type. Thanks.

Also, average mattresses would weigh more than 1/4 ton on my boat. So it is a VERY big deal. Just the two forward ones weigh more than a motorcycle for instance.

It’s good to keep things in perspective when managing weight on a performance boat. You go after the low hanging fruit first. Saving 600 lbs on mattresses is definitely low hanging fruit. That’s the same as eliminating 2 motorcycles from the boat and I hope to take one.

I must be missing the point completely. Whats wrong with a std 4inch thick all foam cell mattress, most common in homes, at cottages, in boats. This is the standard in production boats too. 3-5 kg each bed. They come in different firmness. Cost $20/bed.

[rslifkin]

Foam would definitely be the first place I'd look. The 4" thick foam mattresses over plywood on my boat are comfy enough. And they're not particularly heavy either (nothing like a typical home mattress). Just choose thickness and firmness of foam based on how you want it to feel. Plus, you can get them made to any shape (or buy your own foam and sew the covers onto them), so they're good for slightly odd shaped bunks.

[Bill O]

Is the area you want a mattress a standard size? If so, would suggest a pillow top spring mattress you can find in most stores.
We had these on several boats now and are very comfortable. Guests also love them. They are also not as "warm" as some of the foam or gel type mattresses.
Would not get an air mattress unless it's for guest overflow to sleep on the fore deck.

[PippaB]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Foam would definitely be the first place I'd look. The 4" thick foam mattresses over plywood on my boat are comfy enough. And they're not particularly heavy either (nothing like a typical home mattress). Just choose thickness and firmness of foam based on how you want it to feel. Plus, you can get them made to any shape (or buy your own foam and sew the covers onto them), so they're good for slightly odd shaped bunks.

+1, it's what we have and enjoy sleeping on. Less than 50 lbs/22 kg for a queen size, but I don't know how much less. We just go to the local foam shop.

If your bunks are relatively standard, Ikea sells foam mattresses made out of ~2lb/ft3 foam with cover, etc. Come in at 40 lbs or so for a queen and 7" thick.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/morgeda...gray-30277389/

The advantages to the local foam shop are that you can get custom shapes and choose your specific firmness, the Ikea route gives a complete package with one wallet extraction.

[Bill O]

If you want foam, this is another source (generally free shipping) and can do custom sizes. They have lots of foam info on their site and prices usually much lower than most local shops.

We've used them for new cushions in 2 boats and also had foam home mattresses from them. Highly recommended.

[SVTatia]

If "reasonable price" was not in the equation you could go for a 2 or 3 inch foam over the Froly system.

[Zanshin]

I also recommend the Froli spring system - it turns a "blah" mattress into an "Aaaahhh" mattress! I've used that system for many years on all my boat mattresses.

[Copacabana]

Originally Posted by citlab

I must be missing the point completely. Whats wrong with a std 4inch thick all foam cell mattress, most common in homes, at cottages, in boats. This is the standard in production boats too. 3-5 kg each bed. They come in different firmness. Cost $20/bed.

This is a cheap and excellent solution as you can choose the density of the foam (more or less firm) and the weight is very low.

If I may make a suggestion, if you add a gel memory foam topper to the foam bed, you end up with a truly comfortable bed. I did this on my boat and it was one of the best upgrades so far. The bed is amazingly comfortable. You can buy a memory foam topper in the US for about USD 70.00 at stores like Walmart.