CAR CAMPING HAS become hyper-focused on specific gear in recent years. Present-day scenarios at the campground remind me of Transformers, with vehicles flexing their pop-up tents, retractable tables, rollout canopies, and more. It can be a bit of a contest, with campers showing off just how much their automobile can morph into a temporary home. Arguably, the most important part of the many facets of camping gear remains the mattress. It’s where you’re going to lay your head come evening and can be the difference between a night of tossing and turning or a peaceful one that leads to a genuine recharge and ample energy for adventuring the next day.
Luno is up to some pretty sophisticated work in the category. The company ought to know a little something about the topic as it’s based in Bend, Ore.—land of a million outdoor adventures. For a brand looking to experiment and dial in its craft, it’s hard to imagine better testing grounds, located right in its backyard. One of the more popular Luno items at the moment is the AIR + FOAM PRO Vehicle Mattress.
Over the course of a couple of weeks, I brought the Luno AIR + FOAM Pro Vehicle Sleep System with me on camping outings and road trips. I found it to be a highly efficient and slick addition to the car mattress system circuit. It proved its worth via cushy comfort, quick setup, and cool extra features that frankly a lot of other brands just don’t have or have yet to nail.
What’s Great About the Luno Sleep System
Packed up with a few other gadgets and ready to go.
Packability, Versatility, and Set Up
ONE OF THE MANY many strong suits of the system is the packability. The mattress comes rolled up in a neat duffel bag with a handle that also includes a pair of head support bridge attachments, a repair patch, and an air roll bag. All told, it’s about the size of a large sleeping bag (29” x 11” x 18”), making it ultra-portable. And there’s a little extra room in the carrying bag, allowing you to throw in a few other essentials like clothing or food jars.
In terms of setup, the dimensions are ideal. As a double, the mattress is 80” x 53”, making it plenty long (even for taller campers). As a single, it’s a mere half that width, freeing up lots of extra space. Because you can zip apart the mattress down the middle, you can easily go from couple sleeping to solo sleeping and vice versa. Best, that zipper doesn’t protrude so there’s no seam to mess up your sleeping surface. It does self-inflate pretty quickly (although not quite as fast as the 3 to 5 minutes advertised for first-time use) and, when properly inflated, sits up at about 4 inches in height. The head of the mattress anchors to the car’s headrests and offers both satisfactory support and some added storage pouches for things like devices, headlamps, books, snacks, toothbrushes, and other items you might want to keep in an organized spot.
The system is compatible with pretty much every popular SUV make and model. I found the fit with my Subaru Forester to be nearly tailor-made, nestling into the backseat and hatch area nicely. The hardware is functional and well-made, with accents like sturdy metal clips, leakproof valves, and TPU-coated fabric for added durability. It leaves plenty of room beneath the head of the mattress and behind the front car seats for storage and breaking the whole system down only takes minutes and very little effort.
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Performance
What’s it like to sleep on the AIR+FOAM Pro Vehicle Mattress System? Quite nice. I’d rate it significantly higher than even some of the nicer tent systems I’ve used (but won’t go so far to say its outdoes my mattress at home). I was quite content sleeping, both on my side and my back, inflating the mattress a bit more with the included bag when sleeping in the latter position for some added firmness. I brought my husky on a few of the adventures and I was pleased to see how the burly fabric coating stood up to feral claw abuse. It’s a mattress that’s tough where it needs to be without sacrificing comfort points.
It doesn’t hurt that the mattress system comes with a three-year warranty. The system also touts an R-value of 11 (the rating of its insulation ability), very much on the high end and allegedly allowing the mattress to insulate extremely well in all conditions. I only tried the mattress in the relatively warmer conditions of mid-summer but look forward to seeing how it functions, if any different, come winter.
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A Few Drawbacks
Trimming it down to solo mode takes but a simple zip.
THE DRAWBACKS ARE few and far between but worth mentioning, as they can cause the occasional snag. During setup, the head straps were a little strange to secure. Part of that can be attributed to the clips themselves, strongly built but improvable as the current design can allow them to come undone a little too easily when there is not much tension. Part of that can also be attributed to the strap length, which could be a bit longer to allow both easier installation and easier access to the corresponding pouch areas. It can take some doing to get that initial Goldilocks position at the head of the mattress, working with the straps and still leaving room to access the pouches, but once you get there conditions are very hospitable.
That first inflation does take a bit more than five minutes but that’s not really a problem as the thing is inflating itself. What’s more of a hiccup is if you want more than about 80 percent inflation (which I felt to be just about perfect and around a medium firmness), you need to use the included bag attachment, which is a little awkward. I found that one side tended to inflate better than the other but with a little manual work (or added time letting it self-inflate), things evened out. Luno used to have pumps that came with some of its models, but the brand has pivoted to this self-inflating tech. It’s nice in that it takes up very little space, but manually inflating by essentially blowing into a bag that happens to have the right valve converter on it is a little strange. If you’re not overly sensitive to mattress firmness, this won’t even be an issue.
Deflating takes a bit more effort than inflating and you really need to apply pressure to get all of that air out. The included rubber valve liners are a nice touch but can pop out easily.
In terms of alternatives, if you’re looking for something super lightweight (this one is about 12 pounds all told) and more of a sleeping pad, we suggest the Klymit Stativ V Mattress. For more of a bargain on a camping mattress, consider Therm-a-Rest 3D Mondo King. And if a lifetime warranty is more of your thing (and stuff you own tends to get beat up or break), note the Nemo Astro Sleeping Pad.
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The Verdict
The self-inflating valve and plush cushioning.
A LOT OF the chatter online and in review columns focuses on the price. That chatter also tends to quickly go the way of “but the price is justified” and I tend to agree. The system certainly isn’t the cheapest out there but based on what it does, it’s well worth it. For those looking to get into car camping or want to upgrade to something they can use for years that packs like a champ, this is the way to go.
The few cons are greatly outweighed by the pros, from plush comfort and easy setup to handy added storage features and thoughtful overall design. Let’s not overlook the aesthetic as well. Luno’s stuff looks good and this system is no exception. It’s a great bonus to be able to split the thing in half when you’re only going out on your own but even when you have the whole shebang, it packs away so efficiently you likely still won’t struggle for room to stow other things like SUPs, fishing gear, dog crates, and more.
If you want a great car camping mattress that touts efficiency, versatility in going from solo to couple size, and next-level comfort, this is your portable bed for your future car camping adventures.
SHOP THE LUNO SLEEP SYSTEM
Klymit Static V Inflatable Sleeping Pad
More Affordable Camp Mattress
Therm-a-Rest MondoKing 3D Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad
NEMO Equipment Astro Sleeping Pad
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon who covers food, drink, travel, culture, outdoors, gear, and tech. He’s formally trained in journalism but stumbled into the wine industry just when it was getting good and can’t seem to fully let it go. His outlets are many, from Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and The Manual to Vinepair, SevenFifty Daily, Sip Northwest, and others He’s a devout soccer fan and thinks about Iceland daily.
Ryan Brower is the Senior Gear and Reviews Editor at Men’s Health, where he tests the best products in outdoor gear, tech, running shoes, and more. He has written about the outdoors for nearly two decades and was previously the Managing Editor, Content Performance at Gear Patrol. He holds a B.A. in Sport Management and is a Certified Beer Server, having previously covered the craft beer industry. Ryan currently lives on the water in New Jersey with his wife and their dog.
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