Embracing the great outdoors often involves turning your vehicle into a mobile hotel. As odd as it may seem to your family or friends, sleeping in your Subaru Forester can become a nice experience with the right bed / mattress.
Choosing the right mattress for your Subaru Forester makes car camping setup fast and easy. In addition, it is nice to be in your vehicle during windy or rainy weather.
Why I started to sleep in my Forester:
- To save money (avoid pricey hotels or campgrounds)
- To handle the wind in certain places like Southern Utah
- Easy to set up when arriving late at night
- For stealth camping where there’s no public land
In this post, I’ll highlight my favorite air and foam mattresses for Subaru Foresters to help you get a solid night’s rest when car camping.
I’ll start with two-person options and end it with the sleeping pad mattress I use during my solo adventures.
Best Foam Mattress for Forester
When it comes to sleeping in my Forester, EXPED is my go-to choice. It provides unmatched comfort, making it the favorite car camping mattress.
And I’m not the only one that feels that way.
The EXPED is a premium foam and air mattress designed for those car camping on a regular basis. It is on the pricey side, but if restful sleep is a top priority for you, it’s worth the investment.
Personally, I found myself camping almost every weekend during the summer and a decent amount in the shoulder seasons. Getting a good night’s sleep helped prevent burnout, ensuring I wasn’t being a POS at my job Monday morning after a weekend of fun.
The EXPED transformed our camping experience. It’s almost like sleeping on a regular bed. And since we don’t have a guest room, anyone who visits us and sleeps on it vouches for its comfort (or maybe they’re just being polite!).
For those who are cold sleepers, the EXPED boasts an R-value of 8.1. This rating means you won’t feel the cold ground or car seeping into your sleep space. My own experiences confirm this; I’ve used it in temperatures as low as the 20sF without feeling the chill from the ground or car.
An added perk of this mattress is its comfort, which is maintained even without full inflation. This feature came to light when my ice scraper accidentally punctured the mattress, causing it to deflate rather quickly.
We had just set it up for the night, and I did an exaggerated jump and flop onto the bed only to hear a pop and loud “psssssssttttttt.” The ice scraper sticking straight up into the pad, just waiting for me. Whoops
Although the cut was too large to be fixed effectively, the mattress can still be inflated. However, it tends to deflate overnight due to the incomplete patchwork. The substantial foam support still makes it more comfortable than other sleeping pads, so we still use it despite waking up to it mostly flat.
Subaru Forester Bed: EXPED Pros
- Extremely comfortable
- Fits snugly in the back of my Subaru Forester (and many other SUVs)
Simply, it does its job and helped us get better sleep during car camping and road trips.
EXPED Drawbacks
- Difficult to repair effectively (our mattress was never quite the same after the significant puncture)
- Takes up space when packed (common with all air mattresses)
- Manual pump can be tiring (expect around 5 minutes of manual pumping)
- Valves can be a challenge to close, especially in cold conditions
The EXPED’s internal padding makes it quite bulky when rolled up. And deflating and packing it away requires some body weight and effort.
Although it’s marketed as a “self-inflating car air mattress,” you still have to put in some work with the hand pump. The inflate and deflate valves could be better designed, but after a few uses, you either adjust to its quirks or resort to some brute force.
Subaru Forester Air Mattresses for Car Camping
When considering a Subaru Forester air mattress for your vehicle, Luno is a common answer. You can explore their wide range of car air mattresses here.
Luno Air Mattress for Subaru Forester
Luno offers a huge lineup of air mattresses designed for various vehicles, including cars, SUVs, trucks, and vans. If the Exped doesn’t quite fit your vehicle’s setup, Luno likely has an alternative that will.
Personally, air mattresses have never appealed to me. I never round all the grooves and divots to be comfortable. And typically, you need to put a sheet over it because the plastic is not super comfortable on the skin (not a huge issue when you’re using sleeping bags, though).
[Check out their window screens as well to keep your windows down in the summer without the mosquitos!]
And since my opinion is probably not the best for this air mattress, you can read some Reddid threads. Luno is generally liked by those that buy it, and the price is the barrier for those on the fence.
Advantages
- Equipped with a pump for hassle-free inflation (easier than Exped)
- Diverse products tailored to your specific vehicle
- Takes up less space than bulky foam mattresses
They even offer filler air cubes to fill the space behind your seats. Depending on your travel style, your gear might already occupy this space. To me, the filler cube is unnecessary, but it shows they put some thought into their products.
Drawbacks
- Need extra care compared to foam mattresses
- Expensive
The Luno may rival or even surpass the Exped in terms of comfort for those that prefer air mattresses. While the Exped integrates air and foam padding, Luno sticks with the traditional air mattress design.
If we’d had our infamous ice scraper incident with a Luno mattress, we’d likely be out $300+ and in the market for a new one.
Luno products are made from puncture-resistant material, but any damage would leave it useless for the remainder of your trip, or even beyond if a repair isn’t possible.
For those like me that are rough (somewhat careless) with some of their gear, the Exped might be a safer choice, given its resilience post-puncture.
Budget Subaru Forester Mattress
For about 1/3 of the price of Luno, you can get a Rhoam inflatable car camping mattress for your Forester.
In the reviews, there is one person that got a faulty one, but that’s the chance you take on Amazon.
Single Subaru Forester Mattress for Solo Adventures
For single car camping mattresses, the Teton Sports camping pad earns top marks from me. Perfect for solo journeys, it takes up about half the space in my Subaru.
This car camping mattress delivers durability, comfort, and warmth. Like the Exped, it integrates air and padding but outshines the Exped in ease of inflation and durability. It became my preferred sleep pad while living in my SUV and doing my van life alternative.
After three years of consistent use, the mattress remains puncture-free, despite having my mountain bike uncomfortably close to it at times.
Additionally, it’s more affordable than many other options on the market.
For backpackers, it doubles as a fantastic secondary sleeping pad for those non-backpacking adventures. It helps conserve your pricier gear and provides a comfortable pad for other trips.
To Wrap Up: Selecting Your Ideal Subaru Forester Mattress
Finding the perfect mattress for your Subaru Forester depends on your specific requirements and preferences. The EXPED mattress delivers unparalleled comfort and durability, despite a few minor inconveniences.
Luno leads in the air mattress category with easy-to-inflate models designed specifically for different vehicles.
For solo travelers, the more affordable and space-efficient Teton Sports camping pad may be the preferred choice.
