My Self-Deflating Air Mattress
Written: Mar 06 '00 (Updated May 30 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Don't Have To Blow It Up Because It Comes With A Pump
Cons: You Have To Re-Inflate It Every Couple Of Days * Eats Batteries Like Candy
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| shauncool's Full Review: Coleman self-inflating camp mattress |
Do You Like My Title? The Coleman Quickbed that I purchased in the summer of 1998 has proved itself to me… proved that it is actually self-deflating!
Background
For my geology field training, I was required to camp out for a period of four weeks in August 1998. When my field-partner (dmatter on Epinions) told me that we’d be using a huge cabin-tent, I decided that I would purchase a nice big, comfortable, inflatable air mattress. Being the cozy-driven individual that I am, I decided to go with a large, thick mattress (since we had so much room).
I knew that I wanted a queen-size air mattress and I knew that I wanted a battery-powered air pump. (I had camped plenty of times before with an air mattress/pad, and I hated blowing them up myself.) So, of course, when I saw the Coleman Quickbed and QuickPump Queen-Sized combo I purchased it. I have used Coleman thermoses, coolers and lanterns for years, so I was comfortable with the brand name.
About The Mattress: Trying It Out
I got the mattress home and immediately unboxed it to test it out. I laid the deflated mattress on the floor, ready to inflate it to make sure it worked. I took out the pump and inserted the four, count-them, FOUR D-Sized batteries. After quickly reading the instructions on how to attach the two, I proceeded to do so. Within about 5 minutes the bed was completely inflated. I was impressed at how fast such a small pump could accomplish the job (beats the heck out of huffing and puffing for an hour or so).
I laid on the mattress and realized what the “flocked” meant on the box - the mattress has a nice felt-like coating on the sleeping side. This was very nice, and actually took the need away from needing a sheet on the mattress - this mattress was very comfortable without anything on it. My previous pad/mattress had “bare” rubber on both sides, which was very uncomfortable to sleep on without a sheet covering it.
I was quite satisfied with my purchase at this point as the mattress was very comfortable. I deflated the mattress (which only took a few minutes, maybe less), and packed it with the rest of my supplies for the trip, which was going to start in a few days.
When the time came to leave, I was “playing” with the pump and realized that it did not work… strange. I certainly was very upset and confused at how this could happen to something brand-new. Before running to the store and screaming at some poor clerk, I decided to simply try and replace the batteries. This Worked!. Amazingly, leaving the batteries in the pump DRAINED THEM! Yep, four Duracell-brand batteries completely drained from only 5 minutes of use. Lucky for me, I discovered this problem early, and it did not happen in the field.
Lession Learned: Never keep the batteries inside the pump when not in use!
About The Mattress: In The Field
After setting up camp I had no problems inflating the bed, it worked just as it did at home. As an added bonus, my friend was able to use the Coleman pump to inflate his air mattress as well. (There is a small attachment that comes with the pump which is not necessary with the Coleman bed, but was able to be used to make the pump fit his mattress.) I was actually surprised that the pump worked on his mattress at all since his was a Sears’ Brand and did not the same kind of nozzle as the Coleman.
A few nights later I laid on the mattress to go to sleep. Huhh??? I was completely touching the hard ground! Inspecting the mattress, nearly all of the air-pressure was gone, and it was approximately 1/2 deflated! I was shocked, but not overly upset because I was able to quickly use the pump to re-inflate it to the point where it should have been. Well, for the entire camping trip I was forced to re-inflate the mattress every day or two. This was quite annoying.
What was even more irritating was that my friend’s mattress did not deflate the entire time we were camping! I think that one time he used the pump to give it some added pressure, but that was only because I already had it out to fill up my bed anyway, so it was handy. Amazing… his Sears-brand mattress outperformed my brand name Coleman mattress immensely!
Conclusions
Based on my experience with this mattress, I would not purchase, nor recommend anybody else buy a Coleman air mattress. While I will admit this bed is VERY comfortable when fully inflated, it does not stay that way for long. Perhaps the mattress was not meant to be inflated for days, or even weeks at a time… but nowhere on the box or in the literature does it say this.
I still have and use the mattress. Two or three times I have used it as my own personal guest bed when visiting people, so it has come in handy. And, if I were to go camping again when I have room to use this gigantic queen-sized bed, I will bring it with me. Of course, however, I will be armed with several D-Sized batteries to keep it afloat!
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
shauncool
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Member: Shaun Smith
Location: USA
Reviews written: 121
Trusted by: 236 members
About Me:
Website Applications Developer concentrating on Database Design & Integration into websites based on ASP Technology.
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