Bushwalk Australia

I've been considering getting a new sleep mat of late, perhaps an xtherm. Sense tells me to keep my wallet closed though and stick with my neoair trekker. Made me wonder what everyone else has:

* What sleeping mat you currently have?
* What do you like / dislike about it?
* What environments have you used it - cold, heat etc?
* Any plans to get something else and what will it be?

Hey Erich

I own:I own a Synmat UL 7

I Like: I like the weight and the comfort and the warmth.

I dislike :getting a spike through the base and having to repair it at midnight ... its only happened twice in around 200 nights. They also slide on the tent floor easily little bit annoying when on a slant. I just pack clothes under the down side.

Environments: Ive used it on snow to the beach in 20+ degrees and found it comfortable in all situations.

I just ordered another 2 Synmat's for my kids:-) I now own 5

Highly recommend them.

They aren't as expensive as I thought they'd be - cheaper than the trekker I think.....

I have an:
XL Xtherm,
S Xlite
Original regular Thermarest
Bluefoam mat

I use the Xthem only when sleeping on snow or frozen ground. It's plenty warm enough that I can use my summer bag up to about -5. It weighs about 470g.
I use the torso xlite for most walks, in combination with a short bluefoam mat for my feet. That way I have dry and warm seat for sitting around and if my xlite breaks irreparably I can use the bluefoam as a torso pad. The combination weighs around 300g.
I rarely (if ever) use the original thermarest.

It's lighter having a warmer sleeping mat for snow than taking an extra warm sleeping bag.

This setup is the lightest setup for the confort that It brings. The only thing that might be worth changing is switching the XTherm for a zlite sol if I start mountaineering, so I can't break it with crampons. That wouldn't be as warm, so it's only for bivying (preferably on rock).

Wow icefest, quite a collection. Do you find the xlite and bluefoam comfortable enough? I'm a slide sleeper so usually find I need the ticker mats to be comfortable....

ErichFromm wrote:Wow icefest, quite a collection. Do you find the xlite and bluefoam comfortable enough? I'm a slide sleeper so usually find I need the ticker mats to be comfortable....

I will often sleep on belly/side or back.
I should probably explain it a bit further. I usually use the sleeping bag stuff sack as a pillow (filled with food/water bottle to bulk it up and any old clothing as extra padding. http://www.trailspace.com/gear/zpacks/pillow-dry-bag/
The torso mat is then rotated to put the widest part at my hips, as my arms will otherwise fall onto the ground when I sleep on my back.
Any extra stuff (waterproof jackets etc) goes under the blue foam mat. Some next to the xlite to make the step less noticeable and some at the L/R of the feet to stop me rolling off.

The Xlite is as thick as the xtherm so padding isn't an issue at the shoulders and hips (which is where I notice is the most when I'm side sleeping). My head and feet generally don't need the extra padding (but if you want to you can use your pack under the foam - I don't because I use it as my tarp door)

Once you've had something long enough, it's easy to forget what it is actually called. Especially if it works well and you just take it for granted. But I started wondering after reading contributions to this topic. I've found that the thing I just call "my mat" is a 3/4 length (118 x 20 cm) orange Thermarest weighing about 600g.

Maybe a current model would be 20 to 40% lighter, but until this topic came up I hadn't bothered investigating. However, I'm not convinced that I need to ditch my mat given I don't camp in snow or freezing conditions. Have had nights at 1 and 2 degrees without feeling cold and I've never felt that my mat was uncomfortable.

Came across this site http://thenextchallenge.org/camping-mats/ which compares specs. But too many to choose from! ErichFromm, I'll go with with your sensible idea of leaving the wallet closed for now.

Thermarest Prolite - only used for car camping now. Too heavy for walking, replaced by:
NeoAir (Original) - now only for lowland warm weather use. Comfy & light but replaced by:
NeoAir All Season - Light, warm, comfortable. Seldom use anything else. Occasionally add a bit of foam for snow camps.

Original T'Rest 3/4 * 32mm
Old Karrimat
Ridgerest Solar XL
Synmat 7 *2
S2S Aircell mat XL
and a whole collection of assorted CCF pads
Of them all I find the new S2S mat the most comfortable of them but on snow it needs extra padding but that is why the Ridgerest

NeoAir Xtherm - pretty light (430gm), warm, very comfy. Bit noisy for other people when I toss & turn, but absolutely worth it.

Exped downmat - heavy, warm, reeeeally comfy, less noise (annoying sighs but quieter than the NeoAir) - used for car camping

Old 3/4 thermarest - the only mat I used for years decades; heavy, less warm, less comfy as a restless side-sleeper. Kept to lend out.

Various CCF mats - for car camping and lending out.

Toying with getting an Xlite for non-winter - women's (168cm long, 340g, R value 3.9) or a small Xlite (119cm long, 230 gm, R value 3.2) to cut down weight & bulk a bit more.

Thermarest Prolite 4 , Tent Floor and Tyvek footprint have been good for me even in snow for many years

Tortoise wrote:Toying with getting an Xlite for non-winter - women's (168cm long, 340g, R value 3.9) or a small Xlite (119cm long, 230 gm, R value 3.2) to cut down weight & bulk a bit more.

Do it! (or wait until there is a really good special!)

Z-lite Sol.

What I like: It's light, cheap, warm, cheap, surprisingly comfortable when on dirt/grass/leaf litter, cheap.
What I dislike: Bulky (not such an issue as it's durable enough to strap outside the pack on trails and not break apart), always tries to fold up on itself in my bivvy, it's not super comfortable when I camp on rocks which is most of the time.

I use it year round here (Canadian Rockies).

I'm probably going to buy an Exped Synmat 7 UL soon for some winter expeditions.

Thanks for the responses people

Clearly quite a wide range of equipment here - goes to show there is no "right" piece of equipment.... I still may go to Paddy's and look at some "hiking equipment porn".

Beean - Canadian rockies. Very jealous. Doing a hike in "Canadia" is on my bucket list... Not sure I could go a foam mat - way too bulky and doesn't absorb rough ground as much as an inflatable....

We've got a couple old 3/4 Thermarest mats which are now used by our bubs when we go car camping and we use the huge (10cm thick) Black Wolf delux matts.

For hiking now I have the Thermarest Prolite Plus mat and im pretty happy with it. Its certainly a big improvement over our old 3/4 matts anyways!

I dont really like the tapered shape and by other super modern matts its bulky when rolled up and a bit heavy too compared to say the Exped UL Syn 7 which is much thicker, smaller when rolled up and lighter for the same cost and R value or near enough.

However again id still pick my Prolite Plus over the UL Syn7 After listening to my friend struggle to get comfortable for ages last trip. He couldnt find a comfortable pressure and kept sliding off it but im sure with time he'll get it sussed out and with a cover etc im sure it will be great.

Travis.

There is a bit of a learning curve to them but now I cant wait to get into bed after a long walk. I found the key is you fill it to the point where you can put your palm on the ground with just a bit of resistance.

They are very easy to over inflate as you think im only 7 cm off the deck so better pump this sucker up. The slippery issue is real I think its all the materials used on the tent floor and the matt combine to be very slippery. A little bit of silicon mixed with a solvent on the floor similar to how you seam seal a tent solves that issue a little

I have a Thermarest XLite, I love it for the weight saving and it performs very well.

The only downside is I'm still not used to 51cm wide mats, so I will sell this and upgrade the the large.

icefest wrote:

Tortoise wrote:Toying with getting an Xlite for non-winter - women's (168cm long, 340g, R value 3.9) or a small Xlite (119cm long, 230 gm, R value 3.2) to cut down weight & bulk a bit more.

Do it! (or wait until there is a really good special!)

I always wait till there's a really good special!

Still juggling weight/quality of sleep/$ spent for new tent/s and a few other things. I sleep a lot better on my X therm than I did on my old 3/4 thermarest, partly because of my warm comfy feet. I decided I'd never go back to a short mat. But there's 200 gm in it...

Tortoise taking a long time to decide? How unusual!

ErichFromm wrote:Thanks for the responses people

Clearly quite a wide range of equipment here - goes to show there is no "right" piece of equipment.... I still may go to Paddy's and look at some "hiking equipment porn".

Beean - Canadian rockies. Very jealous. Doing a hike in "Canadia" is on my bucket list... Not sure I could go a foam mat - way too bulky and doesn't absorb rough ground as much as an inflatable....

Yup, Canukistan is a beautiful place. I've been here for 14 months so far and have barely seen my neck of the woods, despite getting out every week.

Beware the weakness of inflatables - my partner spent a week sleeping on a granite slab after a few pinhole punctures from rock crystals on his tent floor. He couldn't locate the hole and was forced to sleep on the rope and his backpack

Pin holes are why you should always take the CCF as well, it protects the air filled and is a backup if things turn upside down, in summer 3 or 4mm is enough but in winter it just makes sense to me to take the thickest you can

Moondog55 wrote:Pin holes are why you should always take the CCF as well, it protects the air filled and is a backup if things turn upside down, in summer 3 or 4mm is enough but in winter it just makes sense to me to take the thickest you can

I agree - I picked up some 3mm foam from Clark's Rubber to use with my Exped to protect against thorns and the like. Approx 60 nights and no punctures.