UKC

I've got a thermarest NeoAir xLite and it's brilliant. Lightweight, small and very comfortable.

However they're not cheap and we're looking at getting a new mat to replace an older, larger thermarest we have for a bike tour next week.

Are there any good alternatives which are also small and light? I've found an Alpkit Numo ( https://www.alpkit.com/products/numo ) one for £40 which seems to fit the bill, thought I'm not sure what it's like at all.

Any thoughts/recommendations would be welcomed. Thanks!

In reply to James Malloch:

Exped mats are small and comfortable. But lots of failures, which causes parts to balloon after a few years of use. it is cheaper than a thermarest.

In reply to James Malloch:

not sure if it'll be the thing your looking for but Snow + Rock are selling the helium 3.8 for £45. Just bought one for myself and I've no problems with it smaller than other roll mates I've owned in the past.

https://www.snowandrock.com/p/mountain-equipment-helium-3-8-sleeping-mat-D2...

also the womens version of this is cheaper and a smaller pack size but not as thick.

In reply to tjin:

Oddly enough... Expeds seem to have a smaller failure rate than the NeoAir...

In reply to HeMa:
Really? Just got a NeoAir to replace my failed Exped...

In reply to James Malloch:

I've been through several alpkit mats - and they've all failed in the same way - an undetectable leak (even when submerged in the bath). So they can't be fixed - and all seem to fail around the 3-4 year mark. The last one failed during a week long bike trip away and had to keep blowing it back up every couple of hours during the night ( not good).

Just replaced with an exped mat - which is the most comfortable mat I've ever used - the warranty seems quite good on these - so hopefully if it does pop (without it being my fault) they#;; just replace it - unlike alpkit.

Marc

In reply to James Malloch:

I'm just considering whether to look for a bigger mat than the Neoair. It's nice and small for my bike but it has two disadvantages. It is too narrow/high for a side sleeper, so i keep on rolling off it and waking up. I'd prefer to use something a little less thick and a bit wider. I just can't decide what to buy that will make a cost effective difference...

In reply to James Malloch:

The ultimate small and light mat remains the balloon bed: http://www.balloonbed.com/

More comfortable than it looks, but expect to be laughed at.

In reply to James Malloch:

Klymit X frame - Looks awful but actually quite comfy...

In reply to James Malloch:

I've got an Alpkit one, I think it's an older model but the Airo 180 looks similar. Very happy with it. I don't think I'd go for a foamless "airbed" style one like the example you give.

In reply to James Malloch:

I got a sea to summit ultralight insulated for a recent trip to the Alps, slept on it for 10 nights in a row. It was super comfy plenty warm enough and when bivvying on rocky ground it held up fine, still looks like new.

Was expensive (£90) but I slept really well so in my opinion it was money well spent.

In reply to mp3ferret:


I had that on one Numo - seam leaking very slowly near the valve, needed a swimming pool and time to find it though.

The original Numos had insulation in them - this failed after maybe 5 -7 days of use I found in three of them http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/physics-you-can-sleep-on-de... Alpkit basically told me they gave up on the insulation in them. But without insulation, they are very much a summer only mat. You'll feel the cold coming through once into low single figure nights.

In reply to paul_the_northerner:


I think that mat is a cracker too https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=8458 but like you say, similar sort of price to thermarest ones.

In reply to James Malloch:

I can highly recommend the exped mats. I used a synmat ul 7 on a 5 week expedition to Greenland and it never let me down. It's super comfy, warm, packable and the vertical baffles mean you don't roll of in the night.