Hi currie,
The mattress shopping tutorial here has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice and also includes some testing guidelines that can help you decide whether a mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
There is also more about the different ways to choose the most suitable mattress (locally and online) that can help you assess and minimize the risks involved of making a choice that isn’t as suitable for you as you hoped for with each of them in post #2 here.
Lifekind certainly make some high quality mattresses but they are also in a much more premium budget range than many other mattresses that use the same or similar materials so I would make sure that you make some very careful “value” comparisons with other similar mattresses as well. The mattress shopping tutorial includes a link to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online (in the optional online step) and many of them also make latex mattresses (including component mattresses) that use different types and blends of latex (including 100% natural and organic latex) that have a range of different designs, options, features, return and exchange policies, and prices that would be well worth including in your research either as a potential purchase or as a reference point to compare the “value” of the mattress you are considering to other very similar mattresses.
There is more about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses.
Lifekind mattresses are latex or latex hybrid mattresses and Tempurpedic mattresses are memory foam mattresses and these are very different materials with very different properties so none of the Lifekind mattresses will feel the same as any of the Tempurpedic mattresses. There is more about how latex compares to memory foam in post #2 here.
I would also be very cautious about using other people’s experiences on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how suitable any specific mattress or material may be for you and in many cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on either in terms of suitability or durability (see post #13 here).
There is also no “standard” definition or consensus of opinion for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that is firm for one can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. This is all relative and is as much an art as a science. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here).
Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to make specific recommendations or suggest a specific mattress or combination of layers or materials based on specs (either yours or a mattress), health conditions, individual circumstances, or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). The most reliable way to choose a mattress which is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) will be based on your own personal testing … hopefully using the testing guidelines in the mattress shopping tutorial.
I would take your time and make sure that you make some careful comparisons between other similar mattresses as well because you will end up living with (and sleeping on) your choice for many years and it would make a lot of sense to take enough time that you are confident that any mattress you purchase is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Phoenix