Avid Benchmark Memory Foam System
Avid Carp has updated its luxuriant memory-foam bedchairs by reducing their weight and added in a clever new sleeping bag system
When choosing a bankside bed, you want something that’s smarter and more comfortable than the one in your own bedroom. Avid Carp’s sleek Benchmark Beds set a new standard in comfort when they were launched back in 2015, but these two new models have been updated and upgraded so when it comes to back support and mattress comfort, nothing - your “home bed” included - comes close. Here’s how they’ve managed to do it…
The Big Five
1. They’ve lost weight
The old Benchmarks were heavy - and with four pairs of legs, slightly tricky to set-up. First, Avid have switched from a steel frame to an aluminium one - so whilst it’s still bloody strong, it now doesn’t have the extra flab. The leg count has dropped too, now down to three pairs, which have been strategically-placed to offer supporting positions and give even weight distribution. Of course they still all feature Avid’s tried and tested Easy Lock System, along with rotating mud feet for total stability. But the diet has worked: the Standard version comes in at 14kg and the X, which is a mighty metre wide, is 18kg. In comparison, the previous models were 12 and 15kg respectively but remember: they didn’t come with a sleeping system…
2. Sleeping System
Big change No.2: they now come with new integral four season sleeping bags that can be completely removed from the bed if necessary. This is a first for Avid: a bedchair and bag in one. Whether you choose the Standard or X model, both bags are twin-layered, so you can sleep under both in the winter months, or under just the top, thinner, layer during the summer. The memory-foam mattress, which made Avid famous, is now effectively the bottom of the sleeping bag and is attached to the frame with Velcro, so it’s dead easy to remove for cleaning.
It’s also worth noting that Avid do offer exactly the same beds - frame, size, mattress and features - but minus the Sleeping System and these retail for £249.99 and £299.99.
The Benchmark X - the behemoth model - measures a whacking 210cm long by 95cm wide!3. The comfort level has gone up (somehow)
The Shropshire-based brand has had many industry-firsts, but the most notable one has to be utilising memory-foam mattresses. A two-inch thick mattress equals sublime levels of comfort. It’s also a one-piece design mattress and that makes the useable surface area of the bed larger than ever.
4. Zero chance of any sagging
More good news! That super thick mattress won’t be sagging like a pair of old tits within a year, and that’s all because of Avid’s improved Lumbar Region Support System. Unlike a typical elastic-wound mattress which is only wrapped around the outside, the Benchmark’s special system supports the canvas underneath as well as around the edges and this prevents sagging and enables you to enjoy all the comfort of that chunky mattress we keep waxing lyrical about.
5. Reinforced Throw-Hinges
Just like the original Benchmarks which ditched the traditional cam wheels to give you a witches tit flat bed - just like the one in your bedroom - these new models follow suite but the Throw-Hinges are now made from reinforced steel and allow you to comfortably close the bed with the sleeping bag still attached. The strap system used to do this has also been altered so it now spreads the load across the webbing, helping to increase longevity of the frame.
Avid raised the bar back in 2015 when the Benchmarks first came out. It now looks like they’ve reset their own benchmark - to a new, mind-blowing level!
Benchmark Memory Foam System £359.99
Benchmark X Memory Foam System £409.99