When buying Self Inflating Mats, the quality of the product is going to be one of the factors that you really scrutinise before you commit to buying. The material the product is made from is often a sign of the quality for Self Inflating Mats. Take a look at the product details over at Go Outdoors to get a feel for this.

Height: A taller mattress is likely to be more comfortable, as it has more air, but, of course, it will be more cumbersome. So, if portability is important, you may want to consider a thinner air bed. It has an insulation “R” rating of 2.3, making it best suited for summer expeditions. We love the fact it also comes with an expensive repair kit and a bag that can be used to inflate the air mattress saving your lungs after a long day’s hiking. Much like the Dreamboat Double from Outwell, this mattress is not compact or lightweight, but what you lose in portability, you gain in plush, 10cm-deep foam padding and a generous layer of air. Price – as you’d expect the price of a product can be an instantly recognisable factor on what sort of quality you can expect. Whoever came up with the phrase “you get what you pay for” pretty much hit the nail on the head. Whilst it’s not always the case and there are many bargains to be had, you can as a general rule, expect the higher priced products to offer better quality than a the cheapest option. We’ll dive into the price of Hi-Gear Dream 5 Double Self-Inflating Mattress in more detail in a moment. Some air beds come with a patch kit, which typically includes an adhesive, applicator and patches that match your air bed material. However if you don’t have this kit to hand, you can either buy one (taking into consideration the colour and material of your mattress) or fashion something yourself. Substitutes for a patch include some kind of thin, plastic material, such as part of a shower curtain liner – and you’ll want to use a strong glue as your adhesive, so your DIY work dries tight.I chose a range of double, king and queen air beds from the likes of Argos, Decathlon, Dreams and Active Era that have built-in pumps and can be manually pumped up too. I rated each air bed on its design, warmth, comfort, portability and assembly. I took into consideration pillow and edge support, how easy it was to get in and off the bed and whether it came with extras such as a puncture patch or storage bag. A smooth-to-the-touch greige polyester fabric covers the PVC structure on this air bed. I was impressed: I think it would blend well into most modern and classic design schemes. Self-inflating designs still need time to work and almost always require a few big breaths, or pumps, to completely inflate. Larger options may require a foot pump. Or you can buy an automatic pump that either plugs into your car’s power, if you are camping near the car, or has its own battery supply, like this excellent model from Flextail. How we test air mattresses The choice of airbeds for occasional guest use has become a lot more sophisticated in recent years,’ says Jessica Alexander from the National Bed Federation. ‘While they are not intended as a replacement for a proper mattress – since they don’t provide the same support – they are increasingly impressive in terms of comfort.’ There are however some methods that you can use to determine a product’s quality without needing to physically have it.

A cross between an inflatable airbed and a camping mat, a self inflating sleeping matress gives you the best of both worlds. Easier to use than an airbed, just unroll the self inflating mat and it will blow up on its own without any pumping. This gives you an air filled mattress to sleep on, offering more comfort than a flat camping mat. Most manufacturers advise that children under eight should not sleep on an air bed. Each design will also have a maximum weight capacity for the user. The Bestway Fortech design has a total weight capacity of 350kg (55 stone), for example. One of the most common worries for would-be campers is whether they’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep in a tent – after all, a family holiday or a festival weekend isn’t much fun if you’re not getting proper rest. And the best way to make sure you sleep well in the great outdoors is on a decent air bed.According to the Sleep Foundation, it’s completely natural for air beds to lose some inflation over time. However, if this happens regularly, it’s probably due to a puncture of some kind. If this sounds like a problem you’re dealing with, fear not, as DIY repairs are very common within the air bed community.