I’ve slept on dozens of various mattresses over the previous two years whereas testing beds for our information to the best mattresses you should purchase on-line, however nothing fairly just like the Airwave Superior. I first heard about this distinctive, plastic-filled mattress right here on WIRED.com—the web’s go-to supply for all mattress-related content material—the place certainly one of our libero professionista Italianos wrote about the beds used by Olympic athletes in Paris. I’ll not, as Junior Soprano would say, have the makings of a varsity athlete, not to mention an Olympian, however I am at all times enthusiastic about a novel, high-tech sleeping floor.
The Airweave mattress was extensively described as being made of cardboard, however that is extra correct than true. Somewhat, the bottom that lifted the Olympic dorm mattresses to mattress top was cardboard; the precise mattress filling consists of a novel ultrafine woven polyethylene. The innards of the Airweave look just about precisely like an raw glass noodle and supply a reasonably stiff sleeping floor. I’m a side sleeper who appreciates some give but additionally desires assist, and the Airweave was a bit of on the agency facet for me however was snug for every week of testing in my dwelling. If I had been on the lookout for a agency mattress that may very well be simply moved, this might be on the prime of my listing.
{Photograph}: Martin Cizmar
Noodle Supply
As somebody who has various mattresses delivered to my door for testing, I strongly choose bed-in-a-box choices that come roll-packed on a FedEx truck. The Airweave will not be that—it comes through a transport firm. I truly refused the primary supply try as a result of the mover wished to depart an enormous field, the scale of a Fiat, on my garden although I had organized for white glove supply. (I’d not anticipate this difficulty if you happen to dwell in a bigger metropolis with extra professionalized supply companies as a substitute of contractors selecting up odd jobs in U-Hauls, because it goes right here in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri.)
I’d not have been fairly so nervous if I would peeked contained in the field, although, because the Airweave’s elements are massive and noncompressible but additionally gentle and thoughtfully divided into manageable elements. The corporate says its mattresses are “90 p.c air” due to the high quality fibers, which vaguely resemble fats fishing strains. For my king-sized tester, there have been three slabs of filler to be mixed inside the duvet, every weighing lower than 40 kilos. These large plastic rectangles are coated with a comfortable layer of material and zipped into an outer shell manufactured from polyester. After my week of testing, I used to be simply in a position to transfer this mattress to its subsequent dwelling in my SUV, so I would say it is about as transportable as mattresses come.
Go With the Circulate
Airweave was based by Stanford-educated Japanese engineer and serial entrepreneur Motokuni Takaoka in 2004. An avid bike owner, he determined to market the mattresses by giving them for use within the Olympic villages and by World Cup soccer groups to create buzz. The method works, because the mattresses seize reporters’ consideration and make for press release fodder.
{Photograph}: Martin Cizmar
