Numb bum syndrome

[PTA]

We have had a variety of caravan brands. I find that after a while my posterior develops an uncomfortable numbness when sitting on the front seats. This does not happen to my wife who thinks I am just sitting incorrectly.
Does this happen to anyone else?

Context;
. My posterior is neither fat nor thin,
. I am not a couch potato,
. My wife's posterior is more "upholstered" than mine,
. I DO NOT have piles.

Am I unique in having this problem?
What is the bottom line in dealing with it?

Thanks in anticipation of your helpful responses.

 

[Jcloughie]

Have any of your vans had sprung cushions?

John

 

[Beachball]

We have a 12 year old caravan and it got sprung cushions and they are great .

 

[Kevin M]

Our caravan is spring so no issues there, I have just got rid of an Audi Q5 for numb bumb issues tho.

Kev

 

[PTA]

Sadly, none of my caravans has had sprung cushions to the best of my knowledge. Do any modern caravans have them?

TBH it wouldn't be a deal breaker and the issue isn't really too serious. I just wondered if others had found the same issue.

A current spate of rainy days has meant having to sit in the 'van far more often than normal.

Thanks for your responses.

 

[RogerL]

Bailey Pageant had sprung cushions from the late '90s - I'd imagine that mid-range models from other manufacturers would have been the same.

Could the problem be a lack of a knee roll - the raised part at the front of a cushion?

 

[Raywood]

Never had a problem but comfort is very personal. Most are foam and this could be replaced with a denser one if it is a problem. Regal Furnishings are a well known name for this, but if you try Google there are quite a few.

 

[Buckman]

It could be that you are heavier than the wife and the area where you are sitting has compressed and is now "hard" so no leeway when sitting. We try and swap over the bench seat cushions every now and then and it seems to work. We also had the foam replaced by Tockfields for a denser and better quality foam.

 

[Beachball]

My caravan is a 2008 Abbey got sprung cushions and i had then upholstery early this year we had the cushions recovered with new zips .

 

[gyp]

We have had a variety of caravan brands. I find that after a while my posterior develops an uncomfortable numbness when sitting on the front seats. This does not happen to my wife who thinks I am just sitting incorrectly.
Does this happen to anyone else?

Context;
. My posterior is neither fat nor thin,
. I am not a couch potato,
. My wife's posterior is more "upholstered" than mine,
. I DO NOT have piles.

Am I unique in having this problem?
What is the bottom line in dealing with it?

Thanks in anticipation of your helpful responses.

We have had this problem with a Bailey Pegasus Genoa GT70 in 2018 .This had a foam seating
without knee roll.
The seats had very little recovery sfter being seated upon.
After having had replacements of the same construction we gave up using them and had the seat cushions replaced with Sprung seat with knee rolls. This cost us less than £400 and has proved a fantastic solution.
Bellfield did the job . Give them a ring and state you want the " Lunar Style " seating , springs and knee roll.

 

[PTA]

We have had this problem with a Bailey Pegasus Genoa GT70 in 2018 .This had a foam seating
without knee roll.
The seats had very little recovery sfter being seated upon.
After having had replacements of the same construction we gave up using them and had the seat cushions replaced with Sprung seat with knee rolls. This cost us less than £400 and has proved a fantastic solution.
Bellfield did the job . Give them a ring and state you want the " Lunar Style " seating , springs and knee roll.

Thanks for this. If the problem really gets me down I will chase up this option.
Our caravan is a 2020 model so whatever compaction there is is not down to excessive use.

Perhaps sprung cushions could be the new selling point like "grade 3 insulation," "dovetail joints" or"stargazer" type roof lights?

 

[Jcloughie]

Thanks for this. If the problem really gets me down I will chase up this option.
Our caravan is a 2020 model so whatever compaction there is is not down to excessive use.

Perhaps sprung cushions could be the new selling point like "grade 3 insulation," "dovetail joints" or"stargazer" type roof lights?

What van is it?

John

 

[PTA]

What van is it?

John

Elddis Crusader Mistral. But I have had the same problem with Swift Group 'vans, including our last one, a Stirling Continental 580.

 

[Jcloughie]

It’s hard to comprehend that such a modern and high range van would not have interior sprung seat cushions.

Years ago lots of vans just had foam seats, and poor foam at that. They provided very little support and only gave the level of discomfort you describe.


John

 

[RogerL]

Thanks for this. If the problem really gets me down I will chase up this option.
Our caravan is a 2020 model so whatever compaction there is is not down to excessive use.

Perhaps sprung cushions could be the new selling point like "grade 3 insulation," "dovetail joints" or"stargazer" type roof lights?

Sprung cushions were the new selling point 20 years ago - but not Swift Group, it seems.

 

[Buckman]

Spring cushions are a lot heavier tha the current ones filled with cheap foam. Helps increase the meagre payload by a couple of kgs.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I can imagine that trying to sort out the materials to use for caravan seat/bed furnishings is quite difficult. I'm sure the weight is one aspect the manufacture does consider, and its likely foam is the lightest option.

Just consider what it has to do, it has to be strong enough to support a seated adult, yet soft enough to support some one sleeping, those require two differnt compliances because the pressure (force per unit area) of a person sitting vs lying are quite different.

It will always be a compromise if a single type of foam is used. When you think about it, most seats that are designed as seats tend to have thin or zero cushioning and they can be quite comfortable. Beds tend to have much softer and thicker cushioning.

Without realising it, when we sit we rarely sit absolutely still, We are frequently move our position which changes the points of maximum pressure. this helps us to prevent getting the "numb bum" in the OP. When we sit on a piece of compliant foam, we sink into it and it surrounds us more. It also spread the the load, which means when we try to adjust our position, there is less change to pressure points than we would get on a firmer seat. This can lead to the "Numb Bum" in the OP.

 

[Beachball]

i look at our 2008 brochure Abbey GTS and this has sprung cushions . and very comfortable .

 

[Dustydog]

How much pressure do the seat squabs exert on your under thighs? Do you sit square on or askew on the seat?
Have you ever had any back problems or circulation problems?
Have you tried cushions of differing material and thickness?
Best of luck. Reminds me of the Pink Floyd Song,Comfortably Numb🤪🤪

 

[Buckman]

We mostly had Lunars between 2004 and 2016 and lived in a 2005 640 permanently for 2 1/2 years will no issues with cushions.
We bought our Cruiser in 2016 and within months thenbseats were collapsing and uncomfortable. The caravan was rejected for many other reasons.
We then purchased a 2018 and same thing after a couple of months. Rather than play ping pong with LF we had Tockfields refill the cushions with a better quality foam that has a warranty of 10 years. No more issues.