I’ve slept on dozens of various mattresses over the previous two years whereas testing beds for our information to the finest mattresses you should buy 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 in regards to the beds utilized by Olympic athletes in Paris. I could not, as Junior Soprano would say, have the makings of a varsity athlete, not to mention an Olympian, however I am at all times all in favour of a novel, high-tech sleeping floor.
The Airweave mattress was extensively described as being made from cardboard, however that is extra correct than true. Fairly, the bottom that lifted the Olympic dorm mattresses to mattress peak 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 relatively stiff sleeping floor. I’m a facet sleeper who appreciates some give but additionally needs assist, and the Airweave was somewhat on the agency facet for me however was snug for per week of testing in my house. If I have been on the lookout for a agency mattress that may very well be simply moved, this may be on the high of my listing.
{Photograph}: Martin Cizmar
Noodle Supply
As somebody who has numerous 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 by way of a delivery firm. I truly refused the primary supply try as a result of the mover wished to depart a large field, the dimensions of a Fiat, on my garden regardless that I had organized for white glove supply. (I’d not anticipate this challenge in the event you 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 apprehensive if I might peeked contained in the field, although, because the Airweave’s elements are massive and noncompressible but additionally mild and thoughtfully divided into manageable elements. The corporate says its mattresses are “90 % air” due to the effective fibers, which vaguely resemble fats fishing strains. For my king-sized tester, there have been three slabs of filler to be mixed inside the quilt, every weighing lower than 40 kilos. These large plastic rectangles are lined with a delicate layer of material and zipped into an outer shell made from polyester. After my week of testing, I used to be simply in a position to transfer this mattress to its subsequent house in my SUV, so I might say it is about as transportable as mattresses come.
Go With the Circulation
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 launch fodder.
{Photograph}: Martin Cizmar
