Best Camping Mattresses for Couples of 2025

At a certain point, every outdoorsy couple looks at their matching twin sleeping pads and wonders why their tenting setup resembles a 1950s sitcom bedroom: time to upgrade to one of the best camping mattresses for couples. But getting your first double-wide sleeping pad is typically a significant investment, so we spent multiple nights on the top couples sleeping pads to help you make the right choice for you and your significant other. The all-time favorite with rave reviews from all testers is the Exped MegaMat Duo, but the Big Agnes Captain Comfort is a close second, and slightly cheaper.

Best Camping Mattresses for Couples: Reviews & Recommendations

If you’re a frequent camper or trying to convince a reluctant partner that sleeping on the ground isn’t so bad, the Exped MegaMat Duo is the overall best camping mattress for couples. This 4-inch thick foam and air mattress might not be quite as comfortable as your bed at home, but it’s more comfortable than a double-thick air mattress or a number of Air BnB beds I’ve crashed on. You can pump it up to your desired firmness, though if you under fill it for a softer feel, you’ll notice the weight transference when your partner gets up a bit more. When it’s fully firm, I barely notice.

This mattress makes me excited to get in the tent at night and I always sleep like a baby. The 8.1 R value ensures you’re toasty warm off the cold ground. The MegaMat Duo is self inflating so you can prop open the “in” valve and it will slowly fill with air. If it’s cold out, this features doesn’t work. No matter what temperature it is, I always bring the Kokopelli feather pump to finish the job. Exped’s widget pump doesn’t have the oomph to fully inflate the MegaMat and stops increasing the PSI before I’d like.

What is R Value? It’s Why Your Sleeping Bag Doesn’t Keep You Warm

The 75D bottom is durable enough for me to drag out into the grass to relax on during the day. And when it got sprinkled on before I could put it back in the tent, it dried quickly. Rolling up the mat is easy, if a little time consuming. The roll-top bag is plenty large enough so you’re never squishing or re-rolling the mat to make it fit. The end result is pretty bulky, around the same packed size as my favorite canvas tent. But if space were truly crunched on a camping trip, I’d leave the cooler at home before I left this sleeping pad.

Exped recommends that you store this mat flat with both valves open. While it feels ridiculous to get home from a trip and unroll your camping mat, it will preserve the life and comfort of your investment. Plus, it’ll be easier to inflate the next time you roll it back up to throw in the car. The LW+ model I have is 52 by 78 inches. I store it up against a wall in my gear closet, but under a bed would work, too.

Best Value: Big Agnes Captain Comfort

During testing, I shared the medium-size version of this pad with my partner, who reported that he tossed and turned all night. I didn’t feel a thing. The limited motion transfer and peak comfort makes this one of our favorite camping mattress for couples. The 8+ R rating was also greatly appreciated, as I tested this one during a mid-November rainstorm in the lower foothills of the Cascade Range. 

I also liked that they offered the medium, 41-inch wide option. For families, the 52-inch versions of these sleeping pads can sometimes take up too much room in the best family tents, making the rest of your living space unnecessarily crowded. But what really won me over was how little I struggled to put this pad away again at the end of the trip. After deflating and rolling, I was able to use the provided velcro straps to scrunch it down. The provided sack for the pad was generously sized, with side-entry. With other air mattresses for camping, I’ve had to roll and reroll the pads to get it down small enough to fit back in the bag. Not so here. 

The only dings here are the price, which was on the higher side, and the lack of a pump. In my experience, self-inflatable pads hardly inflate at all the first time you use them. While there is always the option of purchasing a pump (which I recommend), it would have been nice if the Captain Comfort was compatible with the same air pump sacks used by its line of backpacking sleeping pads, which cut the difficulty of inflating these pads down by a factor of 10. 

While Big Agnes, unlike other best-in-class air mattress manufacturers, was not able to provide weight limit information for the Captain Comfort series, they did say that they don’t have any indication that a user’s weight would impact the pad’s durability. You can then trust that if you did run into an issue caused by excess weight, it would be covered by the warranty. Their manufacturer welds the pads using the same technology it employs on highly-regulated aircraft, medical, and military inflatables. — Laura Lancaster

Best for Cars: Luno AIR Pro Vehicle Mattress

Climbers and van lifers have made sleeping in cars seem pretty glamorous, but in reality your head is falling into the backseat leg room and there’s a divot where the trunk meets the reclined seats. But Luno makes camping mattresses customized to fit the year, make, and model of your car. This maximizes the sleeping space available in your trunk by conforming exactly to the curves of your vehicle, upping the glamour and comfort factor of sleeping in your car immensely. 

Luno also solves the problem of having to stuff enough gear in the backseat leg room to sufficiently support your head. This camping mattress includes flaps that connect the end of the mattress to the headrests. The hammock-style support means you can even incline your head to watch a movie or read a book. 

The AIR Pro camping mattress for couples is actually two pads zipped together so if you’re on a solo mission, you can leave the other half of your trunk open for gear. You can also pump each to that person’s desired firmness. Plus, if one person gets up at night, it won’t affect the air pressure on the other side. 

While comfortable and super easy to inflate, there is one reason I wouldn’t recommend buying this particular mattress. It has an R value of 1.5, making it a summer-only setup. R value is how well your sleeping pad resists the cold, and it’s absolutely crucial to have at least a 4 R value to get the full temperature rating out of your sleeping bag. If your pad isn’t insulated or beefed up with foam, cold air sits underneath your body all night allowing you to lose heat.

Luckily, Luno makes the AIR+FOAM Pro camping mattress for couples. While I haven’t yet tested this model, it has an R-value of 11 and only costs $120 more. On a spring night with a low of 41 degrees with sleeping bags rated to be comfortable at 15 degrees, we were still cold on the Luno AIR. If you know you’ll love the thoughtful design elements, quick inflation, and maximized space of Luno’s custom car camping mattresses, spend minimally more and get four-season use out of the AIR+FOAM model. — Ashley Thess

Self-inflating camping mattresses for couples do an exceptional job of balancing car space with personal comfort. But if storage space is not an issue in your camping setup, then the pure simplicity of a closed-cell foam mattress may be an even better choice. The HEST is one of the best camping mattresses for couples, with two layers of memory foam that provide ample support and protection from any bumps on the ground without the need for additional air. Since the memory foam is divided in the middle (so that the camping mattress can be folded up for travel) it also means there will be no movement transference between two people while sleeping on the HEST Dually Long. 

This camping mattress doesn’t really pack down at all, only folding in the center with a handle. It is also awkward to move and surprisingly heavy. If you plan to leave your camping mattress out for significant periods of time (such as in a truck bed), this could be a good choice, but if you are traveling in anything smaller than a Chevy Suburban you may find that the HEST Dually Long takes up more space than you’d like. — Laura Lancaster

Best Multipurpose: Klymit Klymaloft Sleeping Pad Double 

If you want one pad for car camping and low-key backpacking trips, look no further. At 6 pounds, the Klymaloft more than justifies its weight for low-key backpacking trips or base camps. And its foam topper above the inflatable air chambers resulted in a level of comfort during testing that was only a notch below the self-inflating pads and closed-cell foam pads. 

Unlike the other camping mattresses for couples in this test that used both air and foam — the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe and Exped Deep Sleep — this sleeping pad is not self-inflating. Plan to spend a little extra time inflating this one on backpacking trips, and consider purchasing an air pump for car camping trips. 

One thing I noticed during testing was that the construction of the valve looks as if it needs a pump to inflate. But it works the same as an air valve on the best backpacking sleeping pads once you get the hang of it. Two tie-down straps make this one more of a chore to pack down than other backpacking pads but still significantly easier than a typical self-inflating pad. Once I had the Klymit Klymaloft cinched in, its packed volume was smallest in this test. — Laura Lancaster

Read Next: Best Air Mattresses for Camping

Of everything, the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe came closest to the feel of my mattress at home—easily the most comfortable double camp bed in my test. Its four inches of foam not only made this pad super cushy but also provided substantial warmth. The 6.5 R rating here was more than enough to protect me from the cold of the ground while sleeping outside in temps that fell to the 40s. I also appreciated that I was able to inflate this camping mattress to my preferred level of firmness after the self-inflation period was complete. 

Like all self-inflating mattresses, it’s best to keep your expectations low the first time you try to inflate. During testing, the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe did not inflate at all when left open for an hour—typical for self-inflating mattresses during the first use and after lengthy storage periods. (Subsequent attempts to allow the air mattress to self-inflate went much better, but still expect to do some significant top-off).

The valve for the Comfort Deluxe is also somewhat confusing if you are used to the valves seen on their air sleeping pads: the valve that I thought I was supposed to use to dump out all the air from the mattress was in fact the valve to self inflate. To deflate the mattress, I had to open the self-inflate valve, flip the toggle around (not twist, which is what the arrow on the toggle initially seems to imply) to the side that said “deflate,” and then reattach it to the valve. But once you get the hang of the setup, this one comes together surprisingly fast for a self-inflating sleeping pad. 

The dimensions of the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe when rolled up are significant—this pad was as big as the 8-person tents that I tested on the same trip. It is also recommended that you store this pad inflated at home to maximize its lifespan, which can be difficult for anyone with limited storage space. 

The Exped Deep Sleep was a close second to the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe during testing, just losing out on sheer comfort. But the 9.0 R rating on this pad was very noticeable, even when temps dropped into the forties on my testing trip. In fact, I got so warm while sleeping on this pad that I had to kick off part of the sleeping quilt I was using. My husband ended up switching to a lightweight camping blanket. 

The so-called self-inflatable aspect of the Exped Deep Sleep behaves similarly to the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe. Expect to top off both using either a pump (not provided) or use your breath — the valves were much more straight-forward. With the Exped, there is also the option to purchase a widget that, in addition to serving as an air pump for your camping mattress, can also be used as a light and a battery pack for your phone.  

If you’re looking for the extreme warmth of the Exped Deep Sleep coupled with the comfort of the Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe, our best overall camping mattress for couples, Exped MegaMat, may be exactly what you are looking for. 

How I Chose the Best Camping Mattresses for Couples

Senior staff writer Laura Lancaster and associate gear editor Ashley Thess tested camping mattresses for couples over a series of weekend camping trips and evaluated them on a range of criteria: 

• Ease of use: Initial set-up varied from using either an included air pump or blowing it up the old-fashioned way. We have noted where compatible air pumps are available for an extra charge for those camping mattresses that did not include them in the initial purchase. 
• Comfort: While sleeping on the camping mattresses for couples with another person, we considered how the cushion level of each pad compared to the mattresses we typically use at home. We also paid attention to motion transference, as a major issue for many couples is that the feeling of one person turning over or getting up to use the restroom in the middle of the night can cause the other person to wake up as well. 
• Packed size: For most car campers, space is at a premium. In addition to noting the packed size in the key features section, which will help you to determine whether you can even fit the camping mattress in your trunk, we also noted how much space you can expect long-storage to take up. 
• Warmth: In addition to the noted R rating, I used these camping mattresses in shoulder season temperatures to get a sense of whether they provided sufficient warmth for a range of outdoor environments.  
• Durability: All camping mattresses for couples were in use for at least 48 hours, to see how much, if at all, they deflated during that time. One self-inflating camping mattress, the Stoic Double Cloud Camp Bed, deflated on the second day of use after developing a hole. At that point, it was removed from consideration in my test. 

Things to Consider Before Buying a Couples Camping Mattress

Shell Material

The exterior of inflatable camping mattresses for couples are typically constructed from either polyester or nylon at varying thicknesses, which is measured in denier (D). Most camping mattresses for couples are around 75D in thickness, with a thicker shell providing additional durability. Nylon is generally a stronger material than polyester, but laminates (which can make a pad more airtight) apply better to polyester than to nylon.

Foam

Some camping mattresses for couples use all foam, some use all air, and some use a combination of both. There are advantages and disadvantages to these different makeups. Camping mattresses that include foam tend to be bulkier, while all-air mattresses tend to suffer more long-term durability issues. Air mattress also have more motion transference that can be a problem for light sleepers. Mattresses that use both foam and air typically feel more like the mattress you use at home. They also are typically middle of the road for durability and packed size. And these pads are almost always the most difficult to set up and pack away. 

Stored Size

There are two stored sizes to keep an eye on when choosing a camping mattress for couples. Look at the stored size in your car, and the stored size in your home. While air mattresses and closed-cell foam mattresses will be the same size in both situations (small and huge, respectively), self-inflating mattresses, which should be left inflated when stored in your home, can be rolled up to a manageable size in transit. 

R Rating

As anyone who has been camping during a shoulder season knows, the cold from the ground will suck out your body heat faster than cold air. Sometimes leaving you shivering underneath even the best sleeping bags and best camping blankets. The R value measures how well the pad insulates (or “resists,” hence the R) the cold. One is the lowest rating (suitable for lowland camping at the height of summer). And it goes all the way up to 10 (typically only needed in extreme conditions). Where sleeping pad manufacturers once conducted their own testing (or in some cases simply guessed) as of 2020, R ratings are standardized by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Camping mattresses that only use air provide essentially no insulation from the cold of the ground, and typically do not have R ratings. 

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Final Thoughts

The Exped MegaMat Duo and Big Agnes Captain Comfort delivered such exceptional comfort and warmth that they earned the top spots in this review. If you have plenty of extra space in your outdoor rig (or plan to keep one of the best camping mattresses for couples in the same spot all season), the HEST Dually Long is a supremely comfortable closed-cell-foam mattress. If space is at a premium, the foam-and-air Klymit Klymaloft provides plenty of comfort.