Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed Review: I Bought & Tested It
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Rating and Summary
The Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed is the best camping air mattress for couples that I have. It’s the complete package when it comes to air mattresses (read on to see the pictures below!), the Vertex Air Bed is made of high quality materials, and even the rechargeable pump is powerful and super easy to use.
However, the Vertex Air Bed is my most expensive air mattress, and that’s its main flaw.
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Check out the Alps Vertex Air Bed:
Product Details
Here’s what we’ll discuss here:
- Unboxing
- In the Box
- Specifications
Unboxing
I bought the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed (in a Queen size) from Amazon, and here’s what the outer packaging looked like:
In the Box
After unboxing the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed, I got the inflatable mattress inside a stuff sack, a pump with 3 detachable nozzles, a DC vehicle charger, an AC charger, a repair kit, and some instructions.
Specifications
Here are my personal measurements and timings of the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed (in a Queen size):
- Thickness: 6 inches
- Loft: Air
- Length: 80 inches
- Width: 56 inches
- Weight (Mattress): 4.8 pounds
- Weight (Stuff sack): 2.5 ounces
- Weight of pump (with 3 nozzles): 11 ounces
- Weight of charges (both AC + DC): 7.4 ounces
- Packed Size: 18 by 8 by 6 inches
- R-value: None
- Material: TPU-coated nylon
- Valve: 1 Boston valve
- Storage Pouch: Yes
- Pump: Rechargeable
- Features: Coil system
- Fastest Inflation: 1.5 minutes (with included pump)
- Fastest Deflation: 2.5 minutes
Testing and Performance
I put the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed through these 5 tests:
- Comfort
- Ease of Use
- Portability
- Versatility + Sizing
- Quality
Here’s how the Vertex Air Bed performed.
Comfort
Thickness/Loft
The Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed gets me about 6 inches off the ground. When inflated fully, my body does not touch the ground whether I’m sleeping on my back, stomach, or side. Even when I was leaning on my elbow or sitting down, I could not feel the ground.
Dimensions
The Vertex Air Bed measures about 80 by 56 inches, which is slightly smaller than a Queen size in width. For me, I found that it fits two people quite comfortably, and the 80 inches in length is also great for taller people.
Surface
The Vertex Air Bed has a coil system, is very comfortable, and it supported my body very well while sleeping. The surface is pretty flat, which is something I prefer, and a big reason as to why I find this comfortable.
Noise and Bounciness
The top is not flocked, so it’s not the quietest when moving in bed, but it’s not that bad. There’s some bouncing and movement during the night when there’s another person sharing the air bed, but it’s one of my less bouncy air beds for sure.
Ease of Use
Valve
The Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed has a Boston valve on the underside of the bed, which is not flushed with the surface.
Inflation
To inflate the Vertex Air Bed, you can unscrew the top valve, which is a 1-way valve. Using the included pump, it usually takes me about 3 minutes and 15 seconds for the full inflation through this 1-way valve.
You can also use the bottom valve for inflation, which is a 2-way valve. The opening is bigger, and takes me only about 1 minute for the full inflation with the included pump.
Air will leak out when you remove the pump, so you can use the 1-way valve to top off the air after, which usually takes me another 30 seconds or so. (Altogether: 1.5 minutes)
And when inflating, you need to hold the pump in place.
Adjustments
I find the Vertex Air Bed comfortable when it’s firm, but if you like it a bit softer, you can unscrew the bottom 2-way valve slightly to let a bit of air out. Just don’t unscrew it too much or too much air will leak out, and you’ll have to re-pump.
Deflation
To deflate the Vertex Air Bed, just unscrew the bottom 2-way valve fully, fold the mattress in thirds, and then in thirds again, while using your body weight to push the air out. This will get most of the air out, and usually takes me about 1 minute or so. Folding it up properly will take another 1 and a half minutes, so altogether about 2.5 minutes.
Stuff Sack
The Vertex Air Bed comes with an oversized stuff sack, which can probably even fit 2 of these mattresses. It’s easy to fit the Vertex Air Bed back in, even if it isn’t fully deflated. The stuff sack doesn’t come with any handles or straps for carrying though.
Portability
Packed Size
After deflating, the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed has a packed size of about 18 x 8 x 6 inches. Here’s what it looks like on the stuff sack, and beside a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle and the included pump.
The packed size will change depending on how you fold it and how much air you push out of it.
How to Fold
For me personally, I like to fold it in half, length-wise, 2 times. Then, I fold it in half again, roll it up starting from the side that doesn’t have the Boston valve, push more air out, close the valve, and store it back into the stuff sack.
Weight
The Vertex Air Bed weighs just 4.8 pounds for the air bed alone, the stuff sack weighs about 2.5 ounces, the rechargeable pump with the 3 nozzles weighs about 11 ounces, and the AC and DC charges weigh about 7.4 ounces together.
Versatility + Sizing
Usage
Since the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed is an air mattress, I don’t think it’s insulated, so it’s best to use this during the summer. I think it’s a little too heavy for backpacking, especially with the pump, so you’re limited to car camping.
2-Person Tent
Here’s what the Vertex Air Bed looks like inside a Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent.
It fits just nicely into the tent, but there’s no space for gear at all. Livable space is pretty good, and there’s enough space for me to sit up and also to crouch.
The Boston valve is along the side, and not the foot, of the Vertex Air Bed, so it was super easy for me to inflate the Vertex Air Bed from outside the door of the Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent, which is a very nice detail.
4-Person Tent
And here’s what the Vertex Air Bed looks like inside a Coleman 4-Person Dome Tent when placed vertically inside the tent.
There isn’t enough space to fit 2 of these mattresses, but having just 1 mattress gives me plenty of space for my camping gear. I also have lots of livable space.
Quality
Material
The Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed is made of a TPU-coated nylon, and feels thick and durable for sure. It’s PVC-free, I never had any issues with stretching, and my air bed was firm even on the first night of use.
Both the top surface and the bottom of the Vertex Air Bed feel exactly the same, and it made no difference to me when I slept on both surfaces.
The only difference is the position of the Boston valve. If you prefer the valve to be underneath the air bed, just sleep on the top. If you prefer the valve to be on top, just flip it over.
Valve Quality
The Boston valve is made of hard plastic, and feels good quality. I never had any issues with air leaking in the few weeks that I was using this Vertex Air Bed.
Seams and Air Retention
Also, the seams are good quality and air retention is very good. I slept on the Vertex Air Bed with another person (about 300+ pounds together) 3 nights in a row without having to top off any air at all.
Pump Quality
The included pump has an internal rechargeable battery, and is very high powered. Using the included adapters, it can be charged via a wall outlet or a car outlet, and can be used while charging, so it’s really versatile and I like it a lot.
The charger doesn’t have any indicator lights though to let you know when it’s fully charged, and the pump doesn’t have indicator lights either to tell you how much of a charge is left. The instructions say to limit the charging time to 3 hours, so that’s how long I normally charge the pump for.
I’ve had this pump for only a few months now, and it holds the high-powered charge for about 17 minutes, before losing like 95% of its power. It dies only at about 24 minutes in, but between 17 and 24 minutes, it’s so low-powered, it’s practically useless. On the 17-minute high-powered charge, I could inflate the Vertex Air Bed about 10 to 15 times before needing to recharge the pump.
Stuff Sack Quality
The stuff sack feels high quality and seems to be pretty strong.
Pros and Cons
Pros
For pros, I found the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed very versatile. The air bed is low profile, and doesn’t reduce livable space in 2-person tents. I felt that this was perfect to use inside my Coleman 2-person Sundome tent. The pump is also versatile, because there are multiple charging options, and it can also be used while charging.
It’s also comfortable, it provides good body support, and there’s not a lot of bouncing on the Vertex Air Bed when compared to my other 2-person camping air mattresses.
The Vertex Air Bed is also easy to use. The Boston valve makes it easy to inflate, deflate and fold away. The pump is also user-friendly, it holds a lot of charge, and is high-powered.
The Vertex Air Bed is surprisingly lightweight for an almost-Queen sized air bed, and packs up really small when you squeeze all the air out. It’s actually one of my most portable air mattresses.
Cons
As for cons, the biggest con is that the Vertex Air Bed is more expensive than any of the other TPU or PVC air mattresses that I have. The pump can also be quite loud, but I don’t think it’s really a con because that’s natural for a high-powered pump.
Recommendation
Overall, the Alps Mountaineering Vertex Air Bed is no doubt a high quality mattress, and even the included pump is good quality and high powered. One of the best pumps that I have. But it is quite pricey for an air mattress.
I’ve seen the Vertex Air Bed go for like $180-$200 or something, and honestly, as good quality as this is, I don’t think I would pay that kind of money for it. Or for any other air mattress for that matter. I prefer self-inflating mattresses.
I personally paid $127 bucks for this Vertex Air Bed, and I think that’s a pretty reasonable price. If you can get it for around the same price or less, I think that’s pretty good value for money.
Bonus: Must Read!
But if you’re on a tighter budget, there are other air mattresses on the market that cost maybe half of the Vertex Air Bed, and perform almost as well. To find out which mattresses these are, here’s a blog post where I bought, tested and compared 10 of the best camping mattresses for couples.
Or, check out the Alps Vertex Air Bed:
