Hi. Realise there's a degree of how long is a piece of string but... In general, how long to SIMs take to inflate? I'm thinking of a single of average thickness.
The reason for asking...
We want a bed that's quick to inflate in the middle of the night for when one or other of us needs to retreat downstairs for the night to escape our restless baby. We don't want to be messing around pumping up beds, nor do we want to be waiting around for it to inflate itself. Kinda needs to be chuck it down and crash.
The first time it can take a couple of hours, as it's been vacuum packed at the factory and may have been stored like that for some time. An SI mat is a bit like memory foam, it's got lots of little holes all through it and they need to return to their normal, not compressed state.
When I asked this question in a camping shop, I was told an average of 20 mins, with it taking longer if its colder. We stuck with airbeds as our Kampa whirlwind pump will inflate our single Coleman Comfort in less than 30 seconds, but anything is a fuss given your scenario.I know been there and still get the odd night.
I would get a Dutch Army Surplus sleep mat (2cm thick and just rolls out). Many SIMs are only 2.5cm thick inflated and these sleep mats are regarded the Rolls Royce of non-inflating sleep mats. I have 3 on our shopping list for overnight camps if I can get the OH to come round to us needing them. Its me that gets the beds ready... link
I store mine unrolled. I suppose if they were kept rolled for mnths they would take a while to decompress. If the op wants to use Sim as stated he could just leave it behind settee.
Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 15/1/2011
I store mine unrolled. I suppose if they were kept rolled for mnths they would take a while to decompress. If the op wants to use Sim as stated he could just leave it behind settee.
As Victoria says the first inflaton is the slowest. And it is true that the more time a SIM stays inflated, the quicker it will re-inflate after rolling - that's why I store mine inflated flat under the bed.
But when it's been stored rolled for a while, my single 50mm (5cm) SIM takes between 90 seconds and two minutes to self-inflate to the point where a few puffs into the valve are needed to firm it up.
It's still a lot quicker than foot-pumping up a single airbed.
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Topic: SIMs - How quick to inflate?
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