Panel van beds & backache

[monty]

Long ago when I was a teenager, I could sleep anywhere and on anything without any problem and had many an enjoyable holiday in my parents VW caravettes. Roll on to the present day, and having just turned 50 and owned a Bilbo's Celex for the last 5yrs, my back is killing me.

 

Does anyone out there have the solution, or is it just an age thing? The article in this months MMM written by a couple in their 80's in a Devon Sunrise suggests otherwise as they describe their beds as comfortable.

 

The problem as I see it is the join between the cushions going across the small of the back, which seems inevitable in any bed that is made by collapsing the seats.

 

To remedy the situation we have tried the following :

 

1. 1" Raskelf mattress topper - not much difference

2. 2" Raskelf mattress topper - a bit better, but not perfect

3. Removing the triangular infill cushion that is a particular feature of the celex, pushing the cushions closer together and inserting an extra homemade infill cushion at the top of the bed -adjoning the tailgate - the theory being that this would create a better join between the cushions in the small of the back. this does seem to make some improvement especially with the 2" mattress, but again not

 

Does anyone else have any experience on this? - Are any of the other VW conversions any better? Is the answer to find a van with beds that are made from one long solid cushion - eg the Vantage Cub in this months MMM or the East Neuk fifer? Does anyone use the "upstairs" bed in the VW California as this has a sltted base?

 

Any help greatly appreciated

[dream machine]

As a senior camper with problems I can understand your problem - so far i've been OK in our Autosleeper which i find comfy - but my wife complains of a ridgein the middle.

 

Er. perhaps you should try fixing up a hammock - sounds daft but might be worth lashing up a temporary one & trying it to see if it works :-D

[Guest Peter James]

I suffer from backache too. The bed was the main priority for me so I bought a van and put my own bed in it with full size mattress (suspended on ratchet straps to get it level however the van is parked)

I take lots of sleeping bags in case it gets very cold, lay them all on the bed for storage, and sleep on top of them. Makes the mattress blissfully comfortable.

[Rod_vw]

Our selfbuild T5 has a Reimo Variotech seat with the rear sections made as tight a fit as possible. The foam is about 3" deep and we use an extra single sleeping bag as an extra 'topper'.

 

This year we have spent almost 90 nights in the camper without any back ache. My wife has suffered with back problems for 30+ years but has no problems sleeping in the camper. Maybe it's the quality of the foam?

 

We're both into our 60s now so youth is not the reason for our good nights sleep.

 

I don't know how your Celex bed is made up but ours works well. Its width is a little narrow but we don't find that a problem. You don't quote your location 'monty; but if you are near Shropshire you are welcom to give us a call and come to see our solution to a LWB T5 camper.

[PCC]

We have a Bilbos Weekender, so same bed but a bit wider. We were having a bit of a problem with backache but bought a mattress topper from Ikea a few years ago and that seems to sort things. Surprised the Raskelf mattress doesn't do the trick.

[monty]

Thanks for everyone's coments. it has got me thinking that maybe we are going wrong by not having a sleeping bag or duvet underneath us to fill in the nooks and crannies where the seat joins are? I thought the memory foam would get over the need for filling in the gaps, but this doesn't seem to solve it.Does anyone agree?

 

 

[monty]

Thanks for everyone's coments. it has got me thinking that maybe we are going wrong by not having a sleeping bag or duvet underneath us to fill in the nooks and crannies where the seat joins are? I thought the memory foam would get over the need for filling in the gaps, but this doesn't seem to solve it.Does anyone agree?

 

 

[Guest Peter James]

monty - 2010-10-03 1:49 PM

 

Thanks for everyone's coments. it has got me thinking that maybe we are going wrong by not having a sleeping bag or duvet underneath us to fill in the nooks and crannies where the seat joins are? I thought the memory foam would get over the need for filling in the gaps, but this doesn't seem to solve it.Does anyone agree?

 

 

I have got a top of the range new foam topped mattress at home, and an old cheapo mattress in the van. Both same size and with similar sheets and blankets. But the van mattress is topped with several (cheap polyester) sleeping bags. I find it at least as good as the expensive mattress, so I would not pay that money for a mattress again.

[Mel B]

Monty - Memory foam toppers are okay but they won't stop the 'gaps, I think this is probably because they mould to your shape, and if your shape is pushing the topper into the gaps, it is putting extra pressure on that part of the topper, so will squish it more, possibly making the problem worse!

 

I'd certainly advise you to try putting a duvet underneath, they are very cheap at Tesco, Asda etc, so why not get one and give it a go! :-D

 

One other thing that might help is to make some fitted sheets for the bases - we use Terry towelling fitted sheets in our van, which has a fixed rear bed, simply because it saves having to try to tuck it in all the time, and helps to hold the topper in place. Making fitted sheets isn't difficult, so you could easily make some to fit your beds snuggly, from standard bed sheets (they don't have to be terry towelling ones), you have to remember to allow enough 'height' to them to account for the cushions, duvets/topper etc when making them, that's all. If the duvet is too big, you can just cut it down and sew the edge over (remember to leave the outer cotton material wider than the inner though!).

[monty]

Cheers everyone - thanks for the useful tips - I will try sleeping on a quilt as suggested - hopefully this will improve things and if it means we don't have to lug a memory foam mattress with us, when space is such a premium then that will be a bonus.

 

Incidentally is anyone able to comment on the comparative comfort of the Bilbo bed against ay other of the VW T5 beds (either doubles or singles)?

[Guest JudgeMental]

My daughter wants a topper for her Uni bed, Ikea do one 50mm that rolls up are these any good? or other recommendations for decent one that rolls up (she has to vacate the halls at half term, as they use it as a budget central London hotel :-S)

 

lots of chat re beds on here, any recommendations for pillows? we have a great bed in house and OK one in the van..... But pillows are a constant problem *-)

[Keithl]

JudgeMental - 2010-10-04 8:35 AM

lots of chat re beds on here, any recommendations for pillows? we have a great bed in house and OK one in the van..... But pillows are a constant problem *-)

 

Hi Judge,

 

We use Pocket Sprung Pillows' both at home and in the MH. We bought them from the Pillow Centre, who were based in Rhyl, at a show at the NEC a couple of years ago but I can't find any info on the company now. They called them Han PSP when we bought them.

 

They have a series of small springs in them exactly like a mattress and IMO are the best pillows ever made! They actually 'breathe' as you move on them, sort of pumping air in and out by the action of the springs and thus stay lovely and cool.

 

I Googled 'Pocket Sprung Pillow' and came up with a few alternatives such as these from Tesco or Argos. I'm not sure how these perform as I've only ever used those from Rhyl.

 

Keith.

 

[colin]

Not sure if my post will be helpfull to you or not.

When we hired a VW size van with 'rock and roll' bed gf complained of back ache, this lead to me designing our diy T25 such that the main part of bed from rear door to front edge of seat is in one piece and seat back removes and adds to front of seat, so there is no joint at small of back and we have a comfatable bed (which BTW is 4'6" wide),

but our first trip in van was before mattress was made so we had to use some of our old caravan bed sections this left joint in small of back and gf had very bad back, had to get it 'straightened' in Oban and nearly abandoned trip!