Air Mattress Slippery!

[TJ2988]

Hi all!
I tried my best to search the previous forums before asking this question, as well searching google with little success/clarity.

The air mattress I will be sleeping on, this one, is quite slippery. As in the sleeping bag material against the material of the pad is like frictionless and its kinda hard to stay on the mattress for my entire nights rest.

What are some possible options to solve this?
Any ideas?

I was thinking a compact carpet underpad type thing.

Anyone have success with such things?

Thanks for any and all help!

Teej

[shawnbebout]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Strips of grip tape? Kinda like what you use on a baseball bat?

[lizrfoust]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Put a foam pad on top of the air mattress followed by a fitted mattress cover. The mattress cover will keep the foam pad in place and make it less slippery when you sleep on it. It will also help you maintain your body temperature while sleeping.

[TJ2988]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

both excellent ideas!
seems my creativeness is lacking as those both seem like perfect cheap options.

Thank you both so much! I have to sleep on this for 3 months while traveling and living in a tent.

Now I am not dreading the sleeping arrangements so much

[tplife]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Give it away and buy a sleeping pad. Your mattress is designed for summer use only. An air mattress like yours can be downright dangerous in temps between 30 and 50-degrees F, where most hypothermia occurs. A mattress cover over it won't prevent it from being a heat sink, it will only slow the inevitable transfer of warmth out of your body and into the hollow tubes of the air mattress.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

I've had the opposite trouble - the 'flocked' style makes it more difficult to roll or turn over, without having to heave myself up and roll. But, a little easy preparation fixes that - a closed-cell foam pad under the air-matress, and a wool GI blanket on top, and it's good for ALL temps. Proven to 17 degrees, and perfectly warm&comfy and SAFE. Been there, done that many times. Preparation is key, as in all aspects of life.
Had two different Self-deflator Pads fail. The air-matress is far more adjustable, and much better for my back. It simply WORKS.

[immortal_ben]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Give it away and buy a sleeping pad. Your mattress is designed for summer use only. An air mattress like yours can be downright dangerous in temps between 30 and 50-degrees F, where most hypothermia occurs. A mattress cover over it won't prevent it from being a heat sink, it will only slow the inevitable transfer of warmth out of your body and into the hollow tubes of the air mattress.

While it is true that the pad the op has been using is not insulated, it is NOT true that an insulated air pad is a dangerous heat sink. I have used mine in below freezing weather many times and have never been in danger of hypothermia.

To the op, I think you just need to throw a blanked over your pad. If you get into cold temps, simply use a pad with a higher R value.

[tplife]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

While it is true that the pad the op has been using is not insulated, it is NOT true that an insulated air pad is a dangerous heat sink. I have used mine in below freezing weather many times and have never been in danger of hypothermia.

To the op, I think you just need to throw a blanked over your pad. If you get into cold temps, simply use a pad with a higher R value.

To the op, Cascade Designs sold spray that stopped the slippery effect, perhaps they still offer it. Still, give the thing away and buy a decent pad unless you only camp in summer..
In BigDog's scenario, you will sleep warmer by using only the closed-cell foam pad as it's design prevents the hollow-tube heat sink effect of the air mattress, that's why backpackers use them if they can't shell out enough $ for a self-inflating pad.
Immortal Ben: Simply not true. I'm totally cool with you fooling yourself about your hollow-tube air mattress (or cot) thinking it's not sucking the heat out of your body while you sleep. At best you don't sleep as well since your body is wasting energy keeping you warm. At worst you're move likely to have your body core temp drop and experience hypothermia due to the dangerous scenario you're putting yourself in. Hollow-tube air mattresses and cots are heat sinks, always have been, always will be. Laws of Science bro, whether we like them or not they are what they are..now getting a pad with a higher R value is right on, you end up with...a self-inflating sleeping pad. It has cellular construction inside so there are no hollow tubes.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Foam alone.... not for my aching back. Air matress is best, in MY personal experience for several years/winters of camping. Even a two inch Self-deflator - before it inevitably deflates - has my pressure points aching. Not good.
Als, traveling by motorcycle, the self-deflators are far too bulky. Air matress fits easily in the gear bag, and stays inflated - and I'm a BIG boy. Never had an issue.
I stay with what's proven to work, for ME. Others have their own personal preference - and that is what the different options are - nothing more than personal preference.
In less than a month, I'll be camping again in my new 2XT tent, in probably mid-high twenties weather - on air.

[immortal_ben]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

To the op, Cascade Designs sold spray that stopped the slippery effect, perhaps they still offer it. Still, give the thing away and buy a decent pad unless you only camp in summer..
In BigDog's scenario, you will sleep warmer by using only the closed-cell foam pad as it's design prevents the hollow-tube heat sink effect of the air mattress, that's why backpackers use them if they can't shell out enough $ for a self-inflating pad.
Immortal Ben: Simply not true. I'm totally cool with you fooling yourself about your hollow-tube air mattress (or cot) thinking it's not sucking the heat out of your body while you sleep. At best you don't sleep as well since your body is wasting energy keeping you warm. At worst you're move likely to have your body core temp drop and experience hypothermia due to the dangerous scenario you're putting yourself in. Hollow-tube air mattresses and cots are heat sinks, always have been, always will be. Laws of Science bro, whether we like them or not they are what they are..now getting a pad with a higher R value is right on, you end up with...a self-inflating sleeping pad. It has cellular construction inside so there are no hollow tubes.

I have to say that the laws of science and real life experience support my position. For instance, take the insulation in your sleeping bag. it works because it creates loft, or dead air space, which traps and retains the heat your body creates. If that were not true then sleeping bags would be made of a closed cell insulation system. I am not trying to change you mind man, but the info we put out on this site needs to be bueno because not everyone on here has the amount of experience you or I have.

Now, I will say that the colder you go below (15 degrees or so), the less effective an inflatable will be, and would need to be combined or replaced with a closed cell system beneath it. For any temp above that an insulated hollow pad will be just fine. An inflatable does not work the same as sleeping on a cot, as there is nothing preventing air flow beneath a cot. My inflatable is rated to 15 degrees with an R-Value of 4.1. Looking at the temp ratings, R-Values, and insulating concepts of sleeping pads on the Big Agnes site supports what I have said here. But the OP wasn't even talking about sleeping in sub 15 degree weather like some of us crazies. He just wanted to stop sliding off his pad, not hear that it was junk and useless.

ANYWAY, i think if we were going to continue this part of the discussion, a thread should be opened about it. We have hijacked this topic too much as it is.

To the OP, a Big Agnes sleeping bag is made to work in conjunction with their pads. They have a chamber in the bags into which you slip their pads, thus eliminating any slipping and sliding. Hope you find something that works for you, man.

[CabinFreak]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Teej,I think a rug pad might do the trick for you,just get a size that will cover the top of your air mattress.This stuff works great,I have used it in the back of my truck to keep things from sliding around.

[Shadow]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Simple. Adhesive backed velcro. Get some of the wide 4-5" strips. Put a few strips on it and it won't slip, but you can peel them off when you store them, and you won't add much weight and bulk to it like if you had an extra pad layer between them.

[ecichlid]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

tplife, you are speaking in generalities and when you do, you can expect objections. I believe you are correct, but so is immortal_ben. There are insulated air mattresses and they are THE choice for backpackers who camp in colder temperatures. I have slept in temperatures in the 30's on my insulated air mattress and have kept warm. "Laws of Science" still apply.

The Big Agnes insulated pads are great IF you use their bags. If not, Exped SynMat is probably the way to go. Same principle at the Big Agnes pad but it's not slippery. R value is 4.9. http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage_na.nsf/0/4353A03482F4BE77C1257848002221C5?opendocument

Specifically to the OP, there are already some great suggestion here how not to make your current pad slippery. I have used rug pads. Another method, that I did not see mentioned is GE silicone calk II diluted with mineral spirits. Use a sponge brush to dab it one. Can be used you tent floor as well. Dilute even more and you can also use it as a seam sealer.

[tplife]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Sleeping bags don't compensate for the conditions under them, and if you don't understand thermodynamics or heat sink effects just buy a decent open-cell self-inflating sleeping pad from a high-end company (or even a knockoff!) and go camping...Sleeping bags and sleeping pads have nothing in common as far is the relationship between insulatin loft and conductivity...apples and oranges! The hollow air tubes of an air mattress are no different than the air underneath a cot, both are equally inefficieint and should only be used in heated enclosures. The bad effects of cots or air mattresses statistically occur below 50-degrees F, so you need not be doing Arctic camping to lost a good nights' sleep or risk hypothermia in poor conditions. Air conducts heat differently than solids or liquids (see my ice/water cooler posts) so careful attention to your equipment will enhance your camping experience.

[immortal_ben]

Re: Air Mattress Slippery!

Sleeping bags don't compensate for the conditions under them, and if you don't understand thermodynamics or heat sink effects just buy a decent open-cell self-inflating sleeping pad from a high-end company (or even a knockoff!) and go camping...Sleeping bags and sleeping pads have nothing in common as far is the relationship between insulatin loft and conductivity...apples and oranges! The hollow air tubes of an air mattress are no different than the air underneath a cot, both are equally inefficieint and should only be used in heated enclosures. The bad effects of cots or air mattresses statistically occur below 50-degrees F, so you need not be doing Arctic camping to lost a good nights' sleep or risk hypothermia in poor conditions. Air conducts heat differently than solids or liquids (see my ice/water cooler posts) so careful attention to your equipment will enhance your camping experience.

Sorry, but this is outright incorrect. Essentially you are saying that caught out in an exposed position in bad weather, there is no difference in having a wind break and not having one. I suppose there is no difference in having empty window spaces in your house, having single pane windows, and having double pane windows either....

The scientific term I am talking about here is called convection. Basically, you are denying that convection exists. The air inside an inflatable is trapped there. The air underneath a cot is not trapped in any manner.

Yes, I have read many of your ice/water cooler posts, and I simply do not have enough time to reply to all of the incorrect information I have read in them. Please do not think I am trying to attack you on a personal lever, but your some of your statements (in regard to scientific principles) aren't even true. Funny, but numerous times I have seen liquid water in a drinking gl**** with ice cubes, maintain a temperature of 32 degrees for a good while. In fact, that is what any chef would use to calibrate their non-digital food thermometer.

It amazes me that apparently all of the major manufacturers of camping equipment have incredibly bad Research and Development departments that say their products can be used in certain temperatures. I suppose their engineers faked their credentials. On top of that, those corporate lawyers seem to have completely missed the liability the company assumes by sending out such dangerous products which place consumers in extreme peril of life and limb...

Apparently air is the best insulator in a cooler, but a poor insulator in a sleeping pad.

I am done with this subject.