Review: Zenbivy Luxe Bed Double 25° Sleep System

An advanced and highly luxurious sleeping system for backpacking and camping couples who value cosy and comfortable sleeps, every time.

The Zenbivy Luxe Bed Double 25° is an all-in-one camping sleep system for couples who know they don’t sleep well in single sleeping bags and are searching for a lightweight, warm, comfortable double-bed alternative, replicating the luxury of home sleeping whilst out in the field.

The Double Quilt functions and feels just like a down comforter from home. The double-wide fitted sheet cleverly and successfully holds either one double mattress or two single mattresses securely in place. Together, the quilt and interlocking double sheet create a delightfully luxurious sleeping experience that feels like home inside a tent.

Used with your own lightweight hiking mattresses, the quilt and sheet system pack down to a very similar size and weight to two lightweight 3-season sleeping bags. The Zenbivy Flex 3D Mattress is purely for car camping due to its size. This too offers an incredibly comfortable sleeping experience when used in combination with the double quilt and fitted sheet. It all sounds too good to be true – but it really REALLY isn’t!

• Zenbivy Luxe Bed Double 25° Review
• Zenbivy Luxe Bed Double stats and design features
• Zenbivy Flex 3D Mattress stats and design features
• Zenbivy Quilted Pillow stats and design features
• What I love the most about the Zenbivy Double Bed Sleep System
• What I don’t love about the Zenbivy Bed Double Sleep System
• Verdict

Zenbivy Luxe Bed Double 25° Review

This is a FIND!!! For a good couple of years now, Jon (my husband) and I have been looking for a solution to our ever-increasing bad sleeps when camping on multi-day hiking trips. I’m a cold sleeper, he’s a hot sleeper. I like to move around a lot and stretch out my weary legs. I really struggle with the restriction of a single sleeping bag. Jon has long-term back issues and so camp-sleep comfort has proved ever elusive to him for several years now.

As we’ve gotten older, we’ve both definitely started sleeping less-well when camping in general. This has honestly had an impact on our enthusiasm to don our backpacks and hit the trails for more than one night at a time. Other products on the market just haven’t compared in terms of weight, size and packability, so we absolutely jumped at the chance to put this potentially bad-sleep-banishing beauty through its paces.

We’ve used this sleeping system with the Zenbivy Flex 3D Mattress, as well as with our lightweight trekking single mattresses on multiple overnight treks in Cornwall, UK. Both have been tested over the Cornish winter, with nighttime temperatures dropping to lows of around 5-8ºC.

We had two definite requirements (big asks) of the Zenbivy Luxe Double Bed:

1. Packability – the size and weight needed to be comparable with our two single sleeping bags.
2. Comfort – we’ve both become almost desperate for a good night’s sleep when trekking! For me, warmth and space, for Jon, freedom of movement and the ability to temperature-regulate throughout the night.

As recommended by Zenbivy, we got to grips with the set-up and functionality of the double bed at home first. We used the Flex 3D mattress in combo with the Luxe Bed Double 25°quilt and fitted sheet for our first night on the lounge floor. First impressions? AWESOME! We both absolutely loved everything about the sleep system, especially the surprising comfort of the mattress and pillows. Aside from initially inflating the mattress too high, the only drawback was that we both excessively over-heated indoors! Things were boding well for me and my need to be toasty-warm outdoors. We both couldn’t wait to get out and about with our trekking mats to put it fully through its heat-championing and comfort-rating paces.

Weight and space comparison with 2 sleeping bags

It’s really important to us that this sleep system is as comparable as possible to our existing lightweight camping set-up. Here’s the comparison to our current setup:

Although the Zenbivy comes in at about 400g / 14oz heavier than our two 3-season lightweight sleeping bags, the many pros (mega comfort and luxury, and an epic nights sleep, to name but a few) massively outweigh this small 400g con. What is also impressive is that the quilt offers the same comfort rating as our current sleeping bags, but feels much warmer and cosier, with so many other added benefits too.

As far as packing our backpacks goes, Jon takes the quilt, sheet and pillows, all neatly packed down in the compression sack. I take the tent and we each take our own airbeds. This happily and neatly balances out our two bags, both in space and weight.

Zenbivy Luxe Bed Double stats and design features

Insulation and outer fabric

The super comfy and extra toasty Double Quilt is filled with premium 800 fill-power HyperDRY™ 90/10 duck down. This high-quality, durable and fluorocarbon-free down is treated with a natural wax-based compound to make it water-resistant. The quilt outer is also treated with the same fluorocarbon-free DWR (durable water repellent) treatment.

The insulated (and oh-so-cosy) Luxe Sheet Double hood uses 1d/3d XD Synthetic insulation which is so soft it feels like real down. The entire interior of the Luxe Bed Double uses 50d Polyester Pongee coating-free fabric. If you aren’t familiar with Pongee, it is a cotton-like fabric which is smooth, lightweight, stretchy, non-shrinking, easy to wash, fast-drying, and super soft.

A particular personal joy for me is the ability to be able to read my book UNDER the quilt before bedtime. I usually get incredibly cold hands reading outside my sleeping bag at camp. The quilt is so spacious that I can prop my book up on my chest under the quilt, with it completely over my head. I stay toasty warm and snug, and read to my heart’s content without my fingers freezing off or my head torch keeping Jon awake.

Another joyful moment for me each time I snuggle into bed in this epic piece of kit is that, compared to a restrictive sleeping bag, there is so much extra quilt available for extra warmth. This is perfect for wrapping around you, tucking under your chin or rolling yourself up in, without pulling the quilt off your bedfellow or disturbing their temperature, and thus, their slumber. A guilt-free cosy and warm indulgence I’d never have expected to achieve whilst camping!

On this note, it’s essential to mention that a significant difference to a sleeping bag is the lack of all-around covering when you sit up. You are obviously unprotected behind, which can lead to an instant chill if you don’t have your down jacket immediately to hand. We find that if we need to do any tent admin before bed or in the morning, we always put on our down jackets, even when inside the quilt, to stop our backs from getting chilly and drafty. Said jackets are however quickly removed once we settle down to sleep/read our books under the covers!

It’s fair to say we’ve not tested the quilt insulation to its extremes (the comfort rating of the quilt is 35ºF, or 2ºC, with a lower limit of 25ºF, or -4ºC). Being a cold sleeper, I have my reservations as to how ‘comfortable’ I would be at 2ºC. Jon however, as a super-hot sleeper was so warm at 5ºC that he had to stick his bare legs out to cool down in the night.

Quilt footbox

The Double Quilt features a fixed tapered foot-box. I still can’t believe that the foot-box isn’t attached to the sheet. My feet remain inside, snug and super warm all night long, regardless of how much I move around. I like to spread out in bed and the spacious shared foot-box area means that both of us are able to stretch out as we would normally at home, whilst being able to either keep our feet tucked in and warm (me) or to stick them outside as and when our feet need venting (hubby).

Sheet

Available in two size options (the 40×72″ sheet fits two 20×72″ mattresses and the 50×77″ sheet fits two 25×77″ mattresses) the fitted double sheet can work on one double-wide mattress or two single mattresses right next to each other. The understrap stops the sheet from moving and also holds both single mattresses together without them overlapping or sliding away from each other in the middle of the night. This also means that warm-up snuggles in the night are a totally doable extra bonus!

One of my favorite features of the fitted double sheet is the large integrated double-wide hood which is big enough to fit a pair of standard-size pillows from home (for extra car-camping luxury). The hood is still super warm and cosy even when using the smaller Zenbivy Quilted Pillows. Unlike a sleeping bag hood, which can often feel claustrophobic when cinched in tight, the double-wide hood is beautifully spacious whilst maintaining its ability to keep out the drafts and cold air. It also does a brilliant job of holding your pillow in place all night, removing that 2am annoyance of searching down the back of your bed for your pillow that has gone walkies mid-sleep. And to boot, it acts as a truly effective eye patch when the sun comes up.

The sheet touch is ultra smooth and silky. I’ve not once felt that post-hike stickiness I always get in my sleeping bag. I don’t feel hot or sweaty against the fabric, and for light-sleepers, there is zero noise underneath you when you turn (unlike a sleeping bag). The whole experience is genuinely as bed-like as possible. Just don’t forget to pull your quilt fully up if you get up in the night – the sheet is freezing when you return if you’ve left it uncovered!

Hook and loops

The sheet and quilt are attached together via a simple yet very effective zip-free hook and loop system. The Double Quilt attaches to the sheet’s hinged “wings” allowing you to wriggle around throughout the night as much as you want without the quilt moving, slipping or letting in cold air from the sides. I was suspicious about how effective this system would be at keeping out the cold air, especially as I’m a super cold sleeper and INCREDIBLY sensitive to the slightest cold patch or tiny draft of cool air. However, I am amazed at how toasty I remain throughout the night and how effective the foot-box is at working in tandem with the hook and loop system. It creates, seemingly by magic, the toastiest, most comfortable, deepest and refreshing camping sleep I’ve ever experienced!

Storage

The quilt and sheet both tuck easily into the 15L dry sack which has an incorporated (and very necessary) compression valve. However, after several uses, and realizing that the dry sack does slightly inflate whilst on the move, we have purchased extra compression straps to keep the sack as tightly compressed as possible, to save that extra bit of space in our backpack.

Because the compression valve is only one way, and very effective at removing most of the air from the sack, it is quite an effort to pull the quilt out without feeling like you are putting excessive strain on the handle. I’m expecting the stitching to come loose at some point, but I hope I’m proved wrong on this account and that the sack is as durable as needed.

---

Zenbivy Flex 3D Mattress stats and design features

As mentioned, the Zenbivy Flex 3D Mattress is purely for car camping. But it’s also great for use at home as a spare bed for visitors. Yes, it’s that comfortable!

Insulation

The 3 inch-thick horizontally-cored foam insulation ensures that this mattress is super toasty without being too hot underneath you, eliminating the cold spots that you would find with standard vertical insulation. With an R-value of 7 (that’s incredibly high), the mattress can be used on frozen ground in air temperatures of -10 degrees and below. In case you aren’t familiar with R values (R standing for thermal ‘resistance’), they are used to rate how well your sleeping mat will prevent heat loss. Thermal resistance is the measurement that indicates a material’s ability to insulate. The higher the value, the more insulated a mattress is. R values are usually graded between 1-5, so a 7 is incredibly insulated, and we can both definitely attest to that!

Shape and fabric

We particularly like how similarly this mattress replicates our at-home mattress out in the field. This is primarily down to its flat top and vertical sidewalls, but also to the use of 4-way stretch fabric which allows this mattress to “flex” with our shapes and movements throughout the night. It’s also a really great size for two adults. We were expecting to feel a little overly snug without the flexibility of our own individual mats. But on the contrary; we both feel like we have heaps of space for moving, stretching and wriggling. The 3D shape allows for every centimeter of the mat to be used, from edge to edge, giving a very secure and cradled feel with no worry of slipping or sliding off the bed in the middle of the night.

Inflation and valve

As much as we have struggled to pick any holes in this sleeping system, our one area of mildly negative mutterings is always around the inflation system. Using the inflation sack takes quite a long time, a lot of energy, and quickly becomes a somewhat cumbersome and repetitive process of opening, refilling and squeezing what feels like a rather pitiful and inefficient supply of air per refill. We’ve mainly resorted to either mouth inflation (although slightly quicker, this is pretty exhausting and dizzy-making if you don’t share the load!) or using a battery or 12V pump to do the lion’s share of inflation. We then top up at the end with mouth inflation to create the perfect customized firmness.

The valve of the mattress also could be better. Although very effective at keeping the air inside the mattress whilst inflating and once inflated, the one-way reversible valve is so tight it can be very tricky to open with cold post-hiking hands (I’ve had to use my teeth a couple of times, which isn’t ideal from a longevity point of view, for either my teeth or the valve!). The slow-deflation “button” allows for customizable comfort and firmness variation. This came in handy on our first night when we over-inflated the mattress initially and were able to roll over, pop the inflation value and press onto the slow-deflation button until the perfect firmness was reached.

When deflating the mattress, the entire valve pops out for instant, hassle-free deflation. We find that roughly rolling the mattress once, initially removes the majority of the air. We then unroll the mat, pop the deflation valve back in and the air stays out of the mat as we continue to roll. Opening the valve at the end to remove the final trickles of air allows for a very neat and tightly packed mattress system and means it stores easily inside the inflation sack.

Storage

The inflation dry sack is provided and cleverly doubles up as the mattress’s storage sack. However, as with inflation sacks in general, I’ve found this sack to be more of a gimmick than a time or effort saver. Of course, this inflation sack is definitely a space saver. However, based on the size of the deflated mattress, this is rather an unnecessary feature; the deflated mattress size is not small, coming in at 26″ x 8″ (66 x 20cm) when stored inside the inflation sack. On the plus side, the mattress is very easy and quick to deflate, thanks to the reversible valve (see below).

---

Zenbivy Quilted Pillow stats and design features

In short, we LOVE LOVE LOVE these pillows. That may sound a little over the top, but it’s true. We are both very particular about our at-home pillows and have constantly struggled to find an ultra lightweight and compact camping pillow that is actually comfortable. The Zenbivy Quilted Pillows fit perfectly into the hood system of the fitted sheet, and don’t move around at all or slip off the back of the mattress in the middle of the night (this is also thanks to the ingenious hood system keeping everything perfectly in place the whole night).

Quilted pillow case

Made with the same delightfully soft and smooth 50d Polyester Pongee as the fitted sheet and quilt, the pillow cases are truly a dreamy experience. So soft against your skin, they also provide ample room to bolster your pillow with your own garments should you need a little more height or extra softness underneath your head. I’m a particularly picky pillow user, and they have worked perfectly for me, night after night, just as they are. They are really easy to put on and off over the inflated bladder and are also very easy to wash. This is is big plus, as, although I love the bright and cheery yellow colour of our pillows very much, they do look grubby and get dirty a lot quicker than our old grey camp pillows.

Inflatable bladder

I initially had concerns about the durability of the removable inflatable bladder, as it is so super lightweight and thin. The pillow actually feels incredibly robust once inflated and slides easily inside the super soft pillow case for a snug fit. The bladder inflates quickly and efficiently through the push-button valve, and deflates and packs away inside the pillow case even more easily.

I do feel that I will need to constantly handle the bladders with a little extra care for fear of puncturing, tearing or ripping the delicate Polyurethane (PU) material over time. This, however, doesn’t seem like much of a compromise to make (we should all be taking extra care of our lightweight camping kit anyway, right?) due to the ultra small size, super lightweight packability and dreamy comfort the pillows deliver.

Storage sack

The size of soda cans, the small stuff sacks are so super lightweight you wouldn’t know you were carrying a single ounce of extra weight. We thought we’d just stuff the pillows inside the mattress when packing away into our backpacks without using the stuff sack, but quickly realized that they felt more protected and easier to access packed separately in their own small stuff sacks.

---

What I love the most about the Zenbivy Double Bed Sleep System

Um, pretty much everything. Seriously. This is one brilliantly thought-out piece of truly amazing kit. From the comfort and luxury to the packability and weight, the Zenbivy Double Bed Sleep System offers so much versatility, wrapped up in a super high quality finish. Everything about this set-up oozes quality: The build, the fabric, the storage bags and accessories, the design, the functionality. Even the smallest details have clearly been really well thought through and field tested.

We will forever take the Zenbivy hike-camping from now on over our old individual sleeping bag set-up. We are more than happy to deal with a few hundred grams of extra backpack weight for the sleep quality we get in return. This sleep system has irreversibly changed our outlook on lightweight camping for ever more. Quite honestly, we are chomping at the bit for the next opportunity to hit the trails and snuggle up inside this delightful sleep system at the end of a long day of walking. It has been camp-life-changing, and I don’t say that lightly!

In its own right, the Flex 3D mattress has replaced our old double airbed that comes out when guests stay. It will forever replace any other options when car camping, and Jon even opted to sleep on this at home for 3 months whilst nursing a prolapsed disc. That’s quite a claim considering the alternative was our new £2000 pocket-sprung orthopedic mattress!

---

What I don’t love about the Zenbivy Bed Double Sleep System

Two simple things. The first, which is not remotely a game change, is the colour. We love the bright and cheerful yellow, but it’s quite simply not that practical. I managed to add a boot mark to the side of the sheet on our first night out, and there’s been plenty more muddy marks added from rainy nights out since then. Sensibly, the fabric is super easy and quick to wash, and there’s an alternative black/red colour choice which I would definitely recommend opting for. As I say, not even close to being a game changer.

The second however might make this sleep system more prohibitive for those on a tighter budget: The cost. A positive is that you can split the pennies between the two of you, but with the quilt and sheet combo coming in at around $500 and the whole set-up including the mattress and pillows being just shy of a grand, you need to really buy into this product before splashing out. I sincerely hope that this review has helped nudge you in that direction. If you can find the cash, it really REALLY is worth it.

---

Verdict

This gets a very firm five from me! But is it for you? Well, if any of the following apply to you then I would most certainly recommend welcoming this innovative sleep system into your life:

• You don’t sleep well when camping.
• You are a cold sleeper.
• You are a hot sleeper camping with a cold sleeper.
• You are a couple looking for more snuggles when camping.
• You like to keep your backpack lightweight but with the odd luxury or two inside.

Even with the high price tag, I would save up for this every time rather than go back to our old set-up. It is simply too good of a product to allow the cost to be a barrier to blissful camping sleeps night after night. I am now someone who can’t wait to crawl into my tent at the end of a good day’s trekking, rather than the former me who dreaded the bad sleeps night after night and the achy tired body the next day. DO IT!

Find the latest price at:
Zenbivy

Disclaimer: Cool of the Wild received this product free in return for an honest review. We only recommend gear that we love from companies we trust and we are under no obligation to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are that of the reviewer and we are in no way influenced by the brand or company.

 

• Share