Replacement mattress

The only problem I could see with changing to a sprung mattress is the weight of them.

We did do it in a previous caravan which had 2 single beds at the rear of the van. Never gave it a thought to start with but after awhile we did realise the rear of the van was rather heavy.  

Luckily in that van we did have the weight allowance to be able to cope with it. We just had to make sure that we put heavy items towards the front and not the rear.

The mattresses didn't last long though as we used the van all year round and they developed rusty springs.

Our 2008 Sterling (Swift Group) has a sprung mattress and we find it comfortable, reasonably firm, and no roll together, so that plan may well work, though will no doubt be expensive if a shaped mattress.

We use the van 3-4 months per year and the mattress is still good.

The Duvalay mattress used now is another reason we are hanging on to our old van.

our van has a 'cold foam' type mattress which is very light in weight but provides great support and no (unintentional) 'roll together'

it sits on wooden slats which provide the 'springing' and some sit on plastic sprung clusters...Google ' Frolli petal springs'.

we had this system in our previous van and makes the typical 'Sprung mattress' feel much more bulky and heavy.

we had a Swift with this type of mattress but the cold foam ones suit us better as they give better support.

now, whether it's possible to change to this type of mattress, I don't know....for a start they may not be any base 'springing' in place...

having said that, I know that some converters just lay the cold foam mattress on to a flat piece of 'board', but this wouldn't allow for any 'breatheability' under the mattress and might lead to condensation.

good luck with the search.

Perhaps the answer is a "lilo" that you can inflate to taste. Squidgy or rock hard. Could be a weight bonus as air doesn't weigh much.

I have an Adria with an island bed, which for me is bliss, because it's very firm and gives me a great night's sleep. I read on the owners' forum that some find the mattress too firm and wish to swap it for other brands - Duvalay is one of them. Like you, I find them too soft. My point is maybe it's worth having a look at Adria owners forum - you may pick up a very cheap mattress 😀

Take a look at the Duvalay website.

We had some mattresses custom made by Duvalay for our twin beds. They were made wider for more comfort and shaped to fit around the various pieces of woodwork. We chose the more expensive option which turned out to be very firm. As Duvalay are the original supplier for Swift, they may be able to advise on a firmer option to the supplied mattress. I believe they offer three options. Be warned, ours were not cheap as they were custom made shapes, but as you are looking for a shape they already produce, they may be reasonable.

Thanks everyone for your replies you’ve given me some things to explore. The extra weight had crossed our minds although we travel light so would just have to remember the rear of the van would be heavier. Will look at other Duvalay mattresses but think any foam mattress wouldn’t be firm enough. Will look at what sort of mattress Adria use. Can’t stay with the mattress we have, we go away for 4 weeks at a time sometimes and that’s too much backache!

I am fairly confident that we chose the eclipse version, which claims to be  memory fibre rather than foam. It is vey firm, so much so that we needed to purchase a thin feather topper to soften it up a bit. The best part is the Duvalay would be a direct replacement for shape and prices start at £380, probably for a single. We did not want a memory foam as we found them to hot. This one is firm and cool. Again they are very firm well made mattresses. I suffer from backache and we also spend over 4 weeks away at a time. On the Duvalay site, look in outdoor and select caravan mattresses.

It seems you can also specify that the mattress is in two parts, which I assume is either the small piece infill at the top or separate sleeping sections which would allow for undisturbed turnovers.

Good luck.