Customer Reviews

Therm-a-Rest Dream Time Camp & Comfort Mattress

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have a bad back, and slept on this for a month when I visited India. It was wonderful! I never had any back pain in the morning, which had been the case when I have slept on a futon or the ground. I will admit that the Therm-a-rest Dream Time is expensive, but it is hard to beat from a comfort standpoint. By the way, you can control how firm or soft it is to some extent by how much air you put into the self-inflating pad.

Although it would probably not be a great choice for back packing, it does roll up in a fairly compact roll for transport. The model I got was the extra large, which is the 30" wide self-inflating pad with a foam pad on top. It has a removable, washable fleece cover over both pads. I would purchase it again and highly recommend it to others.

My only small complaint is that the "extra large" Therm-a-rest stuff sack does NOT fit the Dream Time (it is way too small!). To my knowledge, Therm-a-rest does not make a stuff sack for the Dream Time, but I wish they did. The Dream Time does come in a plastic sleeve with a zipper, but there is no handle or strap to transport it, making it awkward to carry from place to place, because it is big and sort of bulky (with no handle).

My wife & I used to be pretty intrepid campers, dragging food, water & shelter down to a secluded beach in Mexico for the first 10 years of our marriage.
Then she discovered the joy's of a vacation condo on the beach and hot showers.
Last year while working out of town, I started doing some camping in the woods by myself. This year she decided to join me. First we upgraded to cold weather sleeping bags. Then we bought a new tent. This past weekend (Oct 4), we replaced the 15yo Thermarest (Trail) pad we'd been sleeping on with the Dreamtime.
What a difference! You really can't tell you're sleeping on the ground, it feels exactly like a firm mattress. And I think we slept warmer too, the extra 10" of width helped keep us on the pad instead of on the tent floor. The only downside for some might be their bulk...but they really are designed for car camping, base camp or a cabin.
My wife came up to me after the second night and said she loved the new pad, and if I hadn't bought it...she didn't think she would have been interested in much more camping. The ground was just getting toooo hard.
I love it too, and think it's added another 10 years to our enjoyment of the great outdoors.

Extraordinary comfort, just amazing. I bought the X-large, which ends up matching the width of my sleeping bags. The mattress comes in a heavy duty clear vinyl bag, but it's difficult to get in in and out of the bag and the bag has no handles, so it's really only good for storage. If you're going to hike around with this, you probably want the accessory bag.

This doesn't feel at all like an air mattress; it has a plushy feel to it and is just the right thickness when placed on a firm surface. I hesitated to make the original purchase, seemed a bit pricey, but in the end it's so comfortable, well made and therefore a terrific value.

Because I was car camping so much, I went ahead and splurged and bought two of these mattresses about 6 years ago. They were heavenly! The best outdoor camping comfort you could buy. The mattresses also tether together to make a full-size bed, although after a few years of use the straps tore off the side and also the compression straps ripped. I bought them at REI and perhaps they will replace them. Also, I can only imagine Thermarest has improved the model in the past few years.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I was expecting our first child and I was on bedrest for 6 weeks and could not go up and down any stairs. I used this mattress on top of a sturdy foam 3-fold mattress and it was more comfortable than the super expensive king-sized mattress we had just purchased. We've used these mattresses for long term guests we've had for 4-6 months of sleeping - usually paired with an Aerobed to create some firm comfort on top of the bouncy air mattress.

Everyone who uses this mattress says it is the most comfortable sleep they have had. I love the combination of the three layers and if it wasn't for the straps ripping off the sides I would happily have given this product five stars. Six years later these are still in almost daily use as we have guests in and out of our home on a regular basis. Our daughter, now 2 also loves to play on these extremely durable and soft mattresses.

Use it for camping (car). A little on the heavy side, but also WAY more comfy than others I have had in the past. Really all it is.. a normal air bed with some memory foam in a slip cover. I slept like a baby

Let's get this off the bat: This pad is extremely comfortable. It certainly provides what you would expect from a product advertised with 3.5 inches thickness. It unrolls easily, though for fastest use you may have to inflate manually. The memory foam, by its nature, does not spring back quickly.

It is also extremely bulky. When packed, it measures about 12 inches think by 25 inches across. It's heavy too. It's advertised for "base camp" use and designed accordingly. I used it to sleep in the back of a minivan. You will need space at home, too; the documentation says to store it opened flat.

The worst thing about this pad, however, is the quality. The first time I tried to put it back in its bag, one of the buckles ripped right off, and the sack itself tore in several places. I am not usually strong and did not apply an unusually large amount of force; the product is just not that well assembled. The second I tried to put it in its (now mutilated bag), I had greater success; I think the key is to sit on it for a while to let the memory foam compress before trying to insert it into the bag.

The mattress does come with a lifetime warranty, which I have not attempted to use.

Everyone seems to agree that this is perhaps the most comfortable option out there for a car camping sleeping pad. There are no alternatives out there that I have found that allow you to create a true queen sized but very portable and comfortable and insulated bed. Zero.

We have been using these for 3 years now and they certainly beat the overly-bouncy Aerobed air mattresses that we were using that always sucked away our body heat and usually lost too much air over time.

I just bought 2 more from Amazon (one set one top of another for a very plush queen sized mattress). They HAVE changed the design (more later).

You can get much the same comfort by simply buying a tri-fold 4" mattress, however they are not much cheaper and a queen sized one is enormous.

You can also get similar comfort by just buying a cheap foam mattress (before we bought #3 and #4, we put #1 and #2 on top of a foam mattress for extra thickness), however that was a horrible idea as the foam kept absorbing all the humidity in the air and was always very damp when I needed to pack it up. I guess that is why you need these. Foam inside a water barrier sleeve.

The fleece topping on the Thermarest Dreamtime is very nice to the touch... even nicer than our 4 year old versions. The air-mattress allows me to get the bottom set (#3 and #4) very firm and the top (#1 and #2) set much less firm.

It is basically a good quality self-inflating air mattress (foam inside a two valve air mattress) with a foam pad over it, both inside a cover which is a very nice fleece on top and polyurethane underneath (and thus less likely to get dirty or absorb moisture from the tent floor).

It is one of the warmest pads you can get with a total R value of 9 (previously 8). (It can get very, very cold at night with a regular air mattress sucking away all your body heat)

The old version simply had the old style "memory foam" in that it wants to get back to its original shape in order to self-inflate.

This version has the newer style "memory foam" of modern marketing where your body heat causes the temperature sensitive foam to compress in just the right places so you have a more comfortable night sleep with fewer pressure points. It is more comfortable than before, however I am curious about how it will do when I have to set up camp in 40 degree weather. Temperature sensitive memory form usually does not unfurl and expand well when it is under 70 degrees. Because of this, it also does not compress as much so when you roll it up into a ball, it does not get quite as small as the previous versions.

The valves now have "trick" to them. If you hold it at a right angle, it is difficult to blow air into it to top it off, however if you pull it straight out, it works fine. This is probably intentional as you can just fold the corner between breaths to keep the air from blowing back out again. Very nice.

The individual components may not cost ThermARest anywhere near what they sell it for, but they were the ones to do the research to implement a well thought out design (just the right thickness of foam and air mattress) and market it and manufacture it well enough that you can easily buy it most anywhere without worrying about the quality. Tho based on reviews here, perhaps the quality has gone down a bit this past year or two? Personally, I have not seen this yet. The new mattresses seem as high a quality as the old so far. But they are different in very many respects, so it is difficult to really compare them.

They come in a sleeve for shipping that makes a decent storage sleeve. The pad itself DOES have carrying straps (all 4 of mine do) but the sleeve does not. I suspect they never meant for you to use them for long term storage, therefore no carrying straps. But they do make a good protection bag for the pads.

A VERY big selling point are the two short straps that keep two (or more) pads tightly together in same dimensions as a queen sized bed as well as straps to hold it together rolled. Do not underestimate how nice it is to have these straps to keep two of then tightly together with no gap or just how convenient it is to be able to use standard queen sized fitted sheets and heated mattress pads. This is the only mattress I have found to include these side to side straps. The straps sold to join together any air mattress are just a pain in the rear in comparison (but I do use them on our other air mattresses). Another difference between our 3 year old set and these is the addition of snaps (in addition to straps) to keep the beds together.

There are also a couple of snaps on the bottom and I suspect they are there to allow you to use two (one on top of the other) strapped and snapped together for extra thickness.

For this level of portable sleeping comfort, you do not have many options unless you decide to spend the time to build your own, or bring along a bulkier mattress (and even those can be just as expensive if they are well made) or want to deal the hassles of a cheaper foam bed.

Also... the size XL is actually 30x77 (Amazon is currently showing the same dimensions for the Large and XL).

I love the Dreamtime. My application is for indoor use not camping.
I tried it both with and without inflation.
With either I did not bottom out and feel the floor and I am 6'1" tall and weigh 230 pounds.
I found that adding no extra inflation was the most comfortable. Adding extra air made it a bit too hard for my taste.
This is great because it is easy to prepare.
I roll it out flat as soon as possible and I open both air vents.
The foam inside expands and causes air to be sucked in which amounts to automatic inflation to my comfort preference without the need for a pump.
After auto inflation I just close both vents before using.
For me the length is great and the width is quite adequate.
A friend that has an eight inch thick high quality air mattress admits that by comparison the Dreamtime provides superior comfort and less effort to use.
I initially thought the price was high for the physical size of the Dreamtime but after using it I realized that size is not what I payed for.
I payed for comfort and ease of use and I definitely got a bargain.
Actually, the size and light weight is part of the bargain since it is easily carried and stored when it is rolled up.
I had no trouble getting it back into the carrying bag via rolling it up slowly and tightly and kneeling on it to squeeze out the air through the open vents. Once rolled close the vents and secure the compressed shape with the attached straps. Simple!!

It's big, it's comfortable. Wouldn't exactly say it was for camping, I'm just using this as
my primary bed.

Using this with a Cocoon Coolmax travel sheet, drop the DreamTime inside this and then you have an super fast to remove and wash cover. Stick the Cocoon tempur material travel pillow inside the travel sheet cover, amazing, you've got a bed that you can take with you, and then, wherever you go, there you are. This is a perfect accessory for the person that wants to work till they drop and just sleep at the office.

This is much nicer than my older, thinner Thermarest, for sure. But I move around a lot in my sleep so that makes these situations more challenging. Being a 40-something-year-old "aging" insomniac who sleeps on her stomach with her knee sticking out and switches sides about 20x per night...I guess I "demand" more of a mattress these days! I really wanted a wider one than the 30" XL which is as wide as Thermarest makes. So maybe I'm not being 100% fair here. The 30" works better than most self-inflatables in this regard, but barely (you actually fall a kind of funny distance if you miss the mark while flopping over in your sleep - haha) - and it's even a bit more challenging if you're used to sleeping with a pillow next to you as well as under your head. Yeah okay don't say it - I know - I sound like a picky freak who shouldn't be camping! But I love camping and roughing it in every way BUT the uncomfortable mattress way. Anyway I really wanted something more along the lines of 50" wide - like a couple of the "double-wide" self-inflatable mattresses you see out there on the internet but that are near impossible to actually find.

I camped for two nights using this pad. First not enough air, then blew some more air in myself and it was a tad too firm - after which I found that right degree for me when I let a bit more of the air out. 3x a charm. My somewhat silky feeling sleeping bag did slip around a bit on the fleece cover. Maybe that would be different after a few washes. I really tried to make it work and I still might keep it (giving it one last shot this weekend) but it just wasn't "all that" - even though it sure seemed to be when I first lay on it on the floor at REI. ; While camping, in the middle of the night, I just desperately wanted the lofty, being cradled to sleep feeling of your basic air mattress. They're just easier to fall asleep on. Sure they leak slowly but I'd rather have something be a tad too soft when trying to fall asleep than too hard - or so it turns out. Never thought I'd live to see the day. I always liked a firm mattress for my - of course - lousy back! ;)

I think this would be great for most people who don't have my combined issues. Geez... I can't believe I'm turning into one of those multi-symptomatic, whiny, neurotic people! BLECH!e

Edit: I camped on it that second time so thought I'd write about it. It's really hard for me to sleep on my back but I tried really hard and managed to fall asleep on my back. In that position - for those of you who can do this easily - it's much more comfortable (or basically for anyone who doesn't stick one leg way out when sleeping or doesn't need a pillow next to you). It was easier the second time. So it may be that it just takes some getting used to. I thought about returning it but I realized that the convenience of something like this - compared to the inconvenient and easily-popped air mattresses - made it worth keeping it. It's nice knowing it's always there, and easy to transport, good quality and self-inflatable (no pump required) - even if they do eventually make a better-quality air mattress one day (I wish)!