UKC

Discuss.

In reply to andrew breckill: Had a down mat. it leaked, was heavy and a pain in the ass to inflate. returned it after 6 months use and bought a neo air. not looked back since.

In reply to andrew breckill:

Both can be punctured.
One sounds like a crisp packet.
Neither are actually that light.

In reply to andrew breckill: Got both but used a roll mat lately. No high side to fall off.

In reply to andrew breckill: Are you Harry Hill?

I used the Neoair for a while but I've gone back to a 3/4 length Thermarest as if any of those get punctured (which is probable on a bivvy) you in for a cold night.

All the best,
Dave
www.climbinggearreviews.com

The mrs reckoned the neoair would be noisy. I quite liked the idea of the down ones, but was wondering if the moisture from our breath would cause issues as down don't like the damp. The height also was something that concerned me. At the moment my system is a cheapo outdoor designs shaped 3/4 mat, on top top of a choice of full length thermarest ultralight or a thicker standard. The extra width at the top makes sleeping a very comfy experience and keeps weight reasonable. Might just stick with what I've got as it works for me. Thanks for the info.

In reply to wildspaces: Haha, yes thought I'd use his death fight to ad a bit of warped humour to my request.

In reply to andrew breckill: I get all sorts of abuse by my mates when I use my Neo Air because 'it sounds like a crisp packet' and keeps them awake.

I sleep the whole night through, warm and comfortable. It doesn't bother me!

In reply to andrew breckill: I've got an exped synmat ul 7 and I love it. I've encounted no problems with it and it seems a good medium between the two mats that you mentioned.

In reply to andrew breckill:
I have the down mat.
I have used it for over 3 years. For over 100 nights.

This has included a month's camping in Botswana, a week's trekking in India, two treks in Nicaragua, sleeping on concrete floors in schools and in bothies, camping in the UK. I have used it in cold weather and in hot.

I have had no reliability problems.
It has always been comfy.

I suspect the down is clumping a bit now, and it doesn't feel quite as warm as it did at first, but it is still good.

In reply to andrew breckill:
Option 3:

http://www.expedlife.com/2011/01/exped-megamat-10-new-for-spring-2011.html

Not exactly fast and light but so very comfy!

In reply to almost sane: how did you inflate it? As I think they'll be better with a pump than breath. Might make the down loft better?

In reply to andrew breckill:

The Exped mats come with a pump built in. There are two valves: one you open to deflate, and one you open to inflate. You open the inflate valve and then just pump up and down on the pump. It takes a minute or two, which is a drag, and awkward in a small solo tent in bad weather.. However, if you do it just before you go to bed, it warms you up before you get into your sleeping bag

In reply to andrew breckill:

down mat.

i was lucky enough to try an xtherm before industry release and indeed they are good, very good. but the noise, really, shits me. when sleeping is already hard enough due to topography, wind, cramped conditions etc, another factor that i can control makes sense.
over winter i spend +35 nights in tents, so it all adds up.

also, as contingency, if i puncture a down mat i will have 2 layers of nylon blus 1mm of compressed foam under me (folded into 3rds, on top of rope and pack under legs even better), which appeals more than 0.5mm of tin foil.

the drawback is you cant inflate my mouth.
the hand pump mentioned on the regular mats is sloooow (i shared a tent last weekend with a guy who had this), but the UL versions have a dry bag-pump which can work well (a bit shit inside a small tent tho).

as it goes, ive done 23 nights this winter on a down mat, in temps down to about -25c, on ice, snow, frozen soil and concrete and not had issues with cold coming thru. thats impressive i think.
the only system that beats that is 2 closed cell mats, or a closed cell + a regular thermarest. both of which take up much more space.

as yet i still cant see why an inflating mat would be punctured by anything other than a mishap. over several years of using them in winter ive yet to see it happen.
that said, i still plan for it.

In reply to ice.solo:

Yup, UL down mat, most comfortable bit of gear ever! And inflates with a pump bag that I use as a dry bag for my sleeping bag and then as a pillow as well.

Feels robust and never had any issues with it. Used a Thermarest Neoair which was good, but this is miles better.

Neoair Xtherm for me.

mec.ca, which have much cheaper prices than my country, will post Thermarest to my side of the world, but not the Exped mats.

For the same reason anything Jetboil wins over MSR for me.


Noise doesn't phase me, can't phase the gf too much either. We spent a few nights in a tent together, she had borrowed some huge exped down thing - didn't see the model number, I was crinkling away on the xtherm. For xmas she wanted the xtherm

Never slept on an exped, so can't compare.

In reply to andrew breckill: another vote for the Synmat UL. Also have a small downmat and a therm-a-rest prolite 2.5, but have used neither since I got the Synmat. Always been cold and aching on the prolite, the downmat is certainly the gold standard for warmth and comfort but even at the 120cm length quite heavy. The Synmat ul is almost as light as the therm-a-rest and almost as comfortable as the Downmat, probably not as warm but not been cold on it yet in just below freezing temps. I use one of these thin alu coated mats under any inflatable mat. Didn't like the feel/noise of the Neoair when looking at it in the shop but never used one.

Thanks for the replies, think if budget allows might go for the down mat. I keep looking and weight and pack size I packed both my mats, sleeping bag, bivvy gear into my macpac pursuit and there was not a lot of room left, however the combination of the two thick therma rests was very comfy, for the first time ever I slept like I was in my own bed. Size and weight are more of an issue than I relaised, the other option is a bigger rucksack, I have a choice of my pursuit or my ascent at the moment.

In reply to andrew breckill:
A good night's sleep is Very Important.

Enjoy!

In reply to almost sane: You've convinced me, after my night in the snow in the lakes. I realised I need to seriously reduce my pack size, so a exped down ultralight is going on the birthday list.
Looking around t the prices of gear now is scaring the bejeebers out of me. My ME lightline is now £400, was thinking about replacing it as its over 15 years old, don't think I'll be doing that in a hurry.

In reply to andrew breckill:

Just to confuse the issue, check out Nemo as well. I have a little soft spot for this company.

http://www.nemoequipment.com/inflatable-sleep_technology#t

I used the Nemo Zor for high camps in Pakistan for 3 months last year.

In reply to radson: Not so sure about the pads, but love some of the bivvy stuff on that site, the moto looks very interesting.