With COVID-19 interrupting regularly scheduled summer travel plans, many stir-crazy travelers have turned to renting and buying RVs as a safer form of escape. Great for them, but not great for those who waited a bit too long only to find themselves boxed out of a rental or purchase. The walls of the house are closing in. But spending carefree, wind-whistling days touring scenic byways, sleeping cozily inside the car doors along the route, doesn't require a full-blown RV. Slide the new Luna Life Air Mattress 2.0 in a hatchback, SUV or wagon, and it becomes a mobile home nearly as functional as a VW mini-camper.
Car camping once meant simply loading a tent and gear into the car and traveling to the campsite via motor power, rather by foot or other human-powered means. For some modern campers, though, it has taken on a more literal meaning: sleeping inside, on top of or adjacent to the actual car or vehicle itself. And as it turns out, sleeping in or on a car (the right car, anyway) can be a lot more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.
The roof-top tents and camper-in-a-box kits that helped initiate this evolved definition of "car camping" tend to run well into the four figures. But Luno Life presents a simpler, more affordable (but still comfortable) way forward, offering something of a fancier, roomier way of chucking a camping mattress into the back of your car and calling it home for a night or more. Its inflatable mattress system is designed to be robust and comfortable enough for extended life on the road, fit snugly inside hundreds of vehicles, and distinguish itself from a basic big-box inflatable mattresses with a few handy features.
Luno launched its original mattress in 2019 and updated it into the 2.0 in time for this grand summer of road tripping. The Luno Life Air Mattress 2.0 is a fully inflatable sleeper system that includes two individual, permanently attached mattresses and inflatable base extenders that fill the two footwells behind the car's front seats to extend and level out the lying surface. The mattress rests atop the load floor, folded rear seats and inflatable extensions, better filling out the contours of the interior than a basic rectangular camping mattress.
The 2.0 measures 74 to 80 in (188 to 203 cm) long, depending on size, comfortably accommodating people up to 6.2 feet (188 cm) tall. Each side of the mattress can support up to 350 lb (159 kg), 50 lb (23 kg) more than the original version. The system inflates in as little as two minutes, creating individual 4-in (10-cm)-thick sleeping surfaces for two people. Each side inflates individually, so a solo camper can inflate just one and tuck the other fabric below to save space. Air adjustment valves allow for individual pressure adjustment to dial in just the right firmness.
The Air Mattress 2.0 system weighs in around 12.5 lb (5.7 kg) and packs down into a 16.5 x 29-in (42 x 74-cm) bag, so it's easy to carry and store. Luno Life says it's reinforced the mattress and valve materials on the 2.0 version to allow for better all-season durability, adding that the mattress is even pet-friendly – you might just consider trimming pets nails first!
Luno Life claims it makes Air Mattress 2.0 variants to fit more than 1,800 vehicles. It offers both a year/make/model search feature (accessible on the order page) and a more general fit guide to determine if your vehicle is a match. Its mattresses aren't yet ready for the 2020 Land Rover Defender or 2021 Ford Bronco, but compatible vehicles include the Tesla Model X, Toyota 4Runner (with 3-row seating) and Subaru Outback, though model years can affect compatibility.
The Luno Life Air Mattress 2.0 package includes the two-sided mattress, two footwell base extenders, 12-V pump, carry sack and repair patch and retails for $225. It shows up as in stock on the company's online store, but as we found out when playing with different makes/models, that will depend on the specific vehicle for which you shop. Many vehicles show as compatible but come up "let me know when it's available" instead of "add to cart."
Source: Luno Life
