Once I built the wooden sleeping platform, we needed to decide on the bedding solution for the Jeep. Since I carpeted the platforms, sleeping in a sleeping bag directly on them would probably be okay for a short camping trip, but for an extended period we wanted something more comfortable. It also needed to be something that would be low-maintenance and that could pack away fairly small when not in use.

Mattress

We decided to use a 2″ memory foam mattress topper as our mattress. It started out as a queen size, so we had to trim it down a bit. To do that, we removed the foam from the cover, laid the platforms on top of it upside-down, traced the outline, and cut the foam into the right shape with scissors.

Then we used the foam as a template to cut the cover. We ended up just throwing away the zipper that originally went all the way around the mattress topper and sewed the edges to close around the foam. We left the short end open (with some velcro to keep it closed) so we can take the foam out once in a while to wash the cover.

We also took some of the scraps from the mattress foam to use as pillows, inside normal pillowcases.

Sheets

Unfortunately, taking the foam out is a huge pain, so we wanted to keep the cover clean so we don’t have to wash it more than absolutely necessary. To do that, we just bought 2 twin-size fitted sheets and put one on each side of the mattress. Then we just wash those when we do our laundry and only have to wash the mattress cover when we do a deep-clean.

Sleeping Bag

Even though we both had our own individual sleeping bags already that we really liked (I personally love my Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed, which is pretty much the perfect sleeping bag), we decided to get a double sleeping bag for the Jeep. It does make it feel more like a bed and less like camping. I looked at a bunch of them and ended up going with this one from Sleepingo. It’s really inexpensive for a sleeping bag, let alone a double, and it gets great reviews, so I tried it out and it worked out great. It’s really lightweight and comfortable, and it doesn’t get overly hot on warm nights. On the other hand, it’s not the warmest bag for cold nights, but with an added blanket, we’ve never gotten cold with temperatures in the 20’s (F).

Storage

Another challenge was figuring out how to store the mattress, sleeping bag, blanket, and pillows in a way that didn’t take up too much space in the car when we drive, and was easy to set up and put away (almost) every day. To solve this we bought two clear plastic storage “trunks”– one big cube for the mattress and another flat one for the sleeping bag, blanket, and pillows. The flat one fit perfectly in between the stacked sleeping platform sections and the rear shelf.