All You Need to Know About Bedding

Cushions run lengthwise - not good

Cushions have vinyl backs - bad in summer

When you ordered your camper there were a few options available to you with regard to bedding. By now you will possibly have found out whether or not you made the right choice - few of us do first time round! When tenting we must have got to version 7 sleeping wise before we eventually got it right. We ended up with the Caribee self inflating mattress and a blanket under the sheet. Very simple and very comfortable, but a wee bit on the dear side around $200. Of course the Caribee is TOO wide to fit in the A'van. In the USA they have the option of steel folding beds. In Australia with the A'van you have the option of an innerspring mattress, 4" foam or thicker and firmer Enduro foam. It doesn't end there though. There are the dreaded cracks to consider. In some configurations the cracks (cushion joins) run at 90 degrees to the bed. After a few vans you learn to only get configurations that use the minimum cushions as these tend to be more comfortable. Placing a mattress protector on top of the cushions helps to eliminate the feel of joins. It is easiest to handle joints running parallel with your body as in a the A'van 3C for instance. This also doesn't take up much room and folds easily away under the bed. In Show and Tell Keith and Pam Thomas solved the problem of cushions slipping out in their Sportliner simply by making a wrap around sheet utilising Velcro - a wonderfully simple idea that works.

Another approach to bedding in an A'van. This couple use a double sleeping bag.

Making up double beds in your A'van camper is an irksome job. You can simplify it just a little by joining the top and bottom sheets along the bottom edge. There isn't a lot of room to store bedding so it pays to give this area a lot of thought. In summer all you need is a woven cotton blanket, but winter needs more thought. Donnas tend to take up a huge amount of room unless you always leave your bed made up or can pop them in the tow vehicle. We experimented for months and finally came up with a specially made quilt. This was made of flannelette top and bottom and had a combination of wool and polyester wadding inside. This proved to be very light, thin and very warm. Construction of this quilt will be covered in the A-Craft Corner section very shortly. Chrissy made this before the site commenced so we just have to wait for someone to order one so we can do the step by step instructions. The quilt has a special flap on the bottom. This tucks under the mattress easily and stops your feet ever getting cold even if your partner is a restless sleeper. Mark 2 will have a flap on the right side to tuck in - using the gap between the drawers and the kitchen. This trick also works well will motorhomes with the bed over the cab (no good on models where the mattress doesn't lift up though)