Sleep mat for a painful back

[Woody girl]

Well... the simple answer is to do research on the way to make something. I cannot make some things and would never even try to do so if I were not relatively confident I knew I could make a decent job of it. Hence i will buy a mat
Sometimes all it needs is a bit of thinking outside the box. Take one simple example for arguments sake. A toasting fork. Now I'm fully aware this may not be something a lightweight camper may want or need but I'm using it as an example. Looking on the Web, average price is about £8. I made one from an old wire coathanger. It's been used every year at camps and winter evenings for the last 8 yrs. It's still not ready for the bin and cost me nothing as the hangers were being thrown away. It takes up very little room in the kit and though I don't know the weight of it exactly I doubt it weighs more than a gramm or two. So it very lightweight. Nothing I make ends up in a bin. If I'm not sure I wait untill I am before attempting to make something. Sometimes I try to make something as an experiment to see if it works. It usually does because I've thought it out maybe over a few days weeks or even months . Failure does happen ... but not often.

 

[Toddy]

But what has all this to do with the difficulties people have, if they try to make light weight equipment at home?
Usually they have to throw the first trials in the bin, so in the end it becomes more expensive than a bought product.

Sorry, I can't follow you.

Not everyone is handless. I believe it's hard wired into us to make stuff, and we get better with practice.
A failure is just an opportunity to make something else.

I was very fortunate, and I could, and can, afford to buy what I need/want, but I like to make. I make because it satisfies something primal within me, and what I make is not mass produced, it's unique, it's fit for purpose, it's designed and created to suit me, my tastes, to my standards (and I'm a fussy bitch about quality and good handwork) and I'm not alone in my appreciation of good craftsman (woman) ship.
I like being capable, I like knowing how to make. I really love seeing what other folks make.

This forum alone is full of incredibly capable makers. They come up with some truly amazing designs, excellent patterns, and beautiful high quality work.
From knives to woodwork, from clothing to tents and tarps, bags to stoves, leatherwork and basketry, weaving and metalwork, it's all craft.....and surprisingly an awful lot of it is bushcraft

It's sort of the 'give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you'll feed him for life'. Teach folks how, encourage them to learn and to make, and you'll enrich their lives forever

I love the synergy among my craftsfolk friends. We see something in someone else's work that resonates and it influences our own. I weave, and I watched a basketmaker friend twinning willow.....and found it made the most wonderfully stable tapestry I do a lot of natural dyeing, a woodturner friend saw a hoop of my colours and recreated that in timbers...it flows, it keeps it alive, it stirs the mind and the hands itch to make.

I really appreciate found materials too though. The abandoned tents from festivals are often only used for two or three days.....that's a lot of material, lines, and pegs, etc., just itching to be re-purposed Old woollens are up-cycled into hats, mitts, etc., discarded leather covered furniture is a huge resource, especially for those trying leatherwork for the first time, and the list goes on and on and on.

M

 

[Woody girl]

Thank you Toddy you have expressed this much better than me. It's exactly what I mean about making things. They don't have to be perfect to be useful but one always tries. Sometimes less than perfect is absolutely perfect.

 

[santaman2000]

Thanks for the fishing metaphor Toddy. It’s a perfect lea in to my post:

-Many fly fishermen like tying their own flies (or fashioning their own rods from bamboo)
-Many hunters or target shooters like loading their own ammo
-Many bow hunters or target archers like crafting their own bow and/or arrows

It’s no leap that other hobbyists would also enjoy fashioning their own gear. I often dreamed of doing some of those things when I was younger. Now I have to resign myself to the fact that my eyesight is no longer suitable or fine work such as stitching or fly tying. Everybody has their personal realities to contend with.

 

[Erbswurst]

If you are able to stich an ultra light ruck sack, a tarp poncho or a copy of the gatewood cape, just do it!

The stuff exists, so it can be done.

 

[Toddy]

...........It’s no leap that other hobbyists would also enjoy fashioning their own gear. I often dreamed of doing some of those things when I was younger. Now I have to resign myself to the fact that my eyesight is no longer suitable or fine work such as stitching or fly tying. Everybody has their personal realities to contend with.

Hah ! Mrs four-eyes here these days too.....and I have to admit that wearing my glasses intended for close up handwork, and putting another pair of basic poundstore reading glasses on top, 'almost' gives me back the visual acuity that I took for granted. I find that adding a 2.00 gives great detail again. Can't see a damned thing when I look up right enough, but for fine work, it's good. I struggle to do the 72 cross stitches to the inch now though, (12th scale miniatures) and need a really good light too.

So pleased that the light's back and that Spring really is here. I know the weather's unsettled, but the longer days are sure

M

 

[bobnewboy]

....
I'm told that you want guinea fowl if there are ticks around. They'll eat them and in great numbers too.
Maybe we need to convince all those sporting estates to breed them instead of the pheasants.......

M

Our neighbours have a pair that wander freely in our village, and indeed in our backyard. Lovely looking things but really very noisy . When we first moved in we couldn’t figure out what the heck our neighbours were doing with a squeaky saw in the afternoon.....

Cheers, Bob

 

[Toddy]

I did not know that about them Quail are supposed to be excellent too though....and you get lots of eggs from them as well.
Maybe instead of free range hens, we ought to have free range quail, a win/win situation.

M

 

[Woody girl]

The mat arrived this lunchtime so I will try it out tonight. It's so light and compact. Very pleased so far. Garden sleepout tonight if I can find a level spot.!

 

[MrEd]

Does anyone else skimp on weight in some less essential areas so they can carry heavier ‘luxury’ items?

I used to use zip closure ‘Cordura’ pouches to keep things in in my bag, wash kit etc - I swapped them for sil-nylon drawstring bags. Not a huge weight saving - 800g ish bit to me that’s an extra litre of water I can carry and my pack will still weight the same.

I swapped the long lengths of paracord on my tarp for thin dyneema - another couple hundred grams saved and less pack space used - throw in some extra chocolate bars

I used to use ‘proper’ carabiners for my ridlegline etc now I have swapped them for small maillions - another couple hundred grams and some pack space saved.

Used to take an actual towel (maybe one metre by 0.5m), then I got a travel towel and now I just use a bar mat/glass towel - about 40cm by 15cm - much smaller and enough to wash hands and face and way less pack space so now I can fit in an extra jumper (if needed)or some beers!



Does anyone else have any examples?

 

[Woody girl]

Ooh yes I'm always looking for a lightweight option so I can take what one might call luxury items which as you get older and creakyer become essential.
In my youth I took a tent roll mat and bag, with a picnic stove or esbit stove and two army pans. No wash kit apart from toothpaste and brush. Which meant there was enough weight allowance for the obligatory cans of beans and hot dogs.

 

[MrEd]

Well, for rubbing I still think the oldfashioned Tiger Balm, the original one, is the best.
Alcohol is best for internal use.

I do not know if I ever explained, my two lowest vertebrae are compressed since an accident during my brief mil career (aged 21), have now have arthritic changes there, bad ones. Stiff as a board.
Plus another accident, one 'last straw' one that helped to end the career, (age 22) dis my right knee.
Today, after the last op, I have not much cartilage left, and both meniscuses are perforated and severely shortened....

A damn wreck I am, and not even 59.
Had I still lived in Sweden I would have 100% disability pension.
Here I work 36 hours a week....
I last 3 days maximum carrying a backpack of around 10 kilos.

Mate,
I understand you pain - I fractured a vertebrae in my back in a car accident 15+ years ago - it gets really stiff so I feel your pain. I also have 2 fused ankles due to arthritis and an underlying medical condition, and my knees and finger and wrists aren’t what they were.

I am just nudging 40

 

[Woody girl]

The alpkit mat test...Well initial impressions were great once I had you tubed how to blow it up. But it's very narrow and as I sleep on my side I kind of overhung it somewhat. Very comfortable as long as I didn't move! It's the best match so far as regards weight, ease of inflation and deflation and comfort. Just wish it was a bit wider.
I didn't sleep outside for the night as it began to rain and I couldn't be bothered to put up a tent and have to dry it again so I slept on my kitchen floor which is concrete so a tough comfort test. My back still hurts like nothing else though due to being unable to move about on it without falling off. I'm afraid that the double airbed and pump will be comming with me on any tented weekends still. Such a shame as I thought I'd cracked it with this one. It's not to be wasted as my friends sister has just asked for advice on a rucksack and mat so will be selling her one of my many bags and this mat. Such a shame. But thanks anyway guys. It was worth the try.

 

[petrochemicals]

You'll have to look for a half lenght double if you lie in the feeble position. How wide is it please?

 

[Alan De Enfield]

I'm a 'side sleeper and sleep with knees bent.

I recently bought one of these and it is the warmest and most comfortable mat I have even had (no problem with 'overhang')
When blown up, if I kneel on it I can feel the floor, but when lying down there is no floor-contact between hips, shoulders or knees.

Not cheap but very comfortable (and warm - rated down to -24*C)

https://www.outdoorgb.com/p/exped_d...Wb6bGTwSaJzBwi8tVDj0ebTFvNhQQWqRoCGwIQAvD_BwE

'https://postimg.cc/GTcTDsPX

They also offer a 'wide' version.

 

[MrEd]

How hard did you inflate it?

 

[Woody girl]

How hard did you inflate it?

I inflated it so that I was just off the ground when laying on it so it was quite soft. I may give it another try as I'm not seeing my friends sister until next week and I have a couple of other mats that might suit her. It's a lovely mat. Maybe I just move about too much for such a narrow mat. Maybe wait to try it when the old back is less painful when weather has improved. I realy don't know. .
It's about 25 inches wide

 

[Woody girl]

The other option is to rethink the trip. There is a basic campsite a few miles away and I could catch a bus towithin a mile or so of my chosen spot. I could ferry my heavier gear to the campsite in my trolly, pitch there and bus down to where I want to go and spend the day there and come back in the evening. Not what I want but sometimes a compromise is nessasary. That will be a last resort tho as I'm a stubborn old buzzard and once I make my mind up to do something I usualy find a way to do it. There is always a point you can't get past but I'm loath to accept it as yet.

 

[santaman2000]

The other option is to rethink the trip. There is a basic campsite a few miles away and I could catch a bus towithin a mile or so of my chosen spot. I could ferry my heavier gear to the campsite in my trolly, pitch there and bus down to where I want to go and spend the day there and come back in the evening. Not what I want but sometimes a compromise is nessasary. That will be a last resort tho as I'm a stubborn old buzzard and once I make my mind up to do something I usualy find a way to do it. There is always a point you can't get past but I'm loath to accept it as yet.

The real question (in a hobby) is, “Is this still fun to do?” Sometimes I forget that.

 

[Nice65]

I bought myself an Exped Synmat 9 L/W (wide/long). The internal pump is a bit feeble for the amount of air it needs, but as a may, I’m really pleased. I’ve had two hip operations, another on the way, and suffer a bad back as a result. I’ve had a load of mats and highly recommend biting the bullet cash wise and getting something decent.

Multimat were good, I had one that lasted ages, but no idea how the thicker ones compare in weight to Exped.

While your mat is brand new and still worth some money, it might be worth considering either the SynMat or DownMat. Weight of the SynMat isn’t too bad, And I sleep supremely well on it. The two most outer tubes are a bit wider so much less slipping off in the night.