My Van Needs a Permanent Bed

Ry, my 2022 Thor Rize campervan, (now for sale) has a couch that converts to a bed. It is 72 by 41 inches when converted, plenty spacious for most people and sufficient for a loving couple.

It works but I need a permanent bed.

Seams

When the couch is converted to a bed, the sleeping surface is primarily made up of four different cushions.

The seams between those cushions are directly down and across the middle of the bed. They can be uncomfortable, especially if you turn in a way that puts a lot of your weight on a seam.

Conversion

In addition, before going to sleep, you need to convert the couch to a bed. In theory, you could leave it as a bed all the time. But because it blocks the hallway through the van, you will probably want to wait until bedtime.

It not hard or time-consuming but it is one more thing to do before bed.

Sleeping pad

A sleeping pad helps.

I bought the DeepSleep Duo from Exped. It adds more cushioning, covers up the seams, and overall makes the bed far more comfortable.

Unfortunately, it is one more thing to deal with before going to bed and after getting up. It takes time to get into position, unroll and fill up with air. It takes even more time to deflate, roll up, and squeeze into its storage bag.

It also takes up a considerable amount of storage space. Deflated and rolled up, it still wouldn’t fit in any drawers or cabinets. I stored it in the closet in the bathroom.

Half-bed

The other thing I tried was sleeping on the couch without expanding it to a bed.

You don’t have to use all four cushions. Sleeping on just two makes it much faster to convert from a couch to a bed. I even found that I could leave the sheets in place, covered with a blanket.

The result is a bed that is very small but big enough. The trade-off was well worth it for me when solo camping after consecutive long days of snowboarding.

Permanent bed

I need a more comfortable bed that I don’t have to convert when I go to bed and unconvert when I get up. My campervan needs a permanent bed.

That is one reason I am selling my campervan. It doesn’t meet all of my needs. For example, I need a separating toilet.