MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: poppasmurf on May 16, 2011, 08:34:24 AM
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Hi guys n gals, been a while since I posted due to work and other committments. Anyway we made time to get away for an overnighter up the Buckland Valley in Vic highcountry on the weekend. Temp at night dropped dramatically, as expected, but the cold coming through the mattress was unbelievable. It was one of the colder nights I have experienced up there,or perhaps I just feel it more these days. Anyway my question is what do people use under the mattress for a bit of insulation. We really noticed it in the cub, whereas it was never that bad with the old ct, and we have experienced freezing temps up there in the past.
Any tips/suggestions would be most welcome.
Cheers Shane
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Make sure the kitchen i pushed in. Cold air gets in there if it's not
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We put a good quality underlay on top of our mattress and a good quality dona on top of us, this keeps the cold out, recently we spent a weekend away at Stevensons Falls, in the morning there was a slight frost on the canvas, but we both agreed we were as warm as toast that night, plus a bottle of port before bed helps. >:D
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Find a friendly builder http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx (http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx)
(http://blkmav.com/goldstream/aircell.jpg)
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What a great idea, that stuff is amazing so I see hoe it would work a treat.
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Find a friendly builder http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx (http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx)
(http://blkmav.com/goldstream/aircell.jpg)
yea that looks sweet.
Quick email to the company to find out where and how much:
Good Morning Lost
You can purchase our products through Reece, Tradelink Bowens, Burdens, Mitre 10 and most major hardware stores in Melbourne - approx $9 per square metre.
Other option, 12v electric Blanket.
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Gday Poppasmurf, been stargazing have you. I spent the week up at Wollondilly in freezing conditions, days were good but when the sun went down it was cccccccccccold. We slept great and have a high density foam with a lambswool overlay and one of the eggshell foam covers under the sheet. Over the top of the bed I throw the opened up minus 5 sleeping bag as an extra doona. We were so warm that at times needed to push the cover down for a while. The bit I didnt like was having to get up in the night for a pitstop, that was hard, but it was nice to get back in bed.
Wil
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Gday Poppasmurf, been stargazing have you. I spent the week up at Wollondilly in freezing conditions, days were good but when the sun went down it was cccccccccccold. We slept great and have a high density foam with a lambswool overlay and one of the eggshell foam covers under the sheet. Over the top of the bed I throw the opened up minus 5 sleeping bag as an extra doona. We were so warm that at times needed to push the cover down for a while. The bit I didnt like was having to get up in the night for a pitstop, that was hard, but it was nice to get back in bed.
Wil
would you have any pics of this setup?
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Unfortunately not and I just put the CT away for the winter but the lambswool overlay is the standard one you buy for a double or queen bed and the eggshell foam is bought is sizes to suit what bed you have, it certainly kept the cold out and I didnt have my kitchen closed either.
Wil
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We fixed our cold problem by moving further north.
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I will 2nd the lambswool overlay they are great in the camper for keeping the bed warm & snug! :D
Sarah (Tims wife)
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Hi,
We were at the Sandy Creek meet, early sunday morning the temp was down to 5 degrees, I had the kitchen open and setup on our cub escape.
I have the standard Cub matress with a foam eggcrate overlay and then a wool overlay on top, we were very warm and did not feel any cold with the kitchen hatch open.
Ray
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We have a woolen overlay too and swear by them.
Just remember if you are going to buy one, the higher the GSM number the better the wool quality and therefore the warmth.
The difference between a 300GSM and 700GSM is amazing, but unfortunately most people don't know about this when purchasing.
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no body has mentioned diesel heater.. >:D
sorry i couldn't help myself.. i'm like a kid with a new toy, but without the new toy.. if that makes any sense.
lambs wool, hot water bottles, flannelette sheets, thick doona, long PJs and closing the kitchen would all be my suggestions.
dan
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Thanks all for the tips. Never even thought of closing the kitchen; seems so obvious now.
D4D now that is what I was trying to think of this morning before work, thanks mate. :cheers:
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We use high density closed cell foam matts. The thick yoga style matts.
They work a treat, and everyone we recommended it to has agreed.
Cheap and effective.
Brian
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Hi Trev, to answer your question, yes I have been doing quite a bit of stargazing lately. Although its getting rather cold being out at night, I were getting some good pics of Saturn but the camera has given up the ghost so I have to get a new one to attach to the scope. How's the better half going?
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I recommend 13 NOT 12 but 13 cans of V B ;D ;D ;D
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We fixed our cold problem by moving further north.
Sounds good to me ;D
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We dont go out camping much here in the winter, its just too cold. But every so often we will arrange a group camp in the middle of winter, read frosts an inch thich with possible snow up to six inches.
How do we keep warm, simple. Electric blankets. Our genny would run 3 electric blankets from 10pm to 6am, could hardly hear them going down at the end of the extension cord. Yes, I know they not ment to be left on over night but there was no way we were turning them off. And no, no other campers for 50 odd kms as they were all at home in their warm houses.......suckers
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ploar fleece under you and one ver you
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I have some of that black plastic open-weave stuff under my mattress to keep air under it when stored (Clark Rubber sell it). It also acts to get the mattress off the cold bed base, so helps keep warmth in. Plus the foam eggshell overlay and sheepskin cover.
Hot water bottles are hard to go past on the cold nights too. Just re-boil same water next night so no issue with water waste.
Whatever happened to those old metal jiggers you used to put coals in and slip under the covers to warm the bed - they'd make perfect sense for camping! (no, I'm not that old, but I've seen them in antique shops etc)
Cam
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All good Shane, had a great week down at Wollondilly, you must try it sometime.
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Electric blanket is :cup: our Queensize will run from 8.00pm to 7.00am off the inverter ;D ;D :cheers:
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Beanie... if I get too cold I 'might' wear PJs ;D
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hey Shane
Try one of these...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-12V-Heated-Electric-Blanket-Car-Truck-SUV-etc-/140272080105?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20a8de14e9
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We have a cheap lambswool underlay (k-mart, target, big w) which has worked a treat. Always had it so not sure what it would be like without it.
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Hot water bottles with fleece covers and thermal unders in addition to all the other great suggestions here.
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We dont go out camping much here in the winter, its just too cold. But every so often we will arrange a group camp in the middle of winter, read frosts an inch thich with possible snow up to six inches.
sounds like the best time to go!!! There'd be NO crowds and plenty of firewood :)
Try one of these...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-12V-Heated-Electric-Blanket-Car-Truck-SUV-etc-/140272080105?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20a8de14e9
I had one of those, worked a TREAT.. Cause of my rooted leg and bad circulation, I need to keep my bad leg warm or I get bad cramps all night, but they suck the juice on the battery.
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Electric blanket is :cup: our Queensize will run from 8.00pm to 7.00am off the inverter ;D ;D :cheers:
how much power do they draw generally?
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For about 20 years now I have been running a reflective tarp, (emergency blanket) under all my swags. It will fix your problem. Was down the new england on the weekend and it was around the 0 mark with frost on the ground.
Never felt it. Warm as toast.
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The way some people are talking they must or plan on camping naked at Mawsons Hut. ;D
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The way some people are talking they must or plan on camping naked at Mawsons Hut. ;D
Sounds like it don't it. I don't want to roast, I just don't want to freeze.lol
There are some good/realistic suggestions though, like the king span insulation, which I think is the solution as it doesn't take up too much space making it too hard to pack up the ct.
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When we recently camped at the Buckland valley we plugged our electric blanket into the inverter for the first time ever, works a treat. We already have the inverter, electric blanket was off the bed at home, total cost $zero. 300 watt inverter is fine, some others on our trip ran theirs off a 200 watt inverter.
Cheers Andrew
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An option for under the bed
http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/smallfish_info.php?products_id=28443
Canningvale 500GSM Wool Quilt
Dry Clean only - with cotton cover
•Option A: Single – RRP $149, $59.95!
•Option B: Double - RRP $169, $69.95!
•Option C: Queen – RRP $199, $79.95!
•Option D: King – RRP $219, $89.95!
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We've got a lambswool underlay which is nice and comfortable as well as warm, but talking about it with someone the other day she said they have always just put an old woolen blanket on top of the mattress, under the bottom sheet (or sleeping bag), and always found that made a big difference, so if you've got spare blankets, that would save buying something new.
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this is what you need (snow-stuff.com.au) SELK'BAG G 3
and we would look good in it
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Camp above the Tropic of Capricorn at this time of year? It's valid!
Kit_e
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i wish i could do that
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Bottle o Port or GGW. When the bottle is sufficiently drained, go to bed. You won't feel any cold at all.
Oh, for a more sensible answer, I've got a couple of those old heavy type woolen ex army blankets. Over, under doesn't matter. Bloody warm & near indistructable.
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For those that have the kids along, how do you make sure they are warm as well. We have just bought some stretcher beds for the rugrats to sleep on. Do you think a woolen underlay or a thin mattress would be ok?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I don't know what we would do now. It's getting cold up here as well. Needed the doona last night, go down to 18c - getting soft. Hope we don't freeze on the was over to the cape trip this year.
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We too have a few kids on stretchers, what we have done is cut up an eggshell foam sheet and made ( wife made ) a mini dooner cover to go over the foam, we then put his on the stretcher under their -9 sleeping bag, once they are in them they dont get cold, bit of winging for the first few moments till they warm the sleeping bag a bit.. this seems to stop the cold from underneath and gives them a slightly softer sleeping surface, we just throw them all on our bed with all the sleeping bags when packing up. I like the aircell under our mattress idea, have some left over from when i built my shed will be sticking that under the mattress this weekend.
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For those that have the kids along, how do you make sure they are warm as well. We have just bought some stretcher beds for the rugrats to sleep on. Do you think a woolen underlay or a thin mattress would be ok?
Our son sleeps outside the CT in his swag, he loves it, always warm. I slept in the swag last weekend, Minus 2 overnight and I was toasty warm.
Cheers Andrew
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Friction
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I don't know what we would do now. It's getting cold up here as well. Needed the doona last night, go down to 18c - getting soft. Hope we don't freeze on the was over to the cape trip this year.
I remember working in Kununurra one day and the temp. only got to about 25 deg C, the blokes wore beanies and coats around all day. Tassie would have killed them. We have hardly been into double figures for a week.
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Friction
Even if you are camping solo?...... ;D
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Find a friendly builder http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx (http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx)
(http://blkmav.com/goldstream/aircell.jpg)
any chance of wording up your friendly builder mate for some more :) I cant find th shiz anywhere.
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any chance of wording up your friendly builder mate for some more :) I cant find th shiz anywhere.
Why don,t you use some alfoil or a couple of those el-cheapo space blankets that are sold in camping shops?
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[quote any chance of wording up your friendly builder mate for some more :) I cant find th shiz anywhere.
[/quote]
Most hardware stores sell it by the metre. I got some a couple of weeks back for $14 per metre.
:cheers:
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We tried to buy the kingspan insulation in Adelaide but most hardware stores only sold it
in a large roll . Found a similar product called Green Insulation reflecta guard .
Mitre10 sell it in 8m handi pack . Went halves with friend with another jayco hawk .
I will test it out this weekend .
Cheers Paul
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if you want to stay warm or even hot at night in bed use polar fleece blankets . they are the best thing since slice bread
one under you and one on top then a doona nice and toasty
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i have brought a roll of this with the intension of using it to make a solar blanket to go over the camper but after reading this thread i might stick it under the mattress as well (if its not too noisey)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230637213706
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Hi guys
Just some feedback based on our own recent experience.
Bought some Kingspan insulation from the local Bunnings that had some offcut, took it home and cut to size to fit under the mattress on the ply baseboard. Great idea!
Went weekend camping at Nanga Mill in May, definitely made a difference in retaining body heat at 4 degrees overnight. We also use a memory foam thingy on top of the mattress and an underlay, then woollen throws we found cheap somewhere and a doona.
Just come back from up North after 2 weeks on the road, and on cleaning out the camper we noticed for the first time some considerable mould underneath the mattress. Although we were warm most nights (with beanies and thermals, socks and port of course) we also felt we were sweating more at night if that makes sense. Heavy condensation in the camper most mornings.
We are now up for a new mattress because we don't want to risk cleaning this one.
So although the air cell insulation works well in trapping body heat, it also traps moisture. Mea culpa for not airing the mattress every day, but when you are set up for 5 nights in one spot it doesn't seem an issue and when moving along with early morning departures for long distances travelled during the day it isn't an option.
So now have the air cell sheet in the shed.
We won't be using it again.
So if you are/have been using this idea it works but will need to take care in airing the mattress frequently though.
Just our experience.
Cheers
ChrisB.
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30+ grand for a campertrailer and you have cold air coming up under the mattress ???
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Has anyone else had this problem with using this insulation under their mattress?
After reading heaps of posts about people putting it under their mattresses in their Jayco's we were all set to buy some ourselves. Went to Bunnings on Saturday to buy it, but our local one didn't have it so we were going to get it from another one this week. But I don't want to buy it if we are going to get a mouldy mattress!
Very keen to hear from others who have used it and whether you have had this problem.
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if you want to stay warm or even hot at night in bed use polar fleece blankets . they are the best thing since slice bread
one under you and one on top then a doona nice and toasty
x a trillion!
I always have 2 spare single polar fleece blankies beside the bed. They make all the difference in cold conditions, as they seem to trap the heat in.
Kit_e
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Has anyone else had this problem with using this insulation under their mattress?
After reading heaps of posts about people putting it under their mattresses in their Jayco's we were all set to buy some ourselves. Went to Bunnings on Saturday to buy it, but our local one didn't have it so we were going to get it from another one this week. But I don't want to buy it if we are going to get a mouldy mattress!
Very keen to hear from others who have used it and whether you have had this problem.
I checked our Jayco Hawk today. No worries......both mattresses good as gold.
IMO the Jayco mattresses get pretty good ventilation, and I don't think it will cause a problem.
I will monitor it very closely.
:cheers:
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we have had one on our bed at home for three years and have not used a power blank in all that time . it works that good one blanket $20 .
it has allowed me to that the boss winter camping how that
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Yeah the issue is more about
a/ condensation
b/ ventilation.
and getting the balance right.
All I am suggesting is if you do use the reflective air cells under the mattress, more frequent airing is required. Trouble with us is we tend to spend one or two nights in one place more often than not and if you waited in winter for the sun / wind to dry the inside of the canvas/camper before you moved on, there would not be much travel time left in the day!
Post camping trip in the winter/wet, drying out the bedding and canvas are top priority for us now!
We prefer winter camping, less crowds, less bugs, generally no bookings required.
New mattress collected today. Lesson learnt, but will also use some of that Hippo stuff mentioned in other recent posts when storing the camper. What we do now is pop up the camper in the shed for a few days to dry out, even with an oil heater on inside it, that works a treat.
Yep even my double brick cavity wall house here is WA gets cold in winter, mainly because we sleep with at least one window open: it has nothing to do with price of our house/camper! You shoulda seen the condensation in the house we had in Invercargill, NZ, one morning there were stalactites on the inside of the bedroom windows, neighbours' water pipes froze and burst, had to come over to shower at our house. We opened the bath taps waiting for the ice in the pipes to thaw and went down the shops.....
...oops
.... came back home
... rivers down the passage! :-[
All good fun.
ChrisB
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I have been having the same issue. The under side of our mattress becoming wet. From what i have found out it only happens with a foam mattress because they retain the moisture we expel during the night. Innersprung mattress is better vented and does not retain the moisture.
I have put a layer of EMP mesh under the mattress which has stopped this moisture forming. Found it on a boating website. Apparently it is a big issue for boats. Link to the site I got it from.
http://www.empind.com.au/cat/index.cgi/shopfront/view_product_details?category_id=9794&product_id=302427
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thanks lowlux
the mattress was foam, good point about the innersprungs.
The logic behind the EMP product is sound, but another 150 bucks is steep.
We still have our Kingspan air cell, maybe some cheaper matting would do the trick?
ChrisB
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So these people getting moisture and stuff under their beds, I wonder if it would be any different if the stuff was put inside the trailer on the section below the bed instead?
Just tryin to work out options :)
I still think maybe a good quality blanket under the matress may work.
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Find a friendly builder http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx (http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Retroshield/Overview.aspx)
(http://blkmav.com/goldstream/aircell.jpg)
BTT
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I have been having the same issue. The under side of our mattress becoming wet. From what i have found out it only happens with a foam mattress because they retain the moisture we expel during the night. Innersprung mattress is better vented and does not retain the moisture.
I have put a layer of EMP mesh under the mattress which has stopped this moisture forming. Found it on a boating website. Apparently it is a big issue for boats. Link to the site I got it from.
http://www.empind.com.au/cat/index.cgi/shopfront/view_product_details?category_id=9794&product_id=302427
Does any one know if the above emp mesh is the same as the mesh advertised on the ultimate camper web site
as an option for $330
Cheers paul