The inflation port has a one-way valve, meaning there is no struggle to keep all the air in the ‎mattress when you have reached your desired firmness. One review complained that the ‎mattress only partially self-inflates. As the former owner of a specialty outdoor store, I can tell ‎you that there isn’t a self-inflating mattress made that fully inflates on its own. None will get to ‎a firmness that you would want to sleep on by themselves. You have to top them off, and ‎SylvanSport includes a hand pump to do the job. I don’t particularly like the design of the ‎SylvanSport pump, but it gets the job done. Whatever you do, you should never blow air into a ‎self-inflating mattress with your mouth. As the industry found out years ago, microbes from ‎your breath can eventually set up a biologic reaction that will severely degrade the foam. Use ‎the pump, Luke! For best results, you might want to store the mattress long-term fully inflated ‎with both ports open. If you have room under your bed, that is a good location. Use an old dead ‎sheet as protection if your house has lots of dust bunnies.‎ (These recommendations apply for ANY self-inflating mattress, not just this one.)

At $200, this thing isn’t cheap, but if you compare it to other 4-inch thick self-inflating ‎mattresses, you will find that this is what they cost. It is, however, worth the money. Combined ‎with the matching sleeping bag, it is super comfy.‎

How comfy is this system? My dog got spayed, and then had complications from the surgery. ‎Drunk as she was from the anesthesia and pain killers, it became quite clear that she needed all-‎night cuddles and had no intention of sleeping anywhere but in bed with my wife and I. Out ‎came the Cloud Layer Sleep System so I could sleep on the floor with the dog for a week plus. ‎No complaints. My post-surgical back and arthritic hips survived just fine. I might be sleeping ‎there still except that after 10 days, we found the dog sleeping on my side of the bed in the ‎morning. Nice try, dog!‎