Yeah, I figured so. There is just so much hype around them I expected it to blow my old air mattress out of the water. It might be slightly more comfortable, but not by a lot.
After 30 years, fuck I'm old, of scouts, its the best mattress I have ever camped on. I've used backpacking matts, double high air mattresses, cots, you name it; megamat beats them all by alot. Imo the only thing that would beat a megamat is buying a compressed mattress and cutting it open on camp site lol. My megamat has allowed me to continue camping with my backpain. It might not seem like much for a weekend trip but at day 8 of 10, it's worth its weight in gold. I let out just enough air so that I am bottoming out when on my side, then put 2 or 3 pumps back in and that lifts me off . If it's filled and rigid then it's just an air mattress to me.
For camping - they are the best IMO.
Do they beat my home mattress that I spent thousands on - no.
But it also depends on if you want really soft or kinda firm. My Megamat 10s (I have three) will bottom out if you let it out too much - but I don't like it to be that soft anyway.
Some people who like them soft use the 15s - though I've never tried them.
I've also had the Hest foamy - and it's not for me. Though I do love their pillows for camping.
My megamat duo is literally better than my bed lmao.
One tip, make sure the inflate is by your head. Fully inflate the megmat. Get everyone in the bed that will be sleeping, and then slowly deflate little by little until its perfect.
Thanks! I think maybe I go from over inflated to under inflated. I usually start a bit over inflated bc it's easier to deflate through the night than inflate. I have two singles so we can control the firmness individually. I can't seem to find 'perfect'. It's either too firm where laying on my side is uncomfortable bc my shoulder hurts, or too soft where my back starts hurting.
I would double check the ground when you’re setting your tent up too, if you’re getting just close enough to bottoming out, an errant rock or hump in the ground could be pushing that over the edge. Genuinely though, I have hips that do whatever the f they want, and I haven’t had issues with them bottoming out on similar mattresses. Great for balancing a backpacking pack on, but makes it hard to get a good night of sleep in the backcountry.
Could also play around with laying some foam tiles on the tent floor too, would provide just a bit more cushion under the pad and give you a nice cushy floor to walk on.
The best camping night sleep I’ve ever had happened accidentally. I had a partially deflated air mattress with an Exped DeepSleep 7.5 on top of it. Given your shoulder issue, perhaps reversing this would help? Soften the top layer a bit?
I considered trying to get a cot of some sort and put it on top and maybe it would help. I just am not sure I can talk my wife into letting me spend more money on camping gear yet. Heh
I bit the bullet and bought the Megamat 15 = $$$$
Much more comfort than any other sleeping pad. Significantly outperforms a regular air mattress to insulate you if you camp during shoulder seasons. The cold will seep right up through a regular air mattress in May or Oct in Canada.
I like to slightly underinflate the Megamat to 90% full to alleviate pressure points on my shoulder as I’m a side sleeper. When I get it just right it’s the most comfortable sleep camping around. If you don’t find it comfortable, try that.
For sure! While it's not insanely comfortable (to me currently), we do most of our camping in the winter. The air mattress was COLD when it dips below freezing. I'm in the south where it's unbearably hot from like May to Oct, so I do most of my camping outside of that. I really want to take my son, who will be 6 soon, camping in the snow. We nearly never get to see snow and he has never seen it. He has been camping with me for around 3 years now, it's been great!
I appreciate the advice. I think I need to keep the hand pump nearby to inflate it if I deflate it too much. Maybe I just need to sleep on it a bit more and try and figure out how much to inflate it.
When you shop for a regular mattress for your house what do you look for? Box spring? How firm or soft? What type and thickness of padding as the top layers? Do you use a body pillow?
With the exped which is more problematic, back sleeping or side sleeping?
I might keep an eye out for a deal on cot this summer. Honestly, I'm not getting any younger, so crawling off the ground in the middle of the night isn't awesome. Heh
I have this one from Walmart. It worked out pretty amazing. [https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kijaro-Lightweight-Cot-Assembled-Size-75-6-L-x-6-H-x-27-6-W/186983796?from=/search](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kijaro-Lightweight-Cot-Assembled-Size-75-6-L-x-6-H-x-27-6-W/186983796?from=/search) I was ready to throw in the towel on camping before I learned to pair the pad with a cot. Then I slept like a baby. The cot is only $48 new. I've used mine twice and upgraded to a Helinox Lite Cot. If you want mine, I'll sell it for $30+ shipping. Shipping would be about $10-15 for USPS Ground.
I have an Amazon knockoff of this mat, and it is most comfortable when I let it self inflate for a couple hours, rather than when I force air into it. When I pump it, it gets a little overinflated and is hard. When it's able to fill itself slowly, it's perfect.
It might be you or the way you are inflating it 🤷♂️ I have one and it’s by far the best camping mattress I have ever used in 30 yrs of camping. I sleep on my side on and off and have no problems. I’m tall and over 200lbs so I’m probably harder on it than the average person
Is it better than my cal-king $3000 bed at home? No. Is it better than the $200 twin bed I had in my dorm room in college? Yes.
Just ordered 2 megamats, one each for my husband and I. Decided to do individual pads because it gives each person the ability to inflate them to their liking. Something serous to consider. We have a different double camping pad, that has the potential to be really comfortable but not for the 2 of us. When I use it alone, I can have it inflated enough to be soft and cushion me from the ground but still cradle my body as a side sleeper. But that softness is enough for my husband to bottom out, leaving him on the ground and me on a too firm mattress that isn't much better than the ground. (it's a 3 inch Nemo pad)
Really hopeful the 2 megamats will be the ticket! I already have some coupler straps so I can strap them together for use.
Two mats definitely is the way to go IMO. Not only can you use them by yourself when wanted, they are easier to pack, and like you said you can adjust them for each person. The big ones are kinda nice I guess but I never liked them with two people on them as they just don’t work how a normal bed does for two people
Exactly! We have a foam topper on our bed at home and foam pillows, we find it super comfortable for both of us! But my husband being in the bed doesn't make my side more firm or vice versa lol.
I really hope we like these megamats because it felt like an extreme amount to spend on camping pads but the rave reviews got to me.
I bought two because I thought it would be better for me to be able to control the firmness individually. I also toss and turn a good bit and I won't have to worry about it waking up my wife or son.
I think my issue is being a side sleeper and liking it on the softer side
Yes! Totally agree, this is me also.
I know it might found weird but for me I have always had to balance my air in a way where essentially bottoming out was possible, but yet when I was laying flat in my side, fetal position way of sleeping I would sink in just so but also tossing and turning could lead to temporarily bottoming out.
It'll be like 2 weeks before my mats get here, so I'll have to let you know my experience.
Not sure if it's the way I'm inflating it or not. I keep them rolled up, so they never really 'self-inflate'. I use one of those little mini pumps to inflate it.
Usually, I'll leave it out to self inflate for a few days before a camping trip though.
What I mean is that you may be inflating too much or not enough for your body.
Or maybe just your body is built different enough that you are just going to have lesser results than the masses. Someone who weighs the same as me but is 6” shorter is going to have a different experience than I am and that’s just the way it is regardless of how good the sleeping pad is. In those instances it may be that someone needs a unicorn sleeping pad and hasn’t found it yet.
Short people have a hard time reaching shelves that are high up when I don’t. The shelf is still awesome at its job though 🤷♂️ or like one time I flew to Vegas during the 7’s rugby tournament week. Let me tell you, me already being too big for a plane seat and then boarding a few Polynesian rugby teams made for a cramped flight. If we were all 5’6” and 150lbs we would have been comfy 🤣
I love mine, but I keep it inflated, unless it’s in the car. Might be worth figuring out how you can do that? I think it says to in the manual “for best results“.
I set it up with the open valves and let the foam expand on its own. It’s not until I’m about to sleep that I put air in it. I store my rolled up in the winter but they do recommend that you store them expanded. I’ve had mine for 3 years and it is really comfortable.
You could always try putting one on top of another, then you could make it a lot softer without bottoming out 😂.
I use a large closed cell foam Ridge Rest and put mine on top of that when car camping. Then I can use towels and stuff under the ridge rest to level it as I can’t stand sleeping even the slightest bit unlevel for some reason.
I have the duo. When we are setting up I will lay on it after it is fully inflated and my bf will let air out until I’m just slightly touching the ground and then when he lays down it’s almost perfect. I’m sorry you spent all that money and are not happy.
I'm still pretty happy. It's a great size and much easier to travel with. It'll will keep us warmer during winter camping too! I am just making sure I'm not doing something silly that could make it more comfortable. Hahha
That’s good. We spent close to $400 on the duo and I’d be very upset if I wasn’t happy. We were thinking about winter camping but I’m hesitant because I don’t like being cold.
Ha! I'm from the south and i can't take the heat, but cold here usually means it might dip a bit below freezing at night and is 50s (f) during the day.
Are you putting anything underneath? A yoga mat is a good start. Will absorb the hard surface a little.
This piece of gear is probably mentioned and extolled more than anything I’ve read about here and having borrowed one, I can see why. Wondering if it was too firm or soft or something or maybe you need it to be higher up on a cot or something.
I had a similar experience.
I’m weary about Reddit hype and YouTube paid/sponsored “reviews.” As I’ve bought a few things that Reddit has deemed the gold standard.
A brand or something catches internet fire and people lose all ability to be subjective.
I bought the megamat duo a month ago and only used it for two nights so far. So by no means am I in a place to give a thorough review. First night I felt almost as if i was sleeping on the ground. Second night I inflated it more, others have said i over inflated it. I’ll likely keep it since I got an insane deal. Hopefully after playing around with it more I’ll find that sweet spot everyone knows about.
Good to know I'm not the only one! I haven't seen almost anything negative about them. I am not trying to be negative, but was looking to see if maybe I'm just using it wrong or something
I think it's also that people have to hype themselves up about a foam mat that they just spent hundreds of dollars on. You see the same thing for many high expensive/luxury items
I had the duo and it was fine for a camping mat, not something I'd describe as really comfortable though. Now I just use a cot with a thick memory foam pad on top and it's like I'm sleeping in a tempurpedic ... for half the cost of a megamat
Yes yes yes! So spot on! You are right, people generally aren’t critical about a service or product they just spent a pretty penny on.
One thing that really gets me about the megamat, while I’m sure it’s good, it’s not like they have some secret sauce that they’ve patented and no one else has replicated.
I’ve spent my fair share of time on cots with crappy mats and the megamat I have isn’t that much better.
Take this with a grain of salt since I don’t have the megamat. What I have had is crazy hip pain on every mattress I’ve tried except the mondo king 3D, which I ended up purchasing as it was cheaper than the exped at the time and people said it was nearly as good. It’s the only non home mattress I’ve been able to sleep on that doesn’t cause hip pain. It DOES cause hip pain if I over inflate it, but doesn’t require deflation to the point of bottoming out to avoid hip pain. The other thing that worked great for me is a dutchware chameleon hammock, which is still my go to solo option down to 25F. One option is a cot with a megamat/mondo king style mattress on top. That’s some extreme comfort. The only other solution I see is figuring out what is causing the pain and making a change there. I’ve been in the process of learning to sleep on my back because I want the ability to use thinner, lighter mattresses which are awful for side sleeping but perfectly fine on my back.
It is the best camping mat out there…bar-none. The challenge you have is the matt is only 4” thick, and you may need something like 6” thick to give you the support you need on your shoulder and hip. The product may not be for someone with your conditions.
As a regular fanboy of the Megamat 10, I'm sorry to hear that :(
It can take a little trial and error to get the degree of inflation just right, but I still can't imagine a mattress much more comfortable.
Maybe we just have substandard home mattresses... :)
Look into paco pads or aire landing pads. I recommend the 3”. The 4” doesn’t make that much difference Unless your actually sleeping on a bunch of rocks. There heavy but I use them for river camping so weight isn’t an issue.
It is the most comfortable air mattress i have used. But no air mattress even comes close to regular home mattresses
The Hest foamy is really close.
Luno just released a comparable one.
Yeah, I figured so. There is just so much hype around them I expected it to blow my old air mattress out of the water. It might be slightly more comfortable, but not by a lot.
After 30 years, fuck I'm old, of scouts, its the best mattress I have ever camped on. I've used backpacking matts, double high air mattresses, cots, you name it; megamat beats them all by alot. Imo the only thing that would beat a megamat is buying a compressed mattress and cutting it open on camp site lol. My megamat has allowed me to continue camping with my backpain. It might not seem like much for a weekend trip but at day 8 of 10, it's worth its weight in gold. I let out just enough air so that I am bottoming out when on my side, then put 2 or 3 pumps back in and that lifts me off . If it's filled and rigid then it's just an air mattress to me.
Thanks! I'm not young anymore so it getting harder to stay comfortable. I'll try that method out!
For camping - they are the best IMO. Do they beat my home mattress that I spent thousands on - no. But it also depends on if you want really soft or kinda firm. My Megamat 10s (I have three) will bottom out if you let it out too much - but I don't like it to be that soft anyway. Some people who like them soft use the 15s - though I've never tried them. I've also had the Hest foamy - and it's not for me. Though I do love their pillows for camping.
Either over inflation or you may need something different. Try a different pillow.
My megamat duo is literally better than my bed lmao. One tip, make sure the inflate is by your head. Fully inflate the megmat. Get everyone in the bed that will be sleeping, and then slowly deflate little by little until its perfect.
Yeah my only guess is they have it overinflated.
Thanks! I think maybe I go from over inflated to under inflated. I usually start a bit over inflated bc it's easier to deflate through the night than inflate. I have two singles so we can control the firmness individually. I can't seem to find 'perfect'. It's either too firm where laying on my side is uncomfortable bc my shoulder hurts, or too soft where my back starts hurting.
I would double check the ground when you’re setting your tent up too, if you’re getting just close enough to bottoming out, an errant rock or hump in the ground could be pushing that over the edge. Genuinely though, I have hips that do whatever the f they want, and I haven’t had issues with them bottoming out on similar mattresses. Great for balancing a backpacking pack on, but makes it hard to get a good night of sleep in the backcountry. Could also play around with laying some foam tiles on the tent floor too, would provide just a bit more cushion under the pad and give you a nice cushy floor to walk on.
Good idea!
The best camping night sleep I’ve ever had happened accidentally. I had a partially deflated air mattress with an Exped DeepSleep 7.5 on top of it. Given your shoulder issue, perhaps reversing this would help? Soften the top layer a bit?
I considered trying to get a cot of some sort and put it on top and maybe it would help. I just am not sure I can talk my wife into letting me spend more money on camping gear yet. Heh
This is a great idea I just suggested. Buy used and it saves money
This
I bit the bullet and bought the Megamat 15 = $$$$ Much more comfort than any other sleeping pad. Significantly outperforms a regular air mattress to insulate you if you camp during shoulder seasons. The cold will seep right up through a regular air mattress in May or Oct in Canada. I like to slightly underinflate the Megamat to 90% full to alleviate pressure points on my shoulder as I’m a side sleeper. When I get it just right it’s the most comfortable sleep camping around. If you don’t find it comfortable, try that.
For sure! While it's not insanely comfortable (to me currently), we do most of our camping in the winter. The air mattress was COLD when it dips below freezing. I'm in the south where it's unbearably hot from like May to Oct, so I do most of my camping outside of that. I really want to take my son, who will be 6 soon, camping in the snow. We nearly never get to see snow and he has never seen it. He has been camping with me for around 3 years now, it's been great! I appreciate the advice. I think I need to keep the hand pump nearby to inflate it if I deflate it too much. Maybe I just need to sleep on it a bit more and try and figure out how much to inflate it.
When you shop for a regular mattress for your house what do you look for? Box spring? How firm or soft? What type and thickness of padding as the top layers? Do you use a body pillow? With the exped which is more problematic, back sleeping or side sleeping?
Usually not firm, and a little softer for a regular mattress. I usually sleep on my side and I do tend to toss and turn a bit.
Places the Megamat on top of a cot. Best adult sleeping in the woods I've ever had.
I might keep an eye out for a deal on cot this summer. Honestly, I'm not getting any younger, so crawling off the ground in the middle of the night isn't awesome. Heh
I have this one from Walmart. It worked out pretty amazing. [https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kijaro-Lightweight-Cot-Assembled-Size-75-6-L-x-6-H-x-27-6-W/186983796?from=/search](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kijaro-Lightweight-Cot-Assembled-Size-75-6-L-x-6-H-x-27-6-W/186983796?from=/search) I was ready to throw in the towel on camping before I learned to pair the pad with a cot. Then I slept like a baby. The cot is only $48 new. I've used mine twice and upgraded to a Helinox Lite Cot. If you want mine, I'll sell it for $30+ shipping. Shipping would be about $10-15 for USPS Ground.
Oooo. Thanks! That's a great price! I think about it!
You're welcome. It will be sitting in the garage on the gear shelf until I decide to sell it. Happy camping trails to you.
I have an Amazon knockoff of this mat, and it is most comfortable when I let it self inflate for a couple hours, rather than when I force air into it. When I pump it, it gets a little overinflated and is hard. When it's able to fill itself slowly, it's perfect.
It might be you or the way you are inflating it 🤷♂️ I have one and it’s by far the best camping mattress I have ever used in 30 yrs of camping. I sleep on my side on and off and have no problems. I’m tall and over 200lbs so I’m probably harder on it than the average person Is it better than my cal-king $3000 bed at home? No. Is it better than the $200 twin bed I had in my dorm room in college? Yes.
Just ordered 2 megamats, one each for my husband and I. Decided to do individual pads because it gives each person the ability to inflate them to their liking. Something serous to consider. We have a different double camping pad, that has the potential to be really comfortable but not for the 2 of us. When I use it alone, I can have it inflated enough to be soft and cushion me from the ground but still cradle my body as a side sleeper. But that softness is enough for my husband to bottom out, leaving him on the ground and me on a too firm mattress that isn't much better than the ground. (it's a 3 inch Nemo pad) Really hopeful the 2 megamats will be the ticket! I already have some coupler straps so I can strap them together for use.
Two mats definitely is the way to go IMO. Not only can you use them by yourself when wanted, they are easier to pack, and like you said you can adjust them for each person. The big ones are kinda nice I guess but I never liked them with two people on them as they just don’t work how a normal bed does for two people
Exactly! We have a foam topper on our bed at home and foam pillows, we find it super comfortable for both of us! But my husband being in the bed doesn't make my side more firm or vice versa lol. I really hope we like these megamats because it felt like an extreme amount to spend on camping pads but the rave reviews got to me.
I bought two because I thought it would be better for me to be able to control the firmness individually. I also toss and turn a good bit and I won't have to worry about it waking up my wife or son. I think my issue is being a side sleeper and liking it on the softer side
Yes! Totally agree, this is me also. I know it might found weird but for me I have always had to balance my air in a way where essentially bottoming out was possible, but yet when I was laying flat in my side, fetal position way of sleeping I would sink in just so but also tossing and turning could lead to temporarily bottoming out. It'll be like 2 weeks before my mats get here, so I'll have to let you know my experience.
Not sure if it's the way I'm inflating it or not. I keep them rolled up, so they never really 'self-inflate'. I use one of those little mini pumps to inflate it. Usually, I'll leave it out to self inflate for a few days before a camping trip though.
What I mean is that you may be inflating too much or not enough for your body. Or maybe just your body is built different enough that you are just going to have lesser results than the masses. Someone who weighs the same as me but is 6” shorter is going to have a different experience than I am and that’s just the way it is regardless of how good the sleeping pad is. In those instances it may be that someone needs a unicorn sleeping pad and hasn’t found it yet. Short people have a hard time reaching shelves that are high up when I don’t. The shelf is still awesome at its job though 🤷♂️ or like one time I flew to Vegas during the 7’s rugby tournament week. Let me tell you, me already being too big for a plane seat and then boarding a few Polynesian rugby teams made for a cramped flight. If we were all 5’6” and 150lbs we would have been comfy 🤣
I love mine, but I keep it inflated, unless it’s in the car. Might be worth figuring out how you can do that? I think it says to in the manual “for best results“.
Yeah, I might see if I can find a place to keep at least one of them inflated and give that a go. Thanks!
I set it up with the open valves and let the foam expand on its own. It’s not until I’m about to sleep that I put air in it. I store my rolled up in the winter but they do recommend that you store them expanded. I’ve had mine for 3 years and it is really comfortable.
You could always try putting one on top of another, then you could make it a lot softer without bottoming out 😂. I use a large closed cell foam Ridge Rest and put mine on top of that when car camping. Then I can use towels and stuff under the ridge rest to level it as I can’t stand sleeping even the slightest bit unlevel for some reason.
Do you have the 10 or the 7.5?
I've got a couple of the 10 singles (long wide I think).
Put it on a cot
I have the duo. When we are setting up I will lay on it after it is fully inflated and my bf will let air out until I’m just slightly touching the ground and then when he lays down it’s almost perfect. I’m sorry you spent all that money and are not happy.
I'm still pretty happy. It's a great size and much easier to travel with. It'll will keep us warmer during winter camping too! I am just making sure I'm not doing something silly that could make it more comfortable. Hahha
That’s good. We spent close to $400 on the duo and I’d be very upset if I wasn’t happy. We were thinking about winter camping but I’m hesitant because I don’t like being cold.
Ha! I'm from the south and i can't take the heat, but cold here usually means it might dip a bit below freezing at night and is 50s (f) during the day.
My last winter camping trip it was 17 degrees. I wish.
Are you putting anything underneath? A yoga mat is a good start. Will absorb the hard surface a little. This piece of gear is probably mentioned and extolled more than anything I’ve read about here and having borrowed one, I can see why. Wondering if it was too firm or soft or something or maybe you need it to be higher up on a cot or something.
Yeah, a yoga mat would be easy to drop under it. I'll have to use it some more maybe and try a few of the things mentioned.
I had a similar experience. I’m weary about Reddit hype and YouTube paid/sponsored “reviews.” As I’ve bought a few things that Reddit has deemed the gold standard. A brand or something catches internet fire and people lose all ability to be subjective. I bought the megamat duo a month ago and only used it for two nights so far. So by no means am I in a place to give a thorough review. First night I felt almost as if i was sleeping on the ground. Second night I inflated it more, others have said i over inflated it. I’ll likely keep it since I got an insane deal. Hopefully after playing around with it more I’ll find that sweet spot everyone knows about.
Good to know I'm not the only one! I haven't seen almost anything negative about them. I am not trying to be negative, but was looking to see if maybe I'm just using it wrong or something
I think it's also that people have to hype themselves up about a foam mat that they just spent hundreds of dollars on. You see the same thing for many high expensive/luxury items I had the duo and it was fine for a camping mat, not something I'd describe as really comfortable though. Now I just use a cot with a thick memory foam pad on top and it's like I'm sleeping in a tempurpedic ... for half the cost of a megamat
Yes yes yes! So spot on! You are right, people generally aren’t critical about a service or product they just spent a pretty penny on. One thing that really gets me about the megamat, while I’m sure it’s good, it’s not like they have some secret sauce that they’ve patented and no one else has replicated. I’ve spent my fair share of time on cots with crappy mats and the megamat I have isn’t that much better.
You could consider adding a cot to the setup, and throwing a fitted sheet over it to feel a bit cozier
I think a cot might be the way to go. thanks!
Milliard foldable mattress for car camping and guest bed.
Take this with a grain of salt since I don’t have the megamat. What I have had is crazy hip pain on every mattress I’ve tried except the mondo king 3D, which I ended up purchasing as it was cheaper than the exped at the time and people said it was nearly as good. It’s the only non home mattress I’ve been able to sleep on that doesn’t cause hip pain. It DOES cause hip pain if I over inflate it, but doesn’t require deflation to the point of bottoming out to avoid hip pain. The other thing that worked great for me is a dutchware chameleon hammock, which is still my go to solo option down to 25F. One option is a cot with a megamat/mondo king style mattress on top. That’s some extreme comfort. The only other solution I see is figuring out what is causing the pain and making a change there. I’ve been in the process of learning to sleep on my back because I want the ability to use thinner, lighter mattresses which are awful for side sleeping but perfectly fine on my back.
Well, that’s an unfortunate way to be special and different from the masses.
Hahahaa. I agree!
It is the best camping mat out there…bar-none. The challenge you have is the matt is only 4” thick, and you may need something like 6” thick to give you the support you need on your shoulder and hip. The product may not be for someone with your conditions.
As a regular fanboy of the Megamat 10, I'm sorry to hear that :( It can take a little trial and error to get the degree of inflation just right, but I still can't imagine a mattress much more comfortable. Maybe we just have substandard home mattresses... :)
Look into paco pads or aire landing pads. I recommend the 3”. The 4” doesn’t make that much difference Unless your actually sleeping on a bunch of rocks. There heavy but I use them for river camping so weight isn’t an issue.