UKC

I'm looking at maybe getting a new sleeping mat for backpacking, and just general sleeping (maybe floating it down a river or use at the beach as an emergency lilo).
At the moment ive got a nearly 10 year old thermarest pro-lite regular, but I'm pretty taken by the alpkit numo or lumo. Both look pretty comfy.
Has anyone owned both the thermarest and either of the alpkit ones and is willing to share some lovely helpful advice?
Ta, Ant

In reply to antmorgan1991:
Exped for me
Look at the winter lite

In reply to antmorgan1991:




Yep. Me (or my family I guess) own two 3/4 length ultralight thermarests, one from 1991 and one from 2001! Then we have two Numos. The Numos are lighter, thicker and more comfy unless its cold where they offer much poorer insulation from the ground. Lots on why that is and the problems with the first generations of Numos here: http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/physics-you-can-sleep-on-de...

In reply to antmorgan1991:

I liked my numo but it didn't last long before developing an unfixable leak.

In reply to TobyA:

brilliant article, thanks Toby! lots of good info in there

In reply to antmorgan1991:

I have recently "upgraded " from a thermarest to a numo. Haven't used it in anger yet. Am out next weekend and will feedback then.
First impressions however is that it is much lighter, smaller and comfortable.

In reply to DaveHK:
Sounds quite similar to all the Alpkit equipment I've had. Looks nice, measures up well but doesn't last as long as everything else. It is cheaper though, so I suppose there is a compromise somewhere as savings in their distribution model can only go so far.

To the OP: Yellow lilo-type thermarest for me; can't remember what it's called, but similar to the Numo in style.

In reply to DaveHK:


One of mine went like that - on the seam next to the valve. Loads of seam grip worked for a bit. Alpkit did replace it for me though, so I actually have three. They said keep the leaky one for swimming pool use!

In reply to TobyA:

That's exactly where mine went. Alpkit did offer to replace it but I forgot about it for ages then thought it would be a bit cheeky sending it back after so long.

In reply to andyd1970:

Me to, I love my synmat UL7, much better than the previous thermorest.

In reply to antmorgan1991:

there are some good running backpacks selection here http://renfels.com/running-backpack/

maybe you want to take a look

In reply to andyd1970:
I read a review that said the winter light was colder then the downmat ul 7, do you have a view on that? Because I'm in the market for one and those are the ones I like the look of.

In reply to hokkyokusei:

Hi
I have just been looking at them myself as I currently own the exped synmat 7 which is great but heavier.
I think the downmat is better but usually more expensive.

In reply to andyd1970:




I'm in teh same boat, I own a Synmat 7 and I'm trying to decide between replacing it with a downmat UL 7 and a downmat winterlite. Initially, I preferred the winterlite, but this review put me off a bit: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/103798/

In reply to hokkyokusei:
Great review which has now put me off buying the winter lite
Back to the drawing board lol

In reply to antmorgan1991:

I have faffed about with various mats the last few years, and have returned to a good quality CCF mat, with a 3/4 length thermarest prolite on top.

This gives the comfort, but more importantly I find the decent full length CCF mat gives very good insulation from cold ground and is 100% nigh on indestructable.

Regarding CCF mats, the cheap ones fall apart very quickly, I have found the beacon (who made the original 'Karrimat' and now sell under the 'Multimat' brand name) to be the best.

http://www.multimat.uk.com/store/products/extreme-xxl

They weigh next to nowt, however are large, but I just strap to outside of pack and stop worrying about it