Separate Topper vs Taller Mattress and 3 vs 4 layers?

[phoenix]

Hi d3adrock,

Thanks again, that is extremely helpful although a little disheartening. There more I search and research mattresses the more frustrated I am becoming. It is really difficult to buy anything without trying it and it is difficult to try anything without buying. And the worst thing is statistics and measurements are basically worthless unless you’ve tried similar stuff and even then it is subjective. This is a nightmare for hyper analytical people like me that just like to look at stats and info to determine the “absolute best”. But in mattresses there is no absolute best, there is only subjective and varied opinions, it’s horrible! Not at all like buying a computer, where all the data about every component is in neat little comparable categories that will preform equally for everybody.

The first “rule” of mattress shopping (and mattress layering) is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a certain combination of layers will “feel” to you or compare to other combinations based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing or your personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

You’re right that buying a mattress is more like buying food or clothes where personal preferences play a very large role in deciding on the best choice for you (regardless of whether the same choice would be suitable for anyone else).

Unless you have a great deal of knowledge and experience with different types of mattress materials and specs and different layering combinations and how they combine together and can translate them into your own “real life” experience that can be unique to you (which would only be a very small percentage of people) … I would avoid using individual specs such as layer thicknesses or ILD numbers or other complex combinations of information or specifications to try and predict how a mattress will feel or perform for you or how it will compare to another mattress and focus more on your own actual testing and/or personal experience. While knowing the specs that can affect the quality and durability of the layers and components in a mattress is always important … when you try and choose or compare a mattress based on complex combinations of “comfort” specs that you may not fully understand then the most common outcome can often be “information overload” and “paralysis by analysis”.

In its simplest form … choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to first finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in (either locally or online) and that can provide you with all the information you need to know to make an informed choice and make meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …

1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.

2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.

3. Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Ok end of rant. I will post back after purchasing my mattress in the next couple days (which i’m 99% sure will be a Sleep EZ despite the silly name that sounds like something you would see on a late night TV shopping channel.) and sleeping on it a while.

As you know you are certainly looking at making a great quality/value choice (regardless of how you feel about the name of the company) and assuming that you decide to pull the trigger I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback once you’ve received it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.

Phoenix