Car Camping Sleep System

Still in the works - but this will get you started!

We spend the majority of our time in the summer car camping, and for years we've slept in tents on the ground - either in campgrounds or dispersed camping. In 2021, we finally purchased a Subaru Forester, and made plans to convert it into a mobile sleeping platform. Part of the desire is to cut down on general equipment that we bring - it seems silly to throw down a tent, bring sleeping bags, and sleep colder than we have to, when we're going to be taking our vehicle with us 99% of the time.

Sleeping in a vehicle can also extend our camping later into the season - cold weather can be handled with something as easy as "just bring another blanket", and we can ignore additional sleeping pads, jackets, or a more robust tent. And finally, it can cut down on headaches we've encountered with bad camping areas - is it raining, and the ground is going to flood? Is there cactus everywhere? Is the ground covered with rocks? With the car, none of this is a concern.

Long story short - for almost any situation, sleeping in our vehicle is easier, warmer, and more comfortable.

The main thing to remember here is that when you're sleeping on the mattress, you're not just folding the long end in half, but you'll turn the mattress 90 degrees and will be sleeping along the width. So once the mattress is folded, the width of the mattress becomes the head to toe length, and the old length, divided in half, becomes the new width.

For a single person, you've got a lot of options - you don't even need the whole space in the back of your car unless you like to spread out when you sleep. But for two people, you'll need to make sure that you'll be comfortable given the available space.

When choosing what size of mattress topper to buy, consider these three things:

1. The size of your car, especially the width within the cargo space, is your main limiter. You can get a mattress that's twenty feet wide, but if it doesn't fit in your vehicle, it doesn't really matter.

2. Depending on your height, your feet will be hanging off the end of the mattress. If you're an average American male, you're almost guaranteed to be taller than the mattress. But this isn't a deal-breaker - you'll have bags, boxes, climbing ropes and whatever other camping gear along with you, and this will be perfect to prop your feet up on.

3. To keep the mattress from getting ripped and torn, and to keep it from getting dirty, you'll want to make a cover for it. My suggestion (and I'll show how below), is to make one out of a fitted sheet - you'll use the same size sheet as the mattress. So if you have a queen sized mattress at home and buy a king sized mattress topper for camping, you'll also need to buy a king sized fitted sheet - this seems like a waste. Most people have an extra couple of sheet sets at home, so I'd suggest you purchase a topper that's the same size as your normal bed.

Apple and I ended up purchasing a queen sized topper - it's just about perfect sized for her, and just slightly too small for me. We already own a queen sized bed, so I could just reuse sheets that we had on hand. And finally, we may have been able to squeeze a king sized mattress into the car, but it would have been tight, and taken up a ton of space when stowed away.