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TDiddy51's avatar
TDiddy51
Explorer
Aug 03, 2013

Sleep Number bed air in mountains?

Does anyone know how much air needs to be let out from a Sleep Number bed when traveling in altitudes of 10,000 ft? We're headed for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons later this month and September. The bed is in our 5th wheel of course.:Z
  • Set the sleep number below 35 while plugged into power. This will partly deflate it. As you drive to a higher altitude, it will become firmer, and you need to set it lower, as the "Number" is based on air pressure, that will go up as you drive. So by making it a lower number at 2,500' elevation, by the time you travel one day to 6,000', the number indicated at the time you park might have changed a lot, but not if deflated to about 35 in the morning.

    Now if you are making a marathon run, and leave a campground at 6 am at 2,000' elevation, and plan on going over a 10,500' pass like Beartooth summit, you might want to set it even lower. Most people will only travel a small elevation gain each day though.
  • We deflate ours a bit, but my understanding is that the actual "RV" model (which we don't have) will auto-deflate.
  • n7bsn wrote:
    We deflate ours a bit, but my understanding is that the actual "RV" model (which we don't have) will auto-deflate.
    not sure how it would even know, I doubt there is an elevation sensor on the compressor..

    I see a big difference even going from sea level to 1600', and worse when its hot. I would lay on it and take it down to at least 35 as Fred says, and probably lower. There have been a few posts here in the past about wiping out air beds from over pressure.
  • i used to use a regular air mattress when camping

    i quickly learned to totally deflate it any day of travel

    yeah it took a few more minutes at night preparing the bed .. but it was worth it
  • We set our sleep number to zero at the start of the mountain day and then adjust it just before sleep time.
  • We have been traveling with a Sleep-Number bed allover the west for the last 10 years, 0-12,000 ft, have never let the air out before a days trip. If we go up in elevation the bed gets harder and when we go down it gets softer. Never stopped at the high point to see what the "number" was. Have had Home and RV types, never had a problem with either.
  • dkreuzen wrote:
    We have been traveling with a Sleep-Number bed allover the west for the last 10 years, 0-12,000 ft, have never let the air out before a days trip. If we go up in elevation the bed gets harder and when we go down it gets softer. Never stopped at the high point to see what the "number" was. Have had Home and RV types, never had a problem with either.
    and what's your "number" to begin with?

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