A sit down table inside teardrop? Is this possible?

[deleted]

Stacie, thanks for your help again! So you have a 3" thick mattress and you feel it's comfortable enough? If I was going to do the regular memory foam, I was planning on at least 6 if not 8 inches thick.

I am very comfortable on the 3" mattress. I do use a cotton mattress pad that fits a twin bed but I trimmed it down. On top of that I put two waterproof mattress liners. The first fitted liner I put on the underside then put the second one on top like a regular mattress cover. Then I put a custom fitted sheet I sewed to fit my smaller than standard mattress. So glad I did as there was an incident of a water jug breaking during travel due to the vibrations of the not so stable plastic jug vibrating on the trailer floor beside the mattress. the whole thing emptied out and soaked into my comforter and the fitted top sheet. Some I was able to soak up off the floor with a towel. That night was spent at a Super 8 with all of my blankets and the sheet draped around the room to dry out. LOL

I think the one other thing to keep in mind when determining mattress thickness is weight, yours, not the mattress. I weigh around 120 lbs and don't bottom-out when I sit or lay down. If I weighed more I might. But coupled with an inflatable you already own and find adequate I'd guess you would be comfortable enough. The 3" mattress at 31"x70" is a beast to move. I can't even imagine trying to lift a 6"-8" mattress when needed.

And I really like kudzu's suggestion to put the air mattress under the foam mattress. Now that I have one I'll have to do that!

[bdosborn]

Hello again, Bruce! Thanks for the reply. Could I ask if you went with the latex foam for your mattress, or the more traditional memory foam?

I used regular foam, I couldn't afford the latex foam! ;-)
Bruce

[lrrowe]

I found some memory foam at Bed, Bath and Beyond which I cut to size. It was not pure latex.
It was 6" thick and has worked great for me.
I forget the exact costs, something like $200 before many discount coupons which I want to remember got the price down to about $120. I got two, one for each of our two bunks.

[rmclarke]

Little Foot said:
When you say foot well, that's because you place your feet in there when you're sitting at the table? And I understand one of you can lean against the wall of the camper for support, but what does the other person do for back support, if anything?

The earlier pic I posted shows my wife sitting with her legs stretched out on the side cushion and not down in the foot well, which may have caused confusion.

The two cushions which cover the table when it is folded down, are used as backrest cushions when the table is up. These older pics are kind of dark, but I hope they might explain things better.

Yes, it is possible to sit upright inside a teardrop.......I'm just not so sure that it is that important a feature any more, but that being said, build it the way you want it!



Richard

[Little Foot]

@Stacie - Thanks again for the advice! It sounds like you're happy with your 3" thick mattress, so that's good to know. If I start with a regular memory foam mattress I may still do the 6" as I found one for a decent price with good reviews on Amazon, and I would like to sit on it at the edge of the door without the door jamb cutting into our legs. I'm not so sure that putting the Thermorest self inflating sleeping pads under a mattress would really be beneficial. I don't think you would even notice the Thermorest under another mattress that's 3" thick or more, and I'm guessing it would be better to have the Thermorest on top of the mattress if needed in cold weather. But I'm just guessing here, so maybe I'll have to experiment a little and see what's most comfortable. That's great advice about the waterproof cover though, I'll definitely be getting one of those now.

@Bruce - I'm with you, the cost of these latex mattresses seems astronomical to me! I may start with a regular memory foam mattress, and upgrade to the latex if we find we need to. On a side note, I'm trying to get a handle on what I need for lights, batteries, chargers, inverters, etc. etc. I have been reading through one of the stickies under Electrical Secrets about wiring diagrams and plans, but I honestly know very little about it. I know basically what I want to have, but not necessary what equipment I need or how to safely wire everything. I noticed you were quite active in that stickied thread, and you seem to know quite a bit about the electric systems on these campers. I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to help me get a handle on what I need and how to wire up everything. I want to get this part of my plan solidified so that I can figure out where I'll need wooden supports for lights and outlets, and any area or raceway I may need for the electrical components. Your help would be very much appreciated, if you wouldn't mind!!

@Bob - That's exactly the kind of mattress is was thinking of! I found a 6" queen on Amazon for about the same money. I may well start with that and see how it goes. Thanks for your help!

@Richard - Thanks again for the pics and advice! Those pics did help me understand what you did in your camper. However, as you said, I'm now wondering if this is even worth it. It seems to me a "breakfast in bed" type tray or simple, small fold down tables would be a better idea. I thought they would be handy for reading as well. I'm realizing too that if it's really raining a lot it's going to be very wet and muddy, and we're not going to want to be climbing in an out of the camper all muddy. I'm starting to think our trusted screened kitchen tent might be the best thing to do in the rain, or if it's really horrible we could head to the nearest hotel

[lrrowe]

Oh, and I forget to add that I was going after pure latex also, for a queen size bed that I would cut to size which was quoted to me at $500. Better, most likely yes, but just too expensive. And the dealer I was working with keep changing the price for one he had to order.

[Little Foot]

Oh, and I forget to add that I was going after pure latex also, for a queen size bed that I would cut to size which was quoted to me at $500. Better, most likely yes, but just too expensive. And the dealer I was working with keep changing the price for one he had to order.

Bob, I agree. I just don't think I want to drop $500 or more on a mattress for a camper that we will likely use only a few weeks out of the year. I am thinking I will start with the regular memory foam and then upgrade if we take the camper out in cold weather and feel we need different mattress. Some of our camping trips will still be backpacking and canoe trips, so I don't think I'm willing to sink that much into the mattress on the camper right now. Thanks again for your help!

[bdosborn]

I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to help me get a handle on what I need and how to wire up everything. I want to get this part of my plan solidified so that I can figure out where I'll need wooden supports for lights and outlets, and any area or raceway I may need for the electrical components. Your help would be very much appreciated, if you wouldn't mind!

No problem. There's plenty of good help on the forum but feel free to PM me if you get stuck.

Bruce

[Little Foot]

Hey guy! As always, I really appreciate everyone's help and replies!

@Bruce - Thank you for offering to help me with the electrical equipment! It would be very reassuring to know I can contact you with specific questions.

@slow - Thank you for your reply and advice! At this point I'm leaning more towards going away from the idea of a sit down table inside the camper. I think if I do anything it will probably be some type of fold down tray table like on a plane. I feel like these will be easier to use, and come in handy for reading or using a laptop, which I'll definitely be doing in certain places, like when we take the camper to my mother-in-laws house on Keuka Lake NY.

[Socal Tom]

Hey guy! As always, I really appreciate everyone's help and replies!

@Bruce - Thank you for offering to help me with the electrical equipment! It would be very reassuring to know I can contact you with specific questions.

@slow - Thank you for your reply and advice! At this point I'm leaning more towards going away from the idea of a sit down table inside the camper. I think if I do anything it will probably be some type of fold down tray table like on a plane. I feel like these will be easier to use, and come in handy for reading or using a laptop, which I'll definitely be doing in certain places, like when we take the camper to my mother-in-laws house on Keuka Lake NY.

Here is a thought. Create a couple of shallow drawers under your cabinets, and put fold down legs under them. Then they could work like little lap tables when you need them, but other wise then would be up out of the way, and you could even keep some small items in them.
Tom

[Little Foot]

Hey guy! As always, I really appreciate everyone's help and replies!

@Bruce - Thank you for offering to help me with the electrical equipment! It would be very reassuring to know I can contact you with specific questions.

@slow - Thank you for your reply and advice! At this point I'm leaning more towards going away from the idea of a sit down table inside the camper. I think if I do anything it will probably be some type of fold down tray table like on a plane. I feel like these will be easier to use, and come in handy for reading or using a laptop, which I'll definitely be doing in certain places, like when we take the camper to my mother-in-laws house on Keuka Lake NY.

Here is a thought. Create a couple of shallow drawers under your cabinets, and put fold down legs under them. Then they could work like little lap tables when you need them, but other wise then would be up out of the way, and you could even keep some small items in them.
Tom

Hi, Socal Tom! Thanks for your advice, but I'm not sure I understand what you're describing. I'm leaning towards some type of fold down airplane styled tray, but I was thinking they'd fold down from the sides, one on each side of the mattress. Coyly of you elaborate on t you're describing please?

[Little Foot]

Hmmmm.... Forum member Graniterich recently posted this folding mattress in another thread that's available from both Walmart and Amazon for a reasonable price. This has got me rethinking the idea of putting a sit down table inside the camper again. I may order this mattress to see if it would really be comfortable and useable in the camper. I can easily return it if I don't think it will work out.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/4-Folding-Mattress-Gel-Memory-Foam-Cooling-Layer-by-Lucid-Queen/47961665?action=product_interest&action_type=title&item_id=47961665&placement_id=irs-106-m2&strategy=PWVAV&visitor_id&category=&client_guid=af9b0a0b-7def-4d8a-a5cd-114c04199166&customer_id_enc&config_id=106&parent_item_id=47961390&parent_anchor_item_id=47961390&guid=36f3d5d0-f944-4cfc-a3c3-73e590b3e557&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n

[Graniterich]

Glad to help

[Socal Tom]

Hey guy! As always, I really appreciate everyone's help and replies!

@Bruce - Thank you for offering to help me with the electrical equipment! It would be very reassuring to know I can contact you with specific questions.

@slow - Thank you for your reply and advice! At this point I'm leaning more towards going away from the idea of a sit down table inside the camper. I think if I do anything it will probably be some type of fold down tray table like on a plane. I feel like these will be easier to use, and come in handy for reading or using a laptop, which I'll definitely be doing in certain places, like when we take the camper to my mother-in-laws house on Keuka Lake NY.

Here is a thought. Create a couple of shallow drawers under your cabinets, and put fold down legs under them. Then they could work like little lap tables when you need them, but other wise then would be up out of the way, and you could even keep some small items in them.
Tom

Hi, Socal Tom! Thanks for your advice, but I'm not sure I understand what you're describing. I'm leaning towards some type of fold down airplane styled tray, but I was thinking they'd fold down from the sides, one on each side of the mattress. Coyly of you elaborate on t you're describing please?

Something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Trademark-Innovat ... inner+tray
but with runners on the sides, so it could slide under the interior cabinets like a drawer, and depending on how deep you make it, it could hold stuff like a laptop or ipad or?.
I personally don't care for the swing down table. The height will probably be wrong, and if its on the door, then it will be awkward to get in and out with the food you plan to eat.
With these you can experiment with how tall to make it, and it can be carried as necessary ( though I do have cup holders on the walls of mine
Tom

[Little Foot]

OK, now I see what you're saying, thank you for clarifying. I have definitely been thinking about using trays like that. In fact, we could maybe use them up just how you would I bed at home without actually attaching the to the camper in anyway. That may be all we need for the occasional meal, snacking, or nighttime reading.

That said, I'm still thinking about the folding mattress that Graniterich found, and it turns out there are others like that to choose from in the same price range. It might be worth trying something like that since the cost is a lot more manageable than ordering a custom foam mattress in sections, or trying to cut a mattres myself and making cover slips for it (my wife and I have ZERO experience sewing, though my friend's wife might be able to help with apolstering). There's no less than a million delicious to make when it comes to building one of these campers!

Thanks again everyone, your suggestions are a big help!