Looking for a Sleeping Pad? I spent a year testing 23 different models.

[Nanabijou]

What do you think is missing on the market today in mattresses? It's hard to see how they could be further improved, with all the great choices available today, too many almost. I think a slightly raised section at the head would be helpful. Rectangular and flat, not pillow shaped. I'm always putting something under my pillow to make it higher. Can't think of anything else.

PlacidWaters - it's funny you mention the raised section at the head of the mattress. Personally, I don't like when the end is raised. If it is - I usually turn the mattress around so my head is then at the foot of the air bed where it's flat. It just feels very uncomfortable for me, even though I concede that the raised area may keep the pillow in place a bit better. My Nemo Mezzo Loft has a hood that also keeps the pillow in place though. With that said - I bought an expensive and super soft camping pillow last year - and really want to like it. However, it's so soft and offers so little loft - that it feels like my head has no support, so it too fails in terms of comfort. I have an old Outbound pillow that isn't nearly as plush - but it doesn't compress much either - so it (ironically) feels much more comfortable and supports my head better.

Mike

 

[Christophe Noel]

Every time I write one of these reviews, I anticipate a small army of people to knock on my door to tell me I'm wrong. I totally get it. If you just plunked down $200 on a pad I didn't concur is the bee's knees, then I must clearly be wrong.

Okay. I'll take that.

I don't want to knock heads point by point, but suffice it to say, all of these reviews, even those with almost absurd amounts of "objective" testing, can be picked apart. I give the Nemo the nod, just barely mind you, because it's such a huge pad, but sooooo easy to inflate. I preferred the Nemo baffle alignment. I even liked the Nemo's finite adjustment with the threaded valve and the two huge export valves. I also tested each pad at what I would consider minimum and maximum inflation levels to somewhat gauge the experience for sleepers who like firm or soft beds. I think the Nemo had more "range." But, like I said, your mileage may vary and had you slept on them side by side multiple nights each, taking detailed notes each time, you probably still would tap the Exped as your top pick.

At the end of the day, in the last three years I've probably slept 125 nights on 30 different pads, but that doesn't mean I can pick the best one - for you.

BTW, the most common temperature bag in use today is a 20ºF bag, so that is what I used as a rough guide for establishing a very crude assessment of R value needs for a given application. Synthetic 20ºF bags also can bolster pad R-value results as that fill doesn't compress as easily as down, so I admit there is a great deal of variability. However, the five nights on the Nemo where I recorded temps below 50, it did fine, but I still contend that it will not be an ideal pad below the 40s for most bags.

And one other note, the built in pump in the Nomad works a thousand times better than any similar pump because unlike other Nemo pumps, this block of foam is a full 6-inches thick and moves a ton of air with each pump.

 

[PlacidWaters]

PlacidWaters - it's funny you mention the raised section at the head of the mattress. Personally, I don't like when the end is raised. If it is - I usually turn the mattress around so my head is then at the foot of the air bed where it's flat. It just feels very uncomfortable for me, even though I concede that the raised area may keep the pillow in place a bit better. My Nemo Mezzo Loft has a hood that also keeps the pillow in place though. With that said - I bought an expensive and super soft camping pillow last year - and really want to like it. However, it's so soft and offers so little loft - that it feels like my head has no support, so it too fails in terms of comfort. I have an old Outbound pillow that isn't nearly as plush - but it doesn't compress much either - so it (ironically) feels much more comfortable and supports my head better.

Mike

Oh yeah, you reminded me of another constant problem: the pillow slipping off the end of the mattress.

To clarify, I too hate mattresses with a built-in ANGLED part at the top. Very uncomfortable, prevents you from scrunching up your pillow for neck support. That's why I suggest a FLAT part at the top, about two inches high. I've never understood the logic of a down pillow, since it compresses to almost nothing. But plenty of people like them.

 

[PlacidWaters]

Christophe, thanks for the explanation of the Nemo footpump. My feeling is that there are several excellent mattresses on the market so that each person should be able to find something close to perfect for their needs, which is a very good thing. If there were no Expeds I'm sure there would be a Thermarest or a Nemo that I would love. I prefer a four-season insulated pad to save money. Even for summer backpacking I'm not sure I would be willing to shell out more money for a separate uninsulated mattress, and weight is mostly irrelevant for other activities (except maybe paddle camping with long portages).

My choices are also governed by global warming. I used to travel extensively in the summer but no longer do because it's gotten so hot in places that used to be cool in the summer. Nothing worse than spending a humid 80-degree night in a closed tent. I now travel mainly in the spring and fall, when you need an insulated mattress.

P.S. I once spent a night in a tent with two strangers in an emergency (don't ask). The temperature was about 32F. They slept on a queen-sized uninsulated Walmart mattress and insisted that it was very warm "because air is an insulator." I couldn't talk them out of that belief. I almost froze to death (no sleeping bag or mattress) but they said they were toasty all night. Baffling but shows how big individual differences are.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Because no one pad can ever be pegged as "the best" I did try to quantify my picks as such...my picks...with some reasoning behind them. Of the pads I reviewed, the smallest was the size of a beer can when stowed, the largest the size of a pony keg. Some people only camp in summer, others year round. So, I could have broken this review into 4 different categories with 12 different pads but...this one review already took me a year to complete!

One thing I did learn, tell Exped owners, not just you, that there are other pads as good or better and they'll burn your house down. LOL. No brand has more fervent loyalists.

 

[gorillamel]

I found your review very helpful. It did help me narrow down the choices for my particular use of sleeping pads (compact, light weight, high R-value...or as high as you're gonna get with the other criteria). But, of course, I ended up buying the pad (thanks to Black Saturday or whatever the heck it is called) that I use in the past rather than break the streak into something new, haha. REI Flash is the top choice for me. But I still enjoyed reading your review and the blood, sweat and tears you put into creating it.

 

[PlacidWaters]

One thing I did learn, tell Exped owners, not just you, that there are other pads as good or better and they'll burn your house down. LOL. No brand has more fervent loyalists.

HAHA! Funny. I think that's because Exped are innovators. The Big Agnes Insulated Air Core was an innovation, but then Exped improved on it. I just can't imagine what else can be invented at this point.

 

[Airmapper]

Christophe your efforts are still being put to use, many thanks for the article, even over a year later.

I had received a Wal-Mart gift card, and wanted something camping related and a sleeping pad came to mind. The number of options bewildered me a bit so I recalled the article and gave it another read to try and get a feel for the brand and model options.

I went with the Klymit Insulated Static V Luxe Camping Pad Red/Char Black XL, for only $50 of my own money, that was probably about the upper end of what I wanted to spend, so hopefully I got a bit nicer pad for about the same out of pocket as the Static V2 by using the gift card. I'm 6'3" tall and wanted the extra bit of length, and while I figure it is limited I like that it is somewhat insulated. I doubt I will be pushing the limits of it's use, so the best value option was perfect. Now hopefully when I get it and have a chance to use it, I will find it acceptable. I'm planning on utilizing a tent-cot more so I can avoid the bulk of the RTT on quick trips, the idea is a sleeping pad might make it more comfortable, plus won't hurt anything if used in the RTT when my hip finds it's way through the foam.

 

[ultraclyde]

Well, since someone else reanimated this zombie, I'll chip in with a question.

I've got a Klymit Static V I use bikepacking and it's great - but as a broad-shouldered side-sleeper, I'm miserable because I can't find a good, thick pillow solution that stows small and light. Any suggestions?

 

[SportsmanJake]

I also use a klymit static v and am also a side sleeper. I frequently wake during the night with sore shoulders.
It seems that there are not many options for side sleepers in the compact mattress market. I should learn to sleep on my back!

 

[pluton]

My observation about self-inflatable pads--the kind that have foam inside, based on two different models of Exped and two or three models of Thermarest plus a recent REI Campbed 3.5: They have all started leaking air within about ten uses. Whether it's pinholes or the valves, they all have failed** with light use.
** Failed = leak air overnight, so it's noticeably softer in then morning than it was when you went to bed. The Expeds made high-pitched noises as they leaked.
Fortunately, the foam inside means they still provide some padding when partially or fully deflated.

 

[luckyjoe]

I had a 3/4" Thermarest self-inflating for 20+ years before a seam burst. It was nice in it's day, but too thin and I was happy to replace it. I replaced it with a REI 3.5 Campbed in 2009, that's been great (if not a bit too LARGE) and still in use. In 2013 I got an Exped Synmat 9LW.

Exped are not self-inflating. Some models, like mine, have a built-in compression pump that contains foam, but not in the whole mat. Occasionally it will make the high-pitched noise you mentioned, but that has been the valve in the pump section equalizing with the main mat chamber pressure, and goes away if you squeeze the equalization valve. I use it monthly and it's still leak-free.

 

[ultraclyde]

I also use a klymit static v and am also a side sleeper. I frequently wake during the night with sore shoulders.
It seems that there are not many options for side sleepers in the compact mattress market. I should learn to sleep on my back!

I've had the same thought but if I sleep on my back my snoring keeps the wildlife awake.

 

[PlacidWaters]

My observation about self-inflatable pads--the kind that have foam inside, based on two different models of Exped and two or three models of Thermarest plus a recent REI Campbed 3.5: They have all started leaking air within about ten uses. Whether it's pinholes or the valves, they all have failed** with light use.
** Failed = leak air overnight, so it's noticeably softer in then morning than it was when you went to bed. The Expeds made high-pitched noises as they leaked.
Fortunately, the foam inside means they still provide some padding when partially or fully deflated.

My first REI Campbed 3.5 developed the infamous tiny pinholes within about a week. REI replaced it and the new one lasted about 5 years of daily use until it got too compacted in the center and I replaced it.

About a year and a half ago I got an Exped Synmat 3-D 7, with boxed sides. I sleep on it every single night on top of my bed mattress for added cushioning, plus lots of camping. I give it one breath of air about every 3 months (really, it lasts that long). I've slept over 700 nights on 4 Exped mattresses, never had a single problem. Inflation with the small (yellow) pump sack is very fast and easy, about one to two minutes.

A little-known fact about padded self-inflating mattresses is that the foam compacts with extensive use, leaving a depression in the center. The REI Campbed does self-inflate quickly and fully, but it takes a while to deflate and roll it up. An Exped Synmat deflates instantly and packs much faster and of course smaller. For comfort and convenience I prefer the Exped Synmat series. The Campbed doesn't really have any advantages over those except price,

 

[RyanT]

Late to the party, but the recent activity brought this back up top. Have to say, this is awesome! Solid work on this, so far the only pad I've used of these is the Klymit Static. No complaints, although I hear of some that only get 50 nights +/- on it before they report leaking... will bookmark this post if/when that happens.