Bed-in-a-Box for E21C

[Catchlight]

After six years, the original mattress in our 2014 Escape 21 Classic is giving us both back pain. We tried adding a three-inch foam topper, which helped a bit but hasn't solved the problem.

We are thinking of replacing the stock ETI mattress with one of the current bed-in-a-box options, which all offer a "Full" size (53" W x 75" L) that would fit the E21's north-south bed area. (We're not worried about it fitting the diagonal cut at the bottom of the E21's bed space on the passenger's side).

Is anyone using a Puffy, Endy, Casper, Douglas, Leesa, or another brand of BIAB in any of the Escape trailer models? If so, which mattress did you choose, and what effect has it had on the comfort and quality your sleep while camping?

The "hybrid" designs are interesting because manufacturers claim their layer of springs provides better air circulation than all-foam mattresses. Better airflow sounds desirable in a cramped space like a trailer.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Brent
We have a Casper in our 21. It’s a double with a trimmed off corner. We have the angled door under the bed on the trimmed corner. We like the Casper and the access to the under bed storage we have.
Iowa Dave

[rowdyruby]

Cute pup!
Regarding your casper bed how did you manage to get the corner cut to fit?
We have a 2014, 21C and wanting a firmer mattress, hard to find with that angled corner.
We live in Vancouver, BC and have been looking around and not very successful.

Ruby & Dave

[buellfire]

I have a Tempurpedic in our 21c. Ours started out as a queen and I cut it down with an electric turkey knife, a full size would work great also. These mattresses have an inner liner on them which I cut down and spray glued back together. Our mattress is then covered in a waterproof cover and a padded mattress pad. Looks great and feels even better!

[UncleTim]

An electric turkey knife!!!

Not chicken. Turkey.

Get it right.

[Eggscape]

Originally Posted by rowdyruby

Cute pup!
Regarding your casper bed how did you manage to get the corner cut to fit?
We have a 2014, 21C and wanting a firmer mattress, hard to find with that angled corner.
We live in Vancouver, BC and have been looking around and not very successful.

Ruby & Dave

You could also look a the Jysk store in BC. That is where we got our firm bed in a box mattress for home. They have them all set up to try...at least they did before COVID.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by rowdyruby

Cute pup!
Regarding your casper bed how did you manage to get the corner cut to fit?
We have a 2014, 21C and wanting a firmer mattress, hard to find with that angled corner.
We live in Vancouver, BC and have been looking around and not very successful.

Ruby & Dave

Hi Ruby and Dick
The original owner of our Escape was AZ Jack. I believe he told me he cut it with an electric knife. We’ve used one on other foam products and prairie chickens. Just kidding on the chickens. The mattress cover is not cut or modified. But Rita did fold over and sew the corner on the bedspread so it looks nice and stays out of the way when we open the corner cabinet. We keep our extra shoes in there and a one gallon ice cream bucket with a sponge and stuff for cleanup and a mop too. It’s divided off from the adjacent area with Luan plywood behind the “straight in” door. That’s where we keep our laundry in canvas baskets.
It’s snowing here an inch an hour but If you need a picture I’ll use my Laura Ingalls Wilder rope to get down to the barn once it stops snowing. And get one for you. Let me know
Iowa Dave

[mcdonner]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Hi Ruby and Dick
The original owner of our Escape was AZ Jack. I believe he told me he cut it with an electric knife. We’ve used one on other foam products and prairie chickens. Just kidding on the chickens. The mattress cover is not cut or modified. But Rita did fold over and sew the corner on the bedspread so it looks nice and stays out of the way when we open the corner cabinet. We keep our extra shoes in there and a one gallon ice cream bucket with a sponge and stuff for cleanup and a mop too. It’s divided off from the adjacent area with Luan plywood behind the “straight in” door. That’s where we keep our laundry in canvas baskets.
It’s snowing here an inch an hour but If you need a picture I’ll use my Laura Ingalls Wilder rope to get down to the barn once it stops snowing. And get one for you. Let me know
Iowa Dave

Hi Dave, Saw that snow on the news. Hope all is well. Trusting you guys are doing well. All good here in Ohio. Counting the days till our first trip this Spring.

[rowdyruby]

Thanks all for the tip regarding the electric turkey knife, will check into it.
We also have a Jysk store close by will look into that as well.

Ruby&Dave

[buellfire]

Here is ours that I cut down

[rowdyruby]

Wow! Well done Buellfire!!
Impressive!
Ruby&Dave

[Eggscape]

Some times you can pick up an electric knife cheap on Facebook “Market Place”.
As an example here is a new one for $10 that is listed today.

[Small but Sweet]

Iowa Dave - Thank you for conjuring up Laura Ingalls Wilder’s barn snow rope! I have always remembered that detail from the books, too.

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Harriet
My daughter worked at the Ushers Ferry Pioneer Village when she was in High School and College. It’s a turn of the century village setting in the park system in Cedar Rapids. While there, she met a girl about her age who is a reference librarian. She is a Laura Ingalls Wilder authority who has made it her life’s project. Her Name is Sarah Uthoff and they remain great friends. If you Google her name and Laura Ingalls Wilder you will get an idea of what the term “deep end” means.
We visited the homestead in DeSmet South Dakota East of Huron a few years ago. And that’s another couple stories both of which confirm I’m not as smart as I think I am. Hope all is well in Oregon.
Iowa Dave

[scottarue]

I live in Fargo ND and there are two bed mattress factories here. I presently own a Scamp that I had one of the factories build a mattress to fit in the Scamp. The corners of the dinette are curved and they made the mattress to fit perfectly into the curved corners. If you live in a larger city there is bound to be a mattress factory who would custom build a mattress, complete with the cut off corner. It's a little expensive, but it was the best upgrade we did to our camper. Camping out is fun, but I need a comfortable place to sleep!

[Rossue]

We omitted the ETI mattress and built our own using 4" closed cell foam and 3" latex topper. Cost about $900 to do, yet 6 years later it is still like day 1.

Don't memory foam mattresses get hard in cold weather?

[Catchlight]

I can't help thinking that somewhere, by dead of night, a Netflix screenwriter is typing away on a screenplay for "The Texas Turkey Knife Massacre".

Seriously, thanks for your responses to my question about beds-in-a-box. I'm looking forward to making the upgrade. I wonder if Casper will throw in a complimentary turkey knife if we ask them?

[richardr]

We like our ETI mattress very much. It is still comfortable after 3 1/2 years of full time use. We are thinking of replacing it with another ETI in about a year.

What is the advantage of using one of these other mattresses? Price, comfort, etc?

[Rossue]

One advantage is you don't have to worry about tongue weight for a 21C as these memory foam mattresses are heavy! I have memory foam mattresses in spare bedrooms and a latex one in MBR. No comparison and for a camper latex has so many advantages as when it is cold the memory foam gets hard. Latex doesn't and is also more supple. It costs more, yet is worth it IMO.

We passed on the ETI mattress and got a $150 credit; even though to buy one was least 3X that. Instead I went to an upholstery shop and got 4" closed cell foam for the foundation and then 3" latex on top of that. Six years + later it is still as good as new. We wrapped the foundation in a water proof zippered cover and the latex has it's own bamboo one. Very easy to put sheets on just the 3" latex as you can lift it up at the corners. Cost about $900.

[JStaub]

Just to add to the conversation. We are looking at a used 21C. I read in an old post that Duncan Industries is the supplier to ETI for the mattresses. So I reached out to them and had them quote me an exact replacement of the original mattress. The quote came back at $303 USD. The downside was the shipping costs. I live in the Greatlakes area of the US. Shipping was coming in at an additional $560 USD. Cost prohibitive for me. For those that live closer to Alberta, this may be a viable option.