In your camping experiences, what have you found to be the best air mattress to buy? I want to get one for the E. There seem to be a lot on the store shelves with little way to compare one with another except for the photos on the boxes. I remember sleeping on these things years ago and having to get up during the night to pump them up, or freezing to death because they were so cold. I imagine the newer ones are of better quality. Anyone have experience they can share or recommendations about what to buy?
music&dogs
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It looks like it would be easier to handle and store than our futon, but I'm not sure if its 3" of foam is enough to deal with the high and low spots in the seats of the Element like the 6" thick futon does. It is a little pricey at $120. We got our futon on sale for $89
As always, whatever works for us may not be the next persons preferance.
When we camp at the races in the Element we don't have to deal with any real camping gear or bring much food so we are not as concerned with space and packaging as some might be. Just the futon and a sleeping bag as a comforter for us, my gear for working corners, my wifes laptop for working Timing/Scoring, a cooler for the weekend, a couple of folding chairs for the after party socializing, and our clothes and toiletries are all we take with us. Works great so far!
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That will fit. Costco has them in the spring and summer..... $59 or $69 bucks, when I bought they had black and grey.
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New mattress. Perfect fit
I got this Coleman SUV mattress from Walmart.com. It fits the E perfectly. It has a second air chamber that adds about 6" to the length. The photo shows the mattress with the seats moved forward. You can deflate the 6" chamber to get enough room to move the seats back and still close the tailgate. I'm over 6' so the only way I can sleep on it is with the tailgate open though.
![Image]()
I got this Coleman SUV mattress from Walmart.com. It fits the E perfectly. It has a second air chamber that adds about 6" to the length. The photo shows the mattress with the seats moved forward. You can deflate the 6" chamber to get enough room to move the seats back and still close the tailgate. I'm over 6' so the only way I can sleep on it is with the tailgate open though.
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Nice find, looks comfy.
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$23.98 plus 97¢ shipping. Here's a link to it:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-SUV-Air-Bed/5646056#ProductDetail
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-SUV-Air-Bed/5646056#ProductDetail
I'm 6-1. I found last week that if I use a platform to raise the sleeping surface above the tailgate window line, and move the front seat and seat back all the way forward,I can lay flat without touching the windows or the front seat.
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You don't actually need to go above the tailgate window. You pretty much just need to get above the humps in the rear side panels. With my mattress in place, it is just up above the top edge of the tailgate.
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tagging for later
I'm gonna check out the coleman and the tri-fold for hubby. I'm a shorty and use my deluxe therma rest on the seats with my sleeping bag to sleep. very comfortable for me, and I use the E for solo outings mostly. We use our Coleman pop up for joint outings, but it's alot of work and we are getting back to weekend campouts and hubby needs some thing more than an air mattress on tent floor. He needs to have something tooffer resistance when he launches hisself in the mornings. spending 3 nights memorial weekend on the Suwannee river, primitive camping! can not wait!
I'm gonna check out the coleman and the tri-fold for hubby. I'm a shorty and use my deluxe therma rest on the seats with my sleeping bag to sleep. very comfortable for me, and I use the E for solo outings mostly. We use our Coleman pop up for joint outings, but it's alot of work and we are getting back to weekend campouts and hubby needs some thing more than an air mattress on tent floor. He needs to have something tooffer resistance when he launches hisself in the mornings. spending 3 nights memorial weekend on the Suwannee river, primitive camping! can not wait!
If you can afford to lose the space required to lower the front seat backs, you're right.
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We use our cheap, thin, full size futon. At first it was not so good because the futon was too wide and made a kind of "taco shell" pushing Fork and I together. We lost valuable inches of width. Then I decided to augment it in the center with stuff I had lying around. A couple of Thermarests, comforters, blankets, and that raised us above the dreaded taco shell, making the sleeping surface wider. More cushy and comfy, too.:-D
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I could see that being an issue if you had a ton of gear with you. I set up a small pup tent and store the gear in there when I am sleeping in the E.
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Hello Buttermilk,I got this Coleman SUV mattress from Walmart.com. It fits the E perfectly. It has a second air chamber that adds about 6" to the length. The photo shows the mattress with the seats moved forward. You can deflate the 6" chamber to get enough room to move the seats back and still close the tailgate. I'm over 6' so the only way I can sleep on it is with the tailgate open though.
![Image]()
Could you put the Mattress on top of the "All Seats Folded Down" position?
Just wondering what you think?
My reason for sleeping in the Element isn't for those locations where we could/would be able to set up a tent. When we camp, we do it with enough gear that we'd need the space utilized for laying down the front seat backs.
I'd like to be able to sleep in the Element on cross-country trips at rest stops for a few hours, or if we get to a campsite site late and it's raining.
We can pitch our 11x11 dome and set up a comfortable basic sleeping campsite in under 30 minutes. For two adults of our age, sleeping on a 39x80 air mattress apiece and being able get in and out of a tent without bending or stretching beats sleeping in the Element.
Sleeping in the Element isn't an ideal solution for us as a couple; my wife has difficulty getting into the back even when it's configured for passengers, I figure I'd have to rig up some kind of step stool and extend the grab bars for her.
So, my goal for a platform is to house our non-sleeping gear better, possibly incorporating a camping kitchen into some of the modules. Being able to sleep on to of it ids a bonus.
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See....My wife doesn't tent camp, lol. Sleeping on the ground was ruined in a bad tent camping experience years ago. :|
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Out of curiosity, today I decided to flip my platform extension forward with the seats pushed all the way forward like you describe. It clears the seats just fine and still provide 6' 4" from the tailgate end of the platform to the back of the front seats. Your right...there is more room under the seats that way. The only downfall I can see with using my arrangement that way is that it would be more difficult to get out of the vehicle during the night. Good to know I can do it that way if I don't want to/have a place to store stuff outside of the E.
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There is a whole thread about a rear hatch mod, that puts in a latch to open the door from the inside. It can be as easy as a piece of sting or as complicated as a whole new handle being installed.
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10932
I recently did this mod and am enjoying it!
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10932
I recently did this mod and am enjoying it!
How do you sleep?
We just went on our first overnight adventure in our E. We folded up the back seats and slept on thermarests on the floor. It ended up being a little cramped. We had tried folding the seats down and laying across them, but there are weird low points to be comfortable.
So how does everyone sleep in the E? Suggestions for making it more spacious and comfortable? Anyway to make the seats a comfortable option?
Thanks!
Kristin
We just went on our first overnight adventure in our E. We folded up the back seats and slept on thermarests on the floor. It ended up being a little cramped. We had tried folding the seats down and laying across them, but there are weird low points to be comfortable.
So how does everyone sleep in the E? Suggestions for making it more spacious and comfortable? Anyway to make the seats a comfortable option?
Thanks!
Kristin
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Tenting the clam shell
I'm thinking of trying to "tent" the rear clam shell doors. Using vewlcro and misquitoe netting to create a tent and be able to leave the rear open, have more leg room, and not get eaten by critters. Has anyone tried anything like this..??
I'm thinking of trying to "tent" the rear clam shell doors. Using vewlcro and misquitoe netting to create a tent and be able to leave the rear open, have more leg room, and not get eaten by critters. Has anyone tried anything like this..??
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> Has anyone tried anything like this..??
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15695
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15695
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