Our Pilbara adventure was our first experience at sleeping on a self inflating mattress. They were really comfortable to sleep on. ( nothing like the blow up lilo style mattresses we had as kids. I remember many times waking in the night lying on the cold hard ground because of a slow leak.) We had two single self inflating mattresses next to each other and then a queen bed sheet over the top and because most of the time it was hot we didn’t need a doona. There was one night when we felt cold and had to put a doona over us.
The self inflating mattress recommendation
We bumped into some old friends down the street that we occasionally see and found out they love camping and go 4WDriving all the time. We told them about our outback adventure to the Pilbara and they gave us lots of advice on where we could go in Australia and the best brands and items for us to buy for camping. One of the things they highly recommended was Blackwolf “Mega Deluxe” Self-Inflating Mat. They showed us their mattresses and said that while they were expensive they were worth the money.
There are different sizes available and we decided to go with two singles. There is some velcro that joins them down the middle which stops you floating apart in the night.
I must admit I was a little confused about how they work but one thing that I do know that before you lie down on them at night or when you pack them up and put them in the bag you need to make sure that you have closed the valves!
How long does it take for it to self inflate?
The first thing we did once we had the tent up in the afternoon was to roll out the self inflating mattresses and undo the valves. The valves on the black wolf self inflating mattresses need a slight twist and hard pull to open. They then need to sit for awhile ( hours if its your first time ) to self inflate.
We were not sure how thick they were meant to inflate up to, but after trying to work out how to use the bag it came in to help blow them up decided it was all a bit too hard. We pushed the valves in lay down and fell asleep for the night.
Next morning we opened up the valves and left them all day to see what happened. The mattresses had doubled in thickness by the end of the day. We closed the valves and found the mattresses were so much more comfortable than the previous night.
Verdict: the longer you can leave the Blackwolf “Mega Deluxe” Self-Inflating Mat with the valves open during the day the more inflated it will be!
To pack up your mat you need to open the valves and then starting at the oposite end to the valves start rolling up tightly. As you are rolling you can use your knees to help with pushing the air out as you go.
While more expensive than other mats the Blackwolf “Mega Deluxe” Self-Inflating Mat is well worth looking at and investing in if you are serious about camping and comfort!