Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress Review (Bought & Tested!)

I bought this mattress with my own money and put it through 15 hands-on tests.

Bed size 77.0 x 54.0in
Thickness 7.0in
Weight 4.8 lbs

This is a picture of me sitting on the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *My Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress.*

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Test scorecard

7.3out of 10

Ease of Use8.3

Portability8

Quality7.8

Comfort7.3

Versatility + Sizing5

The Sierra Designs 2-Person Mattress is a very comfortable air mattress, complete with an in-built pillow that sits 2 inches higher than the mattress. It’s high quality and user-friendly thanks to its Boston valve, and most importantly it’s a highly inexpensive PVC-free camping mattress. The included pump isn’t very good though, and there’s some bouncing.

What won me over

Comfort
User-friendly
Really inexpensive
Great value for money

What let me down

Pump not very good
Some bouncing

Check price on Amazon

Video review thumbnail for the Sierra Designs 2-Person Mattress

If you prefer watching to reading, check out my video here instead.

See the 15 tests

In the box
Thickness
In-built pillow
Dimensions
Surface
Bounciness
Valve
Inflation
Deflation
Stuff sack
Portability
Insulation
Tent sizing
Materials & air retention
The included pump
Pros, cons, recommendations
Bonus: Must Read!

In the Box

I bought my Sierra Designs from Amazon. Here’s what came in the box:

The mattress, inside a stuff sack
A pump

This is a picture of me unboxing the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. You can see the pump wrapped up in between the air mattress. — *What came in the box.*

Thickness

Thickness 7.0in
Loft Air

Fully inflated, my body never touched the ground on my back, stomach or side. I couldn’t feel it leaning on an elbow or sitting down either.

This is a picture of me lying on my side on the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *Sleeping on my side on the Sierra Designs.*

In-Built Pillow

In-built pillow 9.0in off the ground2in higher than the mattress

I found the pillow genuinely comfortable, and it supported my head really well.

This picture shows the in-built pillow at one end of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The in-built pillow at one end of the mattress.*

Dimensions

Length 77.0in
Width 54.0in

That’s slightly larger than a Full but clearly smaller than a Queen. It fits two of us quite comfortably.

This picture shows 2 sleeping bags on top of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *Two sleeping bags on the Sierra Designs.*

Surface

There are a lot of divots along the mattress, but they supported my body very well and were surprisingly comfy.

This is a picture of my hand running across the divots on the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The divots along the surface.*

The surface isn’t flocked, so it’s a little noisy when I move in bed.

Bounciness

There’s a fair amount of bouncing with another person sharing it, though it isn’t the worst I’ve seen in an air mattress.

Valve

Valve 1 Boston valve, color-coded
Position Along the side, nearer the top

Inflation

Unscrew the black 1-way valve and pump. The white 2-way valve has a bigger opening and is much faster, but air escapes when you pull the pump off, so top up through the black valve afterwards.

This is a picture of the 1-way valve (with a black cap, the top part of the Boston valve) of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The black 1-way valve.*

This is a picture of the 2-way opening (the bottom part of the Boston valve) of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The white 2-way valve.*

Route	Pump time	Top-off	Total
Black 1-way valve	6 min 30 s	None needed	6 min 30 s
White 2-way valve	2 min 30 s	1 min	3 min 30 s

You need to hold the pump in place while it runs.

I find it super comfortable firm, but if you like it softer, unscrew the white 2-way valve slightly to bleed air off. Don’t go too far or you’ll have to re-pump.

Deflation

Unscrew the white 2-way opening fully, fold the mattress in thirds and push the air out with your body weight. Fold it in thirds again, then halve it.

Pushing the air out 1 min 15 s
Folding up 1 min 15 s
Total 2 min 30 s

This is a picture of me using my body weight to deflate the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *Deflating the Sierra Designs.*

Stuff Sack

The stuff sack is oversized, so the mattress goes back in easily even when it isn’t fully deflated. It feels high quality and strong, but there are no handles or straps for carrying.

Portability

Packed size 14.0 x 8.0 x 7.0inat its smallest
Weight 4.8lbs (mattress only)
- Stuff sack 1.5oz
- Pump, with 4 D batteries 27.9oz

This shows the rolled-up Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress beside a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle and the included pump for a size comparison. — *Packed up, beside the pump and a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle.*

Packed size depends on how you fold it and how much air you push out. I flip it gray-side up, fold it in half width-wise three times, fold it in thirds, push more air out, then roll it into the stuff sack.

This picture shows me rolling up and packing the rolled-up Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress back into its stuff sack. — *Mine after packing it away.*

Insulation

R-value None
Seasons Summer only

It’s a little too heavy for backpacking once you add the pump and batteries, so this is a car-camping mattress.

Tent Sizing

It fits my Coleman 2-Person Sundome nicely, with maybe a couple of inches spare at the top. There’s no room for gear once it’s inflated.

This is what the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress looks like inside a Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent. — *The Sierra Designs inside my Coleman 2-Person Sundome.*

Livable space is good, with enough room to sit up and crouch.

This is a picture of me sitting on the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress inside a Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent. — *Sitting up on the Sierra Designs inside the Sundome 2.*

Lying on the in-built pillow, the tent wall kept brushing the top of my head, which got annoying. I’d rather use this one in a bigger tent.

This picture shows the tent walls of the Coleman 2-Person Sundome Tent brushing against my head while lying down on the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The tent wall brushing my head while I lie on the in-built pillow.*

Pro Tip The valve sits near the top of the mattress, so you can inflate it from outside the tent door. Doing it inside left me squashed between the mattress and the tent wall.

In my Coleman 4-Person Dome there’s no room for a second one, but a single mattress leaves plenty of space for gear and livable space.

This picture shows the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress inside a Coleman 4-Person Dome Tent. — *The Sierra Designs placed vertically in my Coleman 4-Person Dome.*

Materials & Air Retention

Material TPU-coated, stretch- and abrasion-resistantprobably polyester
PVC-free Yes
Top More velvety than the bottom

It feels decently thick and heavy duty, and I never had any stretching, and mine was firm even on the first night of use.

This is a picture of the top surface of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The velvety top of the Sierra Designs.*

This is a picture of me touching the bottom surface of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The bottom is less velvety than the top.*

The Boston valve is hard plastic, color-coded and feels good quality, with no leaking in the weeks I used it.

The baffling is comfortable, the seams are good quality and air retention is very good. I slept on it with another person (300+ pounds together) three nights in a row without topping up any air at all.

This is a picture of me touching the seams of the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress (while it's deflated). — *The seams of the Sierra Designs.*

The Included Pump

The included pump isn’t very good. It’s quite low powered, and mine stopped working a few months in, and it doesn’t even turn on anymore.

This is a picture of the pump that was included with the Sierra Designs 2-Person Camping Air Mattress. — *The pump that came with mine, which no longer works.*

Pros, Cons, Recommendations

Would I recommend the Sierra Designs 2-Person Mattress?

Very comfortable

My body felt well supported, and the in-built pillow held my head really well.

User-friendly

The Boston valve is well positioned and makes it easy to inflate and deflate, and the oversized stuff sack makes packing away easy.

Really inexpensive

This is the least expensive PVC-free camping air mattress I own, with great air retention and high quality materials for the price.

Portable

4.8lbs and 14.0 x 8.0 x 7.0in packed, one of my most portable 2-person air mattresses.

The pump isn’t very good

Mine was low powered and stopped working a few months in.

Some bouncing

There’s a fair amount with another person on it, though it isn’t the worst I’ve tested.

Not quite a Queen

At 77.0 x 54.0in it sits between a Full and a Queen. Sierra Designs used to advertise it as a Queen and no longer does, so this may not be an issue anymore. If you want a genuine Queen, my Etekcity Upgraded Camping Air Mattress gets closest at 80.0 x 59.0in.

Overall recommendation

I was very pleasantly surprised by how well the Sierra Designs 2-Person Mattress performed, almost as well as air mattresses costing 2 to 3 times more. It has flaws, but none of them serious, and this is a solid case of the pros outweighing the cons. It’s perfect if you want a comfortable, user-friendly and portable 2-person air mattress without a large budget. Just be ready for some bouncing, and for buying a new pump eventually.

Bonus: Must Read!

Want to see how the Sierra Designs stacks up against the competition? I bought, tested and compared 10 of the best camping mattresses for couples.