I bought one of the fro $5 at a yard sale; for that price, I figured it was a good bet that I could get $5 of use out of it.
It’s been EXCELLENT for people staying over (since we don’t have a spare bed anymore).
The pump on mine is a bit whiny – perhaps the bearings? – and it needs to be re-inflated by the next morning, but it was secondhand.
A great inflatable bed.
Alas, punctures are inevitable – at least if the pump is separate, the pump can be used with the next mattress. Or can you leave it plugged in such that automatically re-inflates when the pressure drops?
If a puncture-proof mattress is impossible, a design that simplifies the identification of punctures would be an awesome selling point.
These things are horribly uncomfortable and cold.
The regular single thickness ones are slightly more comfortable, at least they don’t droop horribly toward the edges like these that pretend to be full height beds.
I’ll take a couch any day… or even a couple blankets on the floor.
While I prefer thicker inflatable mattresses, similar to this post, a good friend of mine swears by his therm a rest.
They are thin, light, and don’t use pumps.
Aha! The Gin-U-Wine thermarest. I’ve spent a sizeable portion of my life on a thermarest and I was thinking the same thing as @jeff_fisher in that the traditional inflatable bed is regularly awful. The thinnest, lightest model of thermarest probably doesn’t offer the level of comfort sleepers might expect on a traditional mattress, but they do fold down to nothing and are warm. I would certainly think the larger models are quite comfortable because the thinner models are excellent.
Jason said: If you need an inflatable mattress this one has been serving me well for years.
Sounds perfect! When can I stop by to pick it up? (Tied up for the next hour or so, but then free for the rest of the night. Thx!)
IDK, it sounds like Rob might be part of the deal…
Oh. In that case I need another half-hour to make room in the truck cab. Actually, ya know, it’s maybe too late to do this yet tonight. Jason, how 'bout I just give you a call tomorrow and we’ll figure something out… (Also, how much does Rob eat? Should I go to the store first?)
Yep, these work & I’ve whipped ours out for unexpected extra guests when all other berths were filled.
My only complaint, the STANK. It smells like you are sleeping inside a Canadian Tire & god help you if you deflate it indoors, yeeergh.
It would cause the unit price to triple, to use a urethane based anything instead of PVC, but god I would pay.
Of course, all trades come at a price, PVC is easy to patch while urethane stuff can be more difficult. Yet, you would also have far less risk of a puncture to begin with if it were urethane-based.
2 - 3 souls a day.
Plus bourbon.
Ah, the japhroaig diet 
For hikjng/camping nothing beats a light, inflatable mattress. But for unexpected guests I prefer basic, thick foam mattress toppers. Easy to compress (even 4 inch models), doesn’t smell, and for my back it is comfy. And they don’t puncture.
I have a thermarest for hiking and camping. As far as I know they are the best thing you can fit in a backpack. Though the 1/2" foam pads are almost as comfy at 1/10th the price (bulkier, but weigh about the same).
I suspect, however, that japhroaig has the thing. An actual thick foam pad is warm and comfortable. Fills a good chunk of a closet, but it will probably last 20 years (eventually the foam will start to break down into horrid powder).
Inflatables are from the devil though. Just don’t. Everyone is lying that they are comfortable on them.
Keep an almost dead set of batteries on hand to swap in after the first three days of a guest visit.
You don’t have a cat. I know this because I had an inflatable mattress with a built in pump and it was great for two days.
Then it developed several holes - the cats had discovered it. I don’t even think they had been particularly rough on it, just did the usual kind of claw use that happens when they jump up or down from something.
Very not compatible to cats.
Inflatable beds made of highly polished inch-thick low-carbon steel are pretty close to puncture-proof, but you have to get them extremely hot to inflate them, and then you’ll have to polish the oxide scale off afterwards so that guests who sleepwalk with plasma cutters can’t accidentally pop them. Or hide the plasma cutter so Rob can’t find it at night, I guess.
But it’s totally worth it to have a guest bed that the cats can’t shred, you know.
I have a cat. He has claws. I don’t let him in the room with the inflatable.
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