If you like a hard bed, the Brooklyn Bedding Plank is undoubtedly the firmest we've ever tested

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Ever since I returned west after living in Asia, I've sought after a bed as firm as the one in my apartment there, which is to say something between a washboard and a poured concrete floor. It was the best mattress I've ever slept on. 

Why, you wonder? No, I'm not a sadist, exactly.

There's good evidence that the best mattress for back pain is a firm one. Plus, I'm a stomach sleeper, and while we're in the minority, we tend to prefer the firmest mattresses, which help keep our neck and spine aligned. 

I've been sleeping on so-called "firm" mattresses in North America for most of my life, and I'd always felt that they sagged too much. I found myself lying on the cold hard floor to adjust my back at the beginning and end of a day. When I came across the Brooklyn Bedding Plank mattress, an eastern-hemisphere-inspired firm mattress, I demanded that the brand's gracious PR representative told me more. A week later, the Plank mattress was at my door.

Design

The Brooklyn Bedding Plank is a fairly technical bed-in-a-box with two sides to choose from: a firm side and an ultra-firm side (the brand calls "ultra-firm" a 10/10 on the firmness scale, while the regular "firm" is rated as 8/10). In between the two top layers is two inches of latex alternative foam (the brand's proprietary TitanFlex) for deep compression support, and a six-inch, high-density base foam for stability and durability. The company claims that the only thing firmer is sleeping directly on the floor. Customers who are concerned about overheating can add on the GlacioTex cooling cover for extra breathability. 

Our Brooklyn Bedding Plank Firm mattress review

Like most bed-in-a-box mattresses, the Plank arrived at my doorstep compressed in an extra large box. I lugged the box upstairs, dumped it on my bed frame, cut the plastic open, and watched it inflate. Of course, I opted for the "ultra-firm" side. 

Short of sleeping on a hardwood floor, this is the most supportive and corrective mattress I've found in my trials of over half a dozen "bed-in-a-box" mattresses. Because it's so firm, it aces all our tests for motion transfer and edge retention; you certainly won't feel your partner moving around on this bed.

That said, unless your partner is a fellow firm-mattress aficionado, they're probably not going to find this mattress as comfortable as I did. Side sleepers in particular have a tough time on hard mattresses; they'll build up pressure points in their hips and shoulders without a little softness. The majority of the population consists of side sleepers, so there's a good chance your bedmate might find the Plank painfully firm. For the same reason, I wouldn't recommend this mattress for outfitting a guest bedroom or a rental. No, this is a mattress for the niche subset of us who would be more comfortable on the floor than in a hotel bed.

If you're not sure if you're among that subset, Plank (and Brooklyn Bedding) offers a 120-night risk-free trial and a limited lifetime warranty. If you're really not happy, you have plenty of time to call the brand up and have them haul it away. However, there is a $99 return fee. 

What are your alternatives?

Brooklyn Bedding also offers the Plank in a Plank Firm Luxe, a hybrid that is still flippable and may better suit couples with varying firmness preferences. It incorporates six inches of individually wrapped coils and is slightly more responsive and pressure-relieving. Brooklyn Bedding also recently introduced the Plank Firm Natural, a hybrid design that sandwiches individually cased coils between latex layers with an organic cotton and wool cover. 

If you're looking for the best cheap mattress, we really like the Allswell. It's on the firmer side, though not nearly as firm as the Plank. 

The bottom line

If you've never been satisfied with the firmness of the mattresses you've slept on, or if you suffer from back pain, I recommend giving the Plank a try. It's definitely a unique bed, but the 120-night trial makes it a risk-free choice, especially if you've exhausted other options.