The bed - Kaymed Gel Nest Ultra 1800

The bed that I have just ordered is a “Kaymed Gel Nest Ultra 1800” and it has literally just been released. Indeed, as of now, it has yet to appear on the manufacturer’s website.

The bed comes with standard or divan bases and in various size formats from single to (I think) super king. Our selection was double with a 2 drawer divan and this retails at just over £1,700 Stirling (UK) with that spec. There are three colour choices. You will need to find a specialist bed store in order to see and test this kind of bed.

The construction of the bed sees the mattress in what appears to be two horizontal slices (quite common for composite mattresses). The lower section is the spring box with 1800 pocket springs and above that there is a second section with a mix of memory foam and gel - although I am uncertain as to the sequence. My guess would be that the gel is on top – but that is supposition on my part.

The gel is not, as you might expect, a liquid viscous material, but rather something closer to a mesh comprising a three dimensional box structure. I would guess that this is where the “nest” bit comes from in the bed’s name!

My assumption is that the gel is similar in composition to that found in gel insoles, but on a larger scale. Unfortunately I do not have a photo to demonstrate the rather vague description that I have just provided.

So, why did we select this particular bed?

The reasons behind the new bed purchase were determined by “a need to replace the old one”, plus my ongoing and seemingly worsening lower back problems. A bed has a massive impact on all aspects of health, but especially that of the back, spine and lumbar region (orthopedic). This was the prompt for not just a bed, but one in this price (and hopefully) quality range.

In truth the Kaymed Gel Nest Ultra 1800 was not my first choice, but rather that of my wife.

The technology in this bed is very impressive, but” as of now” gel has had a very limited “real world” testing and, as anyone who has seen “lifecycle testing” of beds will know, the roller approach is virtually irrelevant when it comes to a bed with a delayed reflex response rather than springs.

Gel clearly falls into this category along with Latex and visco-elastic memory foam. This is the reason for my “concerns”, which relate to unrecoverable deflection and deformation, in connection with the longevity of this composition of mattress.

Hopefully those concerns will be allayed over time and the bed will live up to its “billing”.

Factors in choosing the Kaymed Gel Nest Ultra 1800

We did not choose this bed over night. In fact we spent around four weeks trying out numerous beds ranging from spring only and foam only, to combination beds mixing differing materials and manufacturing techniques.

This involved us spending (in total) many hours in numerous bed stores lying on different beds. Something no one should be embarrassed about doing. A bed is important, a good one is costly, and it needs to suit both sleepers (if there are two of you).

At various times during this period our “favourite choice” changed, however we quickly realised that we did not have a preference for a foam only bed, or a spring only bed. We liked the movement, springiness/flex of pocket springs combined with the contouring and support of a top “pillow” layer of another material. This gives the options of Latex (my preference), memory foam and gel.

Our choice was consequently narrowed down to beds with a minimum of two material constructions/paradigms.

The Kaymed Gel Nest Ultra 1800 came out on top for a number of reasons. It was my wife’s favourite, my second favourite, and it got top marks in most of the boxes. Indeed, in every box bar the “immeasurable” one of how it will fair over time.

I can honestly say that, for a short period of 10 minutes or so, this was the most comfortable bed that we have tried and that it demonstrated very low levels of passive movement from one side of the bed to the other. It also had the “promoted” cool feel claimed of gel and the build quality and overall appearance was high.

I will continue this “sub-blog” with ongoing feedback about this bed once it arrives (delivery is 5 to 6 weeks).

The Kaymed website's url is http://kaymedworld.com although they do not have this bed shown at present. You can also check out the King Coil company who, I beleive, own them. You will also find a store locator on the Kaymed site.

The store that we purchased from is in Leeds, W.Yorshire, England, and is called Bedside Manor. They seemed knowledgable and enthusiastic and were happy for us to return to the store on numerous occasions until we made a final decision.