Over the last 12 months I have been using and reviewing a number of products from Mammoth Sport LTD. The latest being their HdraFlex bed sheet. We are all aware of the importance of adequate sleep to help with the recovery processes and how just a few nights of interrupted sleep can have a dramatic effect on performance. What Mammoth Sport LTD are aiming to achieve with HydraFlex is to improve the performance of their own outstanding mattresses and take sleeping and recovery to a whole new level.
I received my HydraFlex bed sheet and was a little taken back by how thick it felt. There was no way, I thought, that this was going to be cooler and give me more postural support than the Egyptian cotton sheets I was currently using. The sheet itself is quite heavy and thick in its feel and appearance compared to cotton sheets. The material is soft with a raised texture with a woven design that adds this texture to the sheet. As you look at the sheet you can see how the weave leaves very tiny ventilation holes for its cooling qualities. It fits snugly over the mattress and is held in place by an elasticated band at all four corners. I was still quite sceptical because of the thickness and overall weight of the sheet.
We fitted the sheet and that night we would see if it lived up to the sales patter. I have to say once I was laying on the sheet in bed it was a different experience to what I expected. the sheet was very soft to the touch of the skin and you could feel a difference on how the mattress felt underneath you. How much so I would have to wait a few nights till I could compare against my regular cotton sheets. There were no miraculous overnight alterations to my recovery but I did notice an increase in the enjoyment of getting into bed and snuggling down to go to sleep. A few of days later the sheets were changed and a cotton sheet was used over the mattress. Instantaneously when I got into bed the difference was apparent. The Mammoth Sports Mattress as we know is designed to give more than conventional memory foam mattresses in the places that its needed. With the cotton sheet now fitted I could feel how the mattress was not giving as much under my weight as the previous few nights with the Hydraflex sheet. Quite remarkable to say the least, bed time was getting even more enjoyable.
Okay a couple of negatives before we go any further. Because of the way that the sheet is woven, when its placed on the bed it does look as if there are, what we call in the weaving trade, runners on the sheet. The sheet from certain angles will look like it has not been woven right. This is just a trick of the eyes. Trust me I’ve been in a weaving shed so I know the signs with certain designs. With the weave being so soft I found it was easy to click the threads with a nail that had not been cut short or filed down smooth. Slightly annoying but I can’t see it being a major issue unless you happened to click a thread through the entire length of the sheet. Which I can’t ever see happening.
From my own personal experiences the biggest issue when sleeping seems to be the loss of water through evaporation and respiration. This can leave some being more dehydrated than others and could well be a reason for excessive grogginess on waking and poor recovery. Whilst we will always loose water through respiration we can help to reduce water loss through evaporation by aiming to keep as cool as possible whilst we sleep. The HydraFlex sheet goes a long way to helping with that through its breath-ability. If we loose up to 2 litres of water through the above mechanisms during sleep and the HydraFlex sheet can help reduce that by even 10% that is going to amount to a huge long term gain in overall hydration levels and recovery. A win win situation if you ask me.
If you already own a Mammoth Sports mattress then I highly recommend you purchase some HydraFlex bedsheets. You wouln’t compromise your car engine by putting inferior oil into it so why compromise your mattress by putting inferior sheets over it.
HydraFlex, fuel injection for your mattress.
Steven. A. Barlow, Co founder www.spartan-warriors.co.uk , founder of Spartan Runners ” because we don`t just run” © 2011