$4 Sleeping Pad - 344g

[Tintin]

Spotted an inflatable air mattress in Kmart that could be used as a sleeping pad. It was too cheap to pass up. I vaguely remember seeing the same mat on Aliexpress.

It measures 195cm long x 60cm wide and weighs in at a measly 344g. It is advertised as "single use", although I am yet to field test it. There is no valve, the end is simply an opening which you blow into.

Blowing it up doesn't take as long as I thought it would. However deflating it, squeezing the air out and rolling it up is quite time consuming. I assume just leaving the caps off whilst you go about your business will let most of the air escape.

I wouldn't use it on any long hiking trips, but for an overnighter or two it may be a good option for those not willing to spend $100-200 on a quality sleeping mat.

Link: http://www.kmart.com.au/product/single- ... bed/988803


EDIT: I should also mention Kmart sell a $2 inflatable pillow which weighs in at 106g and is quite comfortable.

Link: http://www.kmart.com.au/product/inflata ... low/723039

[Moondog55]

I'll take a look tomorrow, not for hiking but to keep in the ute, just in case I need to sleep in the back and don't have my rucksac with me

[andrewa]

Is it one of those simple valves that just needs a piece of hose put in it to keep it open whilst deflating ?

Actually looks pretty comfy.

A

[ribuck]

Is it one of those simple valves that just needs a piece of hose put in it to keep it open whilst deflating ?

I would think a tiny length of plastic drinking straw would do it.

Anyway, I'm puzzled that a "single use" air mattress would be advertised by Kmart as "easy to fold and store"!?

[Franco]

Anyway, I'm puzzled that a "single use" air mattress would be advertised by Kmart as "easy to fold and store"!?

Good point.
I would think that like, say ,an emergency blanket , it can be used several times but a bit hard to state "works for 3/5/10 times" so single use but can last for a few uses...(however don't complain if it does not)

Spotted at Coles a few weeks ago
"Frozen Ice $4'
the other day the sign had changed to :
"Pure Ice $4"

[Tintin]

Is it one of those simple valves that just needs a piece of hose put in it to keep it open whilst deflating ?

Actually looks pretty comfy.

A

It is always open. After blowing it up you simply screw a plastic cap on it. See the photos below. I find it comfortable and could easily sleep on it.

To store it, I fold it in half length ways and roll it up. Ends up being 30cm long x 10cm wide once rolled up.

[Franco]

Apart from that mat and the pillow, in Ballarat at least, KMart had several other bits and pieces for backpacking that were very inexpensive.
Might be worth having a look .

[damoprz]

How thick is it when blown up? Would it be a good one for floating down/swimming across rivers? Compared to a Neo-air Xlite.

[Tintin]

How thick is it when blown up? Would it be a good one for floating down/swimming across rivers? Compared to a Neo-air Xlite.

I have packed it away now, but it was quite high, at least relative to my S2S UL mat. I would say somewhere between 5-10cm.

There i a lot of air inside the mat. It actually reminds me of a pool toy - so I imagine it would be great for that.

[ribuck]

This reminds me of a cheap 65 litre nylon backpack which I got from Kmart a long time ago. It only weighed 900 grams, and when fully loaded was every bit as comfortable as any expensive bushwalking backpack. It wore out after two years of frequent bushwalking, and I would have bought another one except it was no longer sold. Best backpack I've ever owned.

[neilmny]

.......It measures 195cm long x 60cm wide and weighs in at a measly 344g. It is advertised as "single use", although I am yet to field test it. There is no valve, the end is simply an opening which you blow into.

It looks somewhat narrower than 60cm or is that when it's laying flat with no air in it?

[Tintin]

.......It measures 195cm long x 60cm wide and weighs in at a measly 344g. It is advertised as "single use", although I am yet to field test it. There is no valve, the end is simply an opening which you blow into.

It looks somewhat narrower than 60cm or is that when it's laying flat with no air in it?

it is 60cm wide when flat and no air in it. I just pumped it up again and it is ~55cm wide with air in it.

The height of it is ~8cm at the most, which goes down to ~4cm when lying on it.

[neilmny]

That's pretty good Tintin. I use a 60cm mat as I need a bit of space (side sleep knees bent) but in a pinch 55cm wouldn't be to hard to take
and the 8cm/4cm sounds good as well. Treated with a bit of care you'd probably get several trips out of it.

[jimjim]

............."single use" air mattress......"

...and we wonder why the planet is drowning in a sea of plastic crap......

[johnw]

For 4 bucks I couldn't resist. Got one at lunch time yesterday from the K Mart near work. Regardless of hiking can be used at home as we occasionally have young niece/nephews stay over.

[skibug]

After reading about these on this forum, I bought two, and tried one for ten minutes. From that experience, I recommended them to my D of E candidates, 2 of whom used them on a 2 nighter in the Blue mountains early December. They were both very happy, presumably because they had only used closed cell or self inflating mats before. I had, of course, given all the expected warnings - only for temps above 10 degrees or so, treat with great care, there may be noise etc. These could be a deal maker for many 1st time hikers who hate the discomfort of regular mats.

Skibug.

[gbagua]

It looks great! Nice find. I need something like that for an overnighter at Bookookoorara Ck.

Not too keen to spend +$100 bucks on a similar product that will most likely be less comfy.

Sometimes the cheapo products outperform the expensive ones.