Need a replacement Sleep Matt

[juliojordio1983]

As above guys...

I have been using the Alpkit DIrtbag for the last few years, and its served me very well. However, on my last outing I woke up at 2am and it was as flat as a pancake. Upon inspection, the foot end seam (which is always rolled up first due to the valve at the opposite end) is perished. I have tried to repair it with some Gorilla tape, but no joy.

Now, I have had no complaints with the Dirtbag, I must have used it over 60 times over the last few years. Its comfortable, its light, its warm. Its pretty well priced at around £50.

So, before I just order a replacement from Alpkit, is there anything else I should look at? Ideally similar price point, thickness, lightness of the Dirtbag. Aplkit now do a new mat, the Dumo, which looks a little thicker than the Dirtbag, but it has no foam inside, so may not be as warm as the Dirtbag...

I await the collective wisdom of BCUK

 

[Broch]

I confess I would be disappointed in a sleep mat that only lasted 60 sleeps!. I still use my original Thermarest and I will have camped out in it in all weathers for hundreds of nights for more than ten years and it's still airtight (quickly touches wood ). It always gets stored flat with the valve open (under the bed!).

I've recently tried a Vango 5cm one on a vehicle trek and it was very comfortable but I still use the Thermarest (2cm) for my rough camps where space and weight are at more of a premium.

I can't stand the new very light weight very compact ones; the material is slippery and noisy (of the ones I've tried - I'd be pleased to be advised differently).

Cheers,

Broch

 

[juliojordio1983]

I may be under egging the number of uses...... Its probably been used double that number of times, I am on my 27th overnighter for 2017 this weekend looking at my diary!

The Dirtbag weighs 900g, which I'm happy with. I was looking at the Dozer, but that weighs 1,900g, and with winter kit that's a little too much ideally.

Aside from the Thermarests, are there any others worth looking at?

The prices of the Alpkit offerings are appealing, and thinking about it, cost per night on the Dirtbag @ say 100 uses puts it at 50p. That's great value when you think about it. That's a packet of cheap crisps nowadays!

 

[SCOMAN]

I bought a second hand Thermarest Neo Air from here and love it. Expensive new but worth it's weight.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I'd recommend the products on offer from Multimat - British brand, very well made, within your price range, current supplier to British Army....
I've used my Multimat Summit Expedition for a while now and it's doing great, I like that the stuff sack is fleece lined so that you can turn it inside out and use as a pillow.

Alternatively you can get the Exped Synmat Lite for around £50 and that is a very good mat indeed.

 

[juliojordio1983]

Sorry to just reply to this...

I ended up going for a Dumo and a Dirtbag. The Dumo is much thicker than the Dirtbag, and is very very comfy. But, the Dirtbag is warmer, and looks/feels more hard wearing than the Dumo. The Dumo is a spare for mates/family who want to tag along.

Usual excellent service from Alpkit.

 

[petrochemicals]

I have something like dhe dumo with insulation, gets a bit hard when you lie on it and pressurise the air beneath, but nothing a folded double quilt will not fix. It could do with foam on top reallyI'll be honest, I do not see the point of insulation in sleeping mats.

Insulation is warm because you trap air in it, to put insulation into what is already an air trap seems pointless

 

[snappingturtle]

Think I've seen new army surplus ones for £16 also try and find the seam leak as I think a repair can be made with evostick and ribbon

 

[Laurence Milton]

Not in the same league as the above, but neither even close in price either....

Trail Mats from ThisIsIt stores from £12 to £25 approx. depending in thickness. They are not perfect (small and I'm not!) but they work very well and are dirt cheap.

 

[Nice65]

I have something like dhe dumo with insulation, gets a bit hard when you lie on it and pressurise the air beneath, but nothing a folded double quilt will not fix. It could do with foam on top reallyI'll be honest, I do not see the point of insulation in sleeping mats.

Insulation is warm because you trap air in it, to put insulation into what is already an air trap seems pointless

Air doesn't trap heat at all. I've had a miserable night an air mat. The insulation holds the heat in place.

 

[shindig]

I've had an exped downnmat 7 for the last 3 years. Nice and toasty, very comfy. Definitely recommended. I've got LW one which is 65cm x 195cm as I have wide shoulders.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[petrochemicals]

Air doesn't trap heat at all. I've had a miserable night an air mat. The insulation holds the heat in place.

Air is a great insulator, it has terrible conduvction properties.

The air becomes heated through conduction. The insulation holds the heated air in place. The person is warm because the convection is stopped and the hot air rema8ns where it is, and cold air is not replacing it for the person to heat also

A bag full of air stoppa the convection only outside, convection happens within, but given hot air rises and cold falls, the convection in a bag is hot air up ?

A mat stops the conduction of heat to the ground by being a bad conductor.

 

[Mike_B]

Thermarest every time. I had what must have been a nearly 20 year old mat replaced under warranty when it started losing air. It had multiple repairs as well. Having managed to forget the new one on one trip last year, I bought a NeoAir in Oban and am well pleased with it. My wife had a Thermarest which got seriously badly damaged by broken glass, and T/rest replaced it without question as it was deemed irreparable.

Yes, they are spendy. But in a throw-away / cheap stuff age, it's refreshing to find a quality product with superb warranty and after-sales.