ALPS Mountaineering Rechargeable Air Bed Review

The grey flexible PVC construction of this airbed requires the addition of phthalates, or "plasticizers," to make it flexible. This bed off-gasses; when lying on it, you can clearly smell plastic. PVC is a compound that is known to virtually never break down — great for the durability of this bed, but very bad for the landfill should you ever throw it away. This non-recyclable material will be there forever. Compared to the other two air mattresses we tested, both made of TPU, a highly durable and far less harmful compound, both environmentally as well as personally, we don't think the materials used in this bed should endear you to purchasing it.

Ignoring its material construction and focusing simply on performance, it suffers from the same drawbacks as the other air mattresses — namely lack of insulation, and compromised comfort in comparison to the other car camping mattresses we have tested, both self-inflaters as well as adaptable mattresses. While it does pack down relatively small and is quite easy to use, these qualities simply don't override its detracting attributes.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

We found this air bed to be roughly the same in terms of comfort as some of the other air mattresses, which was unfortunately at the bottom of our test pile. When inflated, it is a full eight inches thick, more than any other mattress, but again, it's full of only air, without supportive foam inside. The mattress is constructed exactly the same as an inflatable pool raft, but with a softer face fabric on top. While we certainly think it is far more comfortable than sleeping straight on the ground, we feel that the rest of the products we have tested have set the bar for comfort quite a bit higher than a pool raft.

Ease of Use

This mattress is, without a doubt, one of the easiest to use in this entire review, and this is its strongest feature. It comes with a rechargeable air pump that has cord adapters for either a car lighter or a wall plug. The pump inflates the bed in a speedy 1:30 minutes and can hold charge enough for 4:00 minutes, meaning there is plenty of time to blow it up a couple of times before needing to plug the pump in again for a recharge. The large twist valve couples directly with the pump, so you can easily go hands-free while inflating, a unique feature to this mattress.

To inflate, make sure the pump is charged, and twist it onto the valve, coupling it according to the lines and labels clearly marked on the valve. Then turn the pump on. Soon the bed will be full and firm.

To deflate, you can either use the pump, reversed, to suck the air out of the bed, or you can simply open the large valve and squeeze all of the air out. Fold into quarters and roll up tightly with the valve open to expunge the remaining air.

Warmth

Like both of the other air beds in this review, the Rechargeable Air Bed has an R-value of 1.0. This ranks it right down there with the lowest in our test. Anecdotally, the rubbery vinyl feels to us like it holds the cold, or heat, more than the thinner material of the other airbeds. As such, we can really only recommend this mattress in the heat of summer.

Versatility

Versatility, as it applies to car-camping mattresses, means how many different situations can the item be successfully used in. Due to their weight and lack of insulation, we found the air mattresses to be much less versatile than the other mattresses in the review. However, we still felt like they made good spare beds for the house when guests slept over. However, due to its material construction, its off-gassing bad smell, and health risking chemical compounds, we wouldn't recommend using it in any closed air space — whether a house or inside a vehicle. A well-ventilated tent in the summer might be okay, but this is a really limited range of use.

Packed Size

The Rechargeable Air Bed packs down fairly small, giving it an average rating in this metric.

Value

This mattress is about average in its cost, and somewhat high for an air mattress. Since we think it is not as high a performer as the other air beds in this review, let alone all the other foam mattresses, this does not present a good value.

Conclusion