Help with very thin camper mattress

[tjuster1]

I’ve spent several hours perusing the forum here without finding an answer to my question, so I hope I’m not repeating a question that has already been answered.

My dilemma: I need a mattress for a teardrop camper that can be no thicker than 4-5" due to an overhang, and yet I’d like it to be as comfortable as possible for my wife and I, who are both side sleepers. At home we sleep on a firm mattress with a 2" latex topper, and love it. We are both about 5’ 10" 160 lbs.

I foolishly ordered a mattress from an online supplier consisting of 3" of very firm (ILD=50) foam under 1" of supposedly medium-firm latex, and it was hard as a rock . . . I woke up sore. Not an option. I’ve looked into some off-the-shelf solutions which mostly consist of HD foam only. Tochta Mattress sells a mattress with 2" of firm HD foam under 2" of gel memory foam that they claim is “super comfortable”, but neither my wife or I really like sleeping on memory foam and much prefer latex. So now I’m thinking of a DIY solution that incorporates the basic construction of the Tochta with latex. I understand that the thickness constraint will mean that any mattress is a compromise. I’d welcome any expert advice, but here are some specific questions:

1. Is the general idea of 2" of firm foam under 2" of latex a decent solution?

2. Would splurging for HR foam over HD foam as the foundation be a good choice? I’m thinking the HR foam (ILD = 36) with its higher support factor would help avoid bottoming out. Since it’s so thin, the difference in price from HD foam isn’t extreme.

3. If I could tolerate another inch of thickness, would it make much difference? In other words, would a 5" mattress be significantly more comfortable than a 4" mattress?

EDIT: Perhaps I should have directed this to a specific “expert”, but in looking through their product lines it wasn’t obvious which expert to choose. So I apologize in advance if I’ve tossed this into the general forum without any direction. But I’m really stumped! Thanks in advance for understanding.

[NikkiTMU]

Hi tjuster1.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum.

We’ve had a few tricky RV/camper mattress questions before but of course everyone’s needs/mattress measurements, etc are different! Some of our Trusted Members do sell RV mattresses, but it’s perfectly acceptable to build your own if that’s what you prefer!

I foolishly ordered a mattress from an online supplier consisting of 3" of very firm (ILD=50) foam under 1" of supposedly medium-firm latex, and it was hard as a rock

Ouch! That sounds firm indeed. Can you exchange or return it at all?

Tochta Mattress sells a mattress with 2" of firm HD foam under 2" of gel memory foam that they claim is “super comfortable”, but neither my wife or I really like sleeping on memory foam and much prefer latex.

I’d be wary to buy anything if they don’t disclose the foam density. Your idea to do something similar with latex is a good one.

1) Is the general idea of 2" of firm foam under 2" of latex a decent solution?

Absolutely.

Would splurging for HR foam over HD foam as the foundation be a good choice? I’m thinking the HR foam (ILD = 36) with its higher support factor would help avoid bottoming out.

I agree, it will have a little more give which you probably need in such a limited amount of thickness.

If I could tolerate another inch of thickness, would it make much difference? In other words, would a 5" mattress be significantly more comfortable than a 4" mattress?

I think in such a thin construction every inch makes a difference, honestly. But I don’t know that it would be significant. Noticeable, sure.

Any other questions mulling around since you posted?
NikkiTMU

[tjuster1]

Thanks so much for the reply. I’m going to look into the costs of various configurations, and if I have followup questions I’ll be sure to post them here.