The list of TOP 5 has not changed for 6 updates now

The list of 5 most durable and heavy-duty air mattresses hasn’t seen any change in a full year.

This month’s update is no different, the air beds that have been top-rated in the category of durability and longevity are still there in the exact same order.

Let’s see what’s different about these products and what makes them so tough.

Most durable and heavy duty air mattresses – TOP 5

Fox Plush – in a category of its own

The past few years have brought on more changes in the industry than the 15 years before that. The number of air coils used, the type and quality of vinyl…it’s been a hectic few years.

To be honest, it was the most challenging few years for us to, trying to stay on top of all the changes and maintain the standards of relevancy we’ve defined when we started testing inflatable beds.

This Fox, however, is not in that group

This Fox has seen very little change in the ratings, especially the “durability & longevity" category.

Why?

Because what makes it so tough is durable is not a fancy new beam design or layered vinyl, it is the simple fact that it is THE ONLY air bed in industry made from vinyl this thick.

0.4 mm vs. 0.6 mm vinyl

The industry standard for the material used is 0.4 mm thick vinyl.

The vinyl used to make this Fox is almost 50 % thicker (43% to be precise). There’s nothing quite like it on the market.

We tested over 110 products so far and none of those comes close to the durability results we’ve seen here.

Punctures vs. leaks

You would expect that the Fox plush would be more resistant to punctures, but that’s not the most important part.

If there’s something important that we’ve learned about durability & longevity is that the main reason behind loss of air are not the obvious punctures.

It’s the air leaks and pinholes.

These are the leaks that develop over time and for most users, are nearly impossible to spot and patch.

Here’s why…

Because a lot of them develop as a result of the stretching of the vinyl and separation at the seams.

Why is this FOX better in air retention?

What we’ve described above, the leaks that develop along the seams (whether external or seams of the inner chambers) are pretty much the worse thing that can happen.

If there’s a simple puncture, you still might have a chance to patch it, but a leak at a seam will render the air bed useless.

Why doe the seam leaks develop

Now, these leaks at the seams happen as a result of prolonged sustained stress of the material stretching.

The thicker the vinyl, the more sturdy and stable the air mattress. There’s no stress on the seams and the chances of the leaks developing are much lower.

There’s no two ways about it.

See the full testing results & review for the FOX plush here - https://thesleepstudies.com/fox-air-mattress-review/

Second most durable heavy duty air mattress – Best Choice Blue

Durable for completely different reasons than the Fox

We talked about the changes and innovations that have happened in the industry in the pas few years.

Well, this heavy-duty air mattress is a perfect example of the new generation.

It hit the market in the spring of 2016 and within a few months from the first tests, it dominates a few categories and is one of the Top 10 best air mattresses overall.

Nylon-encased virgin vinyl

Opposed to Fox, the material used for this sturdy air mattress is not thicker, it’s better.

While most companies still use regular vinyl, the company behind this bad boy introduced a game-changer in the form or nylon-encased, virgin vinyl.

Let’s break that down

Nylon-encased means that there’s an extra layer of sturdy nylon encasing the vinyl. What it does is minimize the stretching of the material. This makes the sleeping surface flatter and lowers the risk of seam-leaks.

Virgin vinyl means not-recycled

Now, if you are into environmental-friendly product made from recycled materials, this might bother you.

But here is a simple fact – recycled vinyl looses some of its structural integrity. The fact that this vinyl is virgin, combined with the nylon-encasing makes this one of the two most durable air mattress out there.

It does however, has its CONs and will not be right for everybody. When we say this we are primarily referring to the firmness of the sleeping surface. For the full list of testing results and the review, follow the link below.

See the full review of the Best Choice Blue here - https://thesleepstudies.com/bamboo-cover-air-mattress-review/

SoundAsleep Cloud Nine

Overall, the Cloud 9 is currently the top-rated air bed.

This bed comes from a company that started the “revolution" that we mentioned by introducing inner coil design that’s nothing like the industry has seen before.

SoundAsleep changed the industry and then improved on it

The first product that came from SoundAsleep was the Dream Series. To date, it is the most popular model on the market.

What make it more durable?

Three main factors that make this air bed more durable are:

The Cloud 9 doesn’t have the problem of the material pulling on the seams as the bed gets “wobblier" from the air loss because it comes with a “smart pump".

This pump design is probably the biggest improvement in the last 10 years

Although this is a young product (hit the market towards the end of 2016), the “smart" pump that comes with it is not new technology.

We’ve already seen it in some beds coming from Serta and Insta. Serta calls their pump “NeverFlat", but the two pumps work in pretty much the same way.

The “smart" pump is a small secondary pump. It’s not used to inflate the bed but to add air if the pressure inside the chambers drops.

Why is this a big deal for Durability?

Simple – because if the inner pressure doesn’t fluctuate, there is less pulling forces on the seams and, as we said a few times before, this is one of the main cause of mysterious air leaks that happens with most lower quality models.

Bottom line – the Cloud 9 will be the choice of people who make no compromises and want to eliminate the bring the risk of air leaks to an absolute minimum. To see the complete resting results, follow the link below.

See the full review of the Cloud 9 here - https://thesleepstudies.com/soundasleep-cloud-nine-air-mattress-review/

4th top pick among heavy-duty air mattresses - SoundAsleep Dream Series

This is the air mattress that changed the industry, we’ve said dozens of time before and we’ll say it again.

What make it more durable?

The main reason it lasts longer and can take more “abuse" is the way the weight is distributed. When it arrived to the market it was the only model to feature 40+ internal air coils.

It’s these coils that make all the difference.

Blow up beds that feature a beam inner deign (or even those with a lower number of coils) the weight is not distributed evenly. The result is that unbalanced sleep surface you’ll likely see with most inflatables.

The coils in this bed make it stable, and that in turn, results in less micro currents developing inside. The primary benefit of that is the comfort.

The secondary is a more durable bed less prone to puncture and leaks. As the air inside moves less and the sleep surface is more stable, the all-important seams suffer less pulling and stretching.

See the full review of the SoundAsleep Dream Series here - https://thesleepstudies.com/soundasleep-dream-series-air-mattress-review/

The most durable camping air mattress – Lightspeed Outdoors TPU

The only dedicated camping air mattress on the list

Out of the 4 heavy-duty air mattresses mentioned above, 2 feature an extra valve that can be used to inflate and deflate without access to power – the Fox and the Best Choice.

However, these two are only an option if you have the room in your trunk and your tent for a bulky raised air mattress. That especially goes for the Fox – having the tough and thick material in mind, it’s only natural that this monster of a bed will be more bulky and weigh more (the Fox in Queen size weighs a whooping 18.7 pounds).

Lightspeed Outdoors TPU weighs only 6.48 lbs

Three times lighter than the Fox, this bed packs down to 18 x 8 “. In those terms, it’s the only heavy-duty air mattress on the list that’s a viable option for backpacking and smaller slanted tends.

How can it be so durable at that weight?

This is the only bed on the list that’s not made of vinyl. It’s made of a material called TPU.

What makes it so durable is the fact that TPU doesn’t stretch. TPU feels more like fabric than plastic (think military backpacks).

Why aren’t all air mattresses made of TPU?

Because it’s not as malleable as vinyl. This makes it harder to make an air mattress that will be sturdy at the seams.

In fact, out of the 100+ air beds we tested, we feel like this is THE ONLY TPU air bed that’s worth the money.

Lightspeed somehow managed to find the sweet spot between the toughness of the seams and the sturdiness of the material.

Bottom line – if you are looking for a heavy-duty, durable air mattress for camping, the search probably ends with this 2-person model.

Reference info on what makes these heavy duty air mattressese more durable & a few honorary mentions

The rest of this guide is dedicated to a few other brands and models that didn’t make it to the top 5 most durable air mattresses but we feel they deserve a mention.

We’ll not only go over the few honorary mentions but a few technologies used by other brands specifically aimed at making a tougher air bed.

Intex and the Fiber Tech technology

If this is not your first time buying a blow up mattress, you might be surprised to see Intex mentioned in the context of durability.

It is one of the best-known companies, but they have a bit of history and reputation for making products that are on the cheaper end of the spectrum, which usually meant they could not compete with the other brands in terms of durability.

That changed with the arrival of their Dura Beam Fiber Tech Series

What’s makes the models in the series both more comfortable and durable than other Intex models are the thousands of fibers connecting the top to the bottom surface.

The Fiber Tech fibers changed Intex as a brand forever. It’s the best thing to “happen" to them in decades.

The difference is that Fiber tech fibers do not stretch. Yes, we did mention the stretching a few times before and there’s no way around it.

Intex advertise their Durabeam Series as being “Designed for Comfort, engineered for durability" and rightfully so. The Durabeam Series beds are not even in the same category as the rest of the Intex portfolio.

Our top pick from the series is the Intex Comfort Plush Durabeam Elevated - https://thesleepstudies.com/intex-comfort-plush-elevated-durabeam-airbed-review/

Why it didn’t make it to the TOP 5 most durable air beds

Our durability ratings are based on range of factors and, in this months update, the Durabeam Series was very close to breaking into the top heavy-duty models.

Yet, it’s not there yet and this is based on the ratings of our field testers.

This is our opinion why it’s not among the TOP 5

There’s no doubt that Fiber Tech is a great addition to the Intex portfolio. Having said that, what we’ve seen in practice that, in terms of durability & longevity, coils tend to be the superior choice compared to beams.

The most probable reason is that coils are better at restricting air movement. The comfort is there, but the ratings we’ve seen from our testers over the past year placed the Fiber tech models just under the bar.

Who it might be right for?

If the money is tight, the fact that the Fiber tech Series models cost much less than any of the high-rises mentioned above.

In the end, it’s a numbers game, and if the price is an important factor for you, Intex Durabeam might still be your best bet.

What Coleman is doing to make a more heavy-duty air mattress

Another big player that was challenged by the arrival on the younger companies and models is Coleman.

The durability of their models was and still is, one of their stronger suits.

The fact that that Coleman SuportRest is the official airbed of the National Park Foundation speaks for itself.

Coleman does have a long-standing relationship with the NPF and that fact alone could not be the reason to treat their models any differently in our durability testing and rating process.

Still, both our in-house tests and field testing of our fellow camper testers earned the Coleman SuportRest a place in the top 5 best camping air mattresses and top 3 most durable camping models.

What makes it tougher?

Coleman’s durability “game" is strong and it relies on 3 technologies:

The role of the Comfort Strong Coil system

This is basically a name Coleman use to describe why the construction of some of their models is superior in durability terms.

Opposed to a beam inner design, the coils are there to provide a flatter sleeping surface and better weight distribution. Again, in terms of durability, the role of the system is to lower the impact of the weight on the material.

Simply put, it’s the coils that “deal" with the weight and not the material.

What the Support Lock System does to make Coleman airbed more heavy-duty

Sinking to the middle is common in lower-quality and less durable inflatables. It happens as a result of a few factors:

The Support lock system works on the latter.

The added pieces of support materials in the system connect the sides of the bed to the tom and bottom surface. This increases the durability of the airbed by minimizing the sinking, and in turn, the brunt that pulls on the material.

Who is it for?

Our two picks among the Coleman models that feature both features mentioned above is the Coleman SuportRest ( https://thesleepstudies.com/coleman-supportrest-double-high-airbed/) & DuraRest.

The blog post Heavy duty air mattress – most durable air mattress picks – August 2017 update is available on https://thesleepstudies.com