# Anyone tried one of those inflatable backseat car mattress?



## James Meadowlark (Jul 1, 2019)

Looking at something like this


Everyone knows I'm a recreational camper mostly, but I rage-quit my job earlier this year, and since I'd saved up a decent amount of scratch, I'm taking the rest of 2019 off as a sabbatical before I find a new job.. I'm finally at the point where I'm ready to take off and visit friends, take at roadie, etc. I have a loose plan on driving up from FLA to Caribou, Maine, with stops in DC, Baltimore etc along the way, then plan on heading back through Virginia to see a friend in NC, then to Memphis, maybe Southern Illinois to see where my parents were raised. After that I'm going to meander around for a bit, then get down to see a friend in NOLA before heading back home... So an open ended trip around the Eastern US, with some middle America thrown in for fun. I'm going to pre-pay my mortgage for three months, and just ride around.

I _could _afford to stay in motels, but this site has emboldened me to just say fuck it and take US 301 as far North as I can, then just stay off the interstate and use county roads and highways to check out fun and random places along my way. I think sleeping in my car should be part of it, and way more fun, but (having slept in in before) my car sucks for sleeping (bucket seats in the back) so I was thinking about one of these, especially since I've learned so much about stealth parking on StP... Seems to inflate from the cigarette lighter, and looks comfy, at least for the six hours or so a night I'd be using it... I'm brining my camping gear too, so if I find a nice camping spot/state forest/park I'll probably break out the Eureka Solitaire (Thanks Matt- Great recommendation, it's awesome) when the opportunity presents itself.

Advice or recommendations? It is summertime, so it's going to be very hot in a car, especially in the South, but once I get past the Mason Dixon line I think it will at least cool off enough at night that I should be OK.


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## roughdraft (Jul 1, 2019)

yr gonna do great

my only advice, if you're willing to take a bit more time, is loop from DC/Baltimore into West Virginia (beautiful) and take the freeways thru Pennsylvania, NY state and skip Jersey

also please tell us the story of rage quitting your job


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## WyldLyfe (Jul 1, 2019)

In regards to the inflatable matress, they r comfy if fully blown up other wise not so much.


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## Moonbaby (Jul 1, 2019)

Get tinted windows. Like you said, very hot summer to look forward too


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## Deleted member 23824 (Jul 1, 2019)

I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon, they seem to have some problems with quickly developing leaks .

Why not just build up something till level with the seat, and lay down a higher quality air mattress?You could cut a custom sized piece of 1/2 inch plywood to fit, top it with the mattress. You could inflate/deflate the mattress each day, store your belongings on top while not sleeping.

I knew of a guy who cut the metal bracing out of the area behind the rear seat, and did the same thing, his feet and legs extended into the trunk area. That was in the 70’s, and really was kind of stupid since it was a unibody car (no frame) and the vehicle relied on every bit of bracing to stiffen the car body. Not sure of what would have happened in an accident. Seems to me 
I have seen a modern vehicle that had half the rear seat fold down to access the trunk.


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## Spazz (Jul 2, 2019)

I have the cheapest inflatable car mattress off of eBay and it's delightful. No idea how long it's going to last, but I'm definitely not "roughing it". It does lose air over time, so I need to pump it back up again right before turning in and then again in the morning if I want to hang out in the car for awhile, but I think I paid something like fifteen bucks for it.

I use the portmanteau "glamper" to describe what I turned my old Honda Accord into. It doesn't take me very far, but me and my dog don't do too bad.

If it was going to be a permanent home or a longer journey, my other idea was a 4" thick piece of memory foam from JoAnn Fabrics. They have coupon sales where everything is half off.
I'm not sure how well that would work for bucket seats, though or how permanent you want your mods to be.

I tinted my own windows, which was about $40 and it works, but it's definitely campy and not as good for stealth camping as a professional job, which would look more anonymous.

Living in a car is a lot like living in a house, just much smaller. You're going to have a blast!


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## James Meadowlark (Jul 2, 2019)

roughdraft said:


> also please tell us the story of rage quitting your job


Nothing really exiting.. I worked the same job for fifteen years, and absolutely loved it to the point it didn't even seem like work for about thirteen of them.. But the company was growing/changing, and the new bosses and I weren't on the same page.. Got to the point that I actually began to loathe the job, and as I'm getting older, I'm thinking life's too short and shouldn't consist of seeing how much you can stand, so I decided to take a year or so off, even if it means I'm going to have to tack another year on to the back end. I probably will never get another job that pays as well, but still totally worth it- My mental and physical health were too important... One of my closest colleagues literally stroked-out on his 50th birthday from the stress, and I'm almost fifty, so fuck that noise. It's so messed up that this guy is having to learn how to walk and talk again at age fifty because of a fucking job.


ibuzzard said:


> Why not just build up something?


I totally would if I thought I was going to spend a lot of time sleeping this way.. I'm going to probably be traveling for a couple of months, but staying with pals most of the time.. I think maybe 15-20 nights "out" is likely to be it, and I'm sure- esp. in the South- a few will be in motels. Once I get further North and the nights are cooler in the 60s, I'd like to just find a spot when it's late/I'm tired and just saw some logs wherever I happen to find myself.


noordinaryspider said:


> I have the cheapest inflatable car mattress off of eBay and it's delightful. No idea how long it's going to last, but I'm definitely not "roughing it". It does lose air over time, so I need to pump it back up again right before turning in and then again in the morning if I want to hang out in the car for awhile, but I think I paid something like fifteen bucks for it.


This is why I'm leaning this way.. I think all I would need is for it to hold air reasonably for six to eight hours, probably less than twenty times, then hopefully be able to keep the mattress for use a few nights a year once I get back to work. 

I think I'm going to spend some more time looking for price/quality then settle on one of these reasonably cheap inflatables... When I get back, I'll leave a review with the brand, features, outcomes etc. If it works- fantastic. 

Thanks for the replies folks! I'll update when I get back.

JM


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## Spazz (Jul 2, 2019)

> One of my closest colleagues literally stroked-out on his 50th birthday from the stress, and I'm almost fifty, so fuck that noise.



Nice to see a youngster with some common sense. 

55 here and seriously thinking about chucking it all. The last 30 years of my life didn't accomplish jack shit. When I was hitching around the country, at least I learned how to busk well enough to support myself, my husband, and my husband's other wife in the '80s with car camping.

I'm so glad you care enough about yourself to take this year off and it sounds like you've done your research well. You're going to be better than fine.

Keep me updated and I may well upgrade to whatever you choose. If you eBay, there are huge differences in price for the same item and most of the time you wind up with a box from Amazon on your doorstep anyway, just from somebody else's data mining advertising profile.....um....Amazon Prime Rewards account thingummywhatchamadiddlededoodlededoo.....


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## Breck (Jul 6, 2019)

Save your money and find a joanns or other craft store. They sell foam squares for doing reupohlstering. Buy one and some cheap sheets from goodwill, then sew the 2 sheets together with the foam inside. Also buy a truck strap or bungee strap for when you roll it up. I also recommend buying a cheap cargo rack for your car. Wal-Mart has the cheapest of those..it makes you look like your moving instead of living in your car.


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## James Meadowlark (Jul 23, 2020)

UPDATE- So I'm back at work for a health system in my local area, different job, less pay but plenty, but also much less stress, so I'm grateful ... It was a good year off. Half on the road, half just relaxing around the house. 

I wish I had a link for the air mattress I bought for my backseat, but it did very well, used it about twice as much as I thought, and it held up like a champ.

I did the trip I mentioned here, also went to Mexico and the SW USA for a while. All in all it was a great year off- I squandered a LOT of time as I wasn't in constant motion, but made the most of the time I didn't. I even went to Idaho and did the Napoleon Dynamite tour. 

Not a picture guy, and hate looking at life through an artificial lens, but the memories are great.


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