Review

Forward Moving Self Inflating Sleeping Pad Review

So, we have been on the search for a sleeping pad for our camper. The camper mattresses on the bunks are very thin with no padding at all. My wife and I ended up getting some memory foam for my older son but didn’t want to spend that money on my younger son yet. I decided on getting one of those self inflatable pads to use.

We picked the Forward Moving self inflating sleeping pad over the others for one reason, it is shaped to also fit in a sleeping bag. We figured that he will get more use out of it being able to take it on Cub Scout camping trips as well.

So today, we will take a quick look at our purchase. But a quick note, sorry that I did not use any photo’s of it in use. I do not post photo’s on my children online (just the one of my daughter turned around.

The Company and Purchase

This self inflatable sleeping pad was purchased from Amazon (linked above) for under $35. The pad came in 2 days which is super fast (thanks Prime!). We had it in time for Labor Day weekend 🙂

The company that makes this pad is Forward Moving which I believe is a small start-up company. I could not find much about them online but did find their store. Being such a small company was the one thing that made me a little cautious about going with this one. But between the price which is cheaper than the other self inflating sleeping pads and the good reviews, we decided to take a chance. We also like to support small business!

The Sleeping Pad

The sleeping pad comes in a nice bag that it easy to store. Once out of the bag, you unfold and open the cap. This allows air to be sucked in and expands the foam. Once inflated, I give it a couple blows to the pad to make it a little extra firm. When inflated, just close the cap and it will hold the air in when you lay on it. We then placed it into my son’s sleeping bag and it’s ready to go.

This pad is a good fit for a regular (adult) size sleeping bag. It will be too large for a child’s sleeping bag.

To pack back up, you loosen the cap, fold back up. Don’t forget to close the cap once folded up so it doesn’t re-inflate!

Unlike tents (lol), I was able to have this sleeping pad folded up and fit back into the bag it came with in about 4 minutes. It will take that time to fold slowly to get all the air out. But the important thing here is it actually fits back in the bag it came with which is a plus.

Out of bag and rolled up

So, is it Comfortable?

So a sleeping pad isn’t worth much if it doesn’t work as advertised, right? Before answering this questions, I want to put a couple things into perspective to show you why I came up with the answer I did. You may be expecting something other than I, so want to make sure we are on the same page.

  1. I purchased this for my 9 year old son
  2. He is under 80 pounds

When using a sleeping pad while camping, do not expect a blowup mattress. A sleeping bag is to give a little cushion between you and the ground so things are not pocking you. No one like finding a rock sticking in your back once the tent is up!

So with that being said, the Moving Forward self inflating sleeping pad was great for my son, giving him some cushion between him and the bed. He was happy with it the next morning for sure and it will be a good for him until we break down and buy memory foam for his bunk.

Notice it is shaped like a sleeping bag

In the above photo, I placed a small to medium rock under the pad just to see how it would work while tent camping. The photo is of my 4 year old, but I laid on it as well (you don’t want to see my fat butt) and I didn’t feel the rock much unless I put all the weight on it. It defiantly made it bearable laying on the ground.

The one thing that you may want to keep in mind is it’s shape. The pad is shaped to fit into a sleeping bag, so it is skinnier at the bottom. Though you do not have to place it in, the pad works better if put inside.

The Bottom Line

Pros

  • Price
  • Quality
  • Easy to use and fold back up
  • Size (fits in sleeping bag)
  • Easy to take with you, add to backpack
  • Thickness

Cons

  • Not a large brand
  • Can’t find in stores

If you are looking for a sleeping bag and plan on using it with a sleeping bag, this is a good purchase. It works as advertised and seems to be good quality. If you will not regularly be using it with a sleeping bag, you may want to get a sleeping pad that isn’t shaped like a sleeping bag to give you a little more room.

Ohero Viva Tumbler Review With Ice Test

Today, we are going review a pulse buy I made of the Ohero Viva Tumbler and will be doing an ice test.

There are so many types of Tumblers on the market, you never know which ones are worth the investment or just plain old junk. Everyone knows you can spend a ton of money on a “good” Tumbler. Sadly, these companies are great at marketing but the same quality can be found at a much cheaper, like half the price.

So as I said above, this was a pulse buy and I took a chance on the Ohero Viva because of a couple features they have. I didn’t know much about the brand itself or if it would worth the space in my cabinet. So, let’s see good or bad it turned out to be.

What I purchased

Features

Since it was the features that caught my eye and talked me into getting these in the first place, let’s start with those.

Silicone Sleeves

As you can see in the above photo, these tumblers come with a silicone sleeve on them. That’s not the feature that caught my eye though. The sleeves remove and can be replaced with other colors.

Why is this important to me? I purchased a 30oz tumbler for myself and a 20oz for my wife. I drink more coffee than her. But, I know I will probably end up getting stuck with the 20oz since she will steal mine to fill up with a margarita to lay out at the pool with. As any good husband would do (lol), I went ahead and picked up a pink sleeve for her. So when that time comes (it came on Labor Day), it will be ready. I also picked up a black 20oz sleeve for when I get stuck with the smaller one. Sorry, but I’m not a powder blue kinda guy!

Non-Slip Bottom

On the other tumblers I have had, the bottom was always metal. Never really thought anything about it until I seen the rubber bottoms on the Viva’s. I would bet that all of us has bumped our tumblers only to it slide off a table or two. With the rubber bottom, it has some pretty good grip. Check out the video below, I show the grip a little.

Besides being “non-gliding”, the rubber bottom also protects whatever the tumbler is sitting on. Now we do not get that big smacking sound on our back deck glass table.

Good Quality Replacement Lids

One thing that I know that I’ll go through once a year is the lid. I will drop my tumbler and eventually, I will break the lid.

The lid that comes with the Viva is thick and solidly made. It fully closes to help keep your drink cold and slides open easily. They sell the exact lids that you can pick up as replacements. I purchased one extra for each tumbler. They were cheap enough where it makes sense, since I’m clumsy.

When dealing with some other brands, you can either not find replacement lids or they are ridiculously expensive. I mean who pays $10+ for a lid?

Fold-able Tumbler Holders

Okay, these may not be for everyone and to be honest, they may not be for me either, but I got a couple for the campsite anyway. I was in full shopping mode lol.

The cup holders are easy to store away and can be folded up. My plan is to strap them to my camper post when sitting outside. Again, not sure yet if this is for me but hey, why not. They seem like they will last a long time and the tumblers do fit well.

The Tumbler Ice Challenge

Okay, so as you can tell by my review so far, you can tell that I really like the look and features of the Ohero Viva tumblers. But that all means nothing if they don’t keep your drink cold! So I did an ice test myself to see just how they hold up.

I filled both my 30oz and 20oz tumblers with ice and let them site for 24 hours in the heat. I was really hoping there would still be ice in them the next morning, not to mention a full 24 hours!

After 24 hours, there was more than just a little ice left in them. There was a big chunk in the 30oz and obviously a little less in the 20oz! 24 hours sitting in the heat and still have that much ice, nice!

Not shown in the video, but I went ahead and left the ice as is for another 24 hours to see what happened. I found that the ice lasted in the 30oz tumbler for about 40ish hours. That my friend is awesome. The 20oz tumbler lasted between 28-30 hours.

Comparing the price between marketed brands like Yeti, the Ohero Viva is way cheaper and preforms at the same level (and has better features). I have never understood why someone would pay so much for a brand name like Yeti unless it is to show that they can afford it.

The Bottom Line

If you are a bog roller just wanting to make sure that everyone around you thinks you have money to piss away, go ahead and stay with Yeti. If you are sensible and just want something that works and looks good, I say give this small brand a try. You save money and can always laugh at your buddy that paid twice as much and doesn’t work any better than yours…

My Video Review of The Ohero Viva Tumbler