What is it?
Stay at a campsite anytime of year and one of the sounds you'll likely hear echoing round is the sound of multiple foot pumps wheezing away as campers give their right leg a workout inflating their airbed for the night. Anyone who's slept on an airbed for a night will tell you that they can be prone to deflation - it's not unusual to find yourself waking in the morning on a saggy airbed and a sore back.
That's where something like the Outwell Dreamboat range of self inflating mattresses comes in. As the name suggests, there's no need for a pump and they promise a better night's sleep thanks to the compressed foam design.
The Dreamboat range is available in a number of sizes and thicknesses - from single mattresses that are 7.5cm thick, to large doubles that are 12cm thick. They're not just reserved for tents either - there's a specific 'Campercar' model that's designed to appeal to the burgeoning car camping scene, with the mattress tapering halfway down to easily fit in cars like the Tesla Model Y and Skoda Enyaq according to Outwell.
We're testing the Outwell Dreamboat Campervan that's designed to fit in the likes of the Volkswagen California, Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo and similar. Measuring 200 x 114 x 7.5 cm (L x W x H) and priced at £249.99, it puts firmly in the premium price range of camping mattresses.
What's it like?
The Outwell Dreamboat Campervan has a pack size of 57 x 23cm and weighs just under 3kg, so it's moderately compact. Once you've taken it out of its packing bag, all you have to do is unfurl it and lay it out flat.
The Dreamboat Campervan uses Outwell's low-profile Flat High-Flow valve - put the two valves to their open position and you simply leave it to inflate. The first time you use it you might want to give it a helping hand with a few breaths, but it's not something you have to do every time you want to inflate it. Come back to it a little while later (it'll only take 5 minutes or so to fully inflate) and push the valves to the closed position and snap the covers over the valves shut and you're good to go.
Compared to the hefty depth of some airbeds, the 7.5cm thickness of the Dreamboat Campervan looks on the thin side. Don't be deceived however, as it's incredibly comfy. The Dreamboat Campervan features extra large foam cavities that help deliver a really good night's sleep - better than any airbed we've used.
It'll also keep you snug on colder nights - thanks to its high R value of 6.6 it retains body heat much better than lots of other mattresses.
When it comes to packing away, open the valves and roll the mattress up to squeeze the air out as best you can. Close the values, unroll and fold as tightly as possible towards the valves before opening the valves to push the last bit of remaining air out. Close the valves and cover and you're done. It's a little bit of a faff to get all the air out and pack away, but it comes with a little bit of practice.
Should I buy one?
The Outwell Dreamboat Campervan is not cheap, but if you regularly camp (or sleep in a campervan) and want to ensure a comfy and warm night's sleep camping, then this is the mattress for you.
