Tall people - how do you find short sleeping mats?

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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
I'm just curious being a 197cm tall individual I'm taller than most standard sleep mats. The longer ones are usually heavy. So to anyone in a similar position, how do you manage?

For me I've not been too fussed because I tended to buy shorter mats to save weight and just for the torso. I put my empty sack with its padded back under my lower legs.

Now I'm not into the same kind of activities. I'm mostly car camping with cycle touring becoming a more important activity. I'm now looking at getting a synmat 7 for comfort in both my current camping activities. That made me wonder anew about whether a 187cm medium mat would feel too short now. The LW version is my height but too wide for our tent (with other mats that is). So is 10cm a big deal? It's not an issue for SIM mats IME because you just put your pillow (actual or bundle of spare clothes) off the top end and you gain the necessary length. With 7cm high mats I'm not sure that works since you'll need a pillow with 7cm plus whatever height is needed for comfort.

Any Exped or neo air mat uses taller than their thick mat?

TL: DR - tall person short but thick mat, is that a problem?
 
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KenThis

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
825
121
Cardiff
I'm tall and chunky, I'd much rather a thicker rather than longer camp mat, not for the cold but for the comfort. But then I tend to wriggle and don't usually feel the cold (natural insulation. For bigger people I think thickness and width are more important IMHO.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
I'm slim, well as slim as a tall guy in his 40s can be, so for me I can cope with 52cm as well as 65cm for the LW version mats. Ideally a 52cm but 197cm mat would be best but Exped and other brands seem to think if you're tall you will be very broad. My extra long sleeping bag from US firm Marmot is so wide I can wrap.myself almost double. My extra long quilt from golite also wraps around me more than it should.

So I'm currently thinking I'm going to get the 187cm x 52cm x 7cm mat purely because 65cm won't fit. This means my feet will hang off the end. Ok if the thick mat keeps my feet off the ground.
 

Scotty Von Porkchop

Tenderfoot
Dec 31, 2013
51
4
Lake district
www.ebay.co.uk
Finding a right width pad that's the correct length is a major PITA and I'm nowhere near your height. One thing I did find useful is getting a large thick inflatable pillow and use that above the pad (rather than on it) which will earn you 10cm+ in length
 

dewi

Full Member
May 26, 2015
2,647
12
Cheshire
Cold feet or cold head.. especially in a hammock.

Way I go about it is to carry scarves... I wrap them round my head and hope that in the night I don't wriggle loose... but inevitably I do.

Gives me an idea though... I've been working with company that makes foam sheets recently... solid foam, but anyway a minor detail. I'm going to see if I can make a mat that actually covers the height and width of my body for once... I have an urge to sleep on the ground and I get the feeling if I go to the arctic early next year, I may well be sleeping on the ground. Not a chance I'm going in a hammock at minus 40!
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
I found a upholstery shop which makes custom seats for hot rod cars, boat cushions and the the like. Several grades of foam and they could glue up any thickness and shape you could ever imagine. They use a gooey green liquid contact cement with really impressive adhesive properties. Maybe thick as cream.

I was building a wide assortment of theatrical props and costume parts from 3/4" foam, the contact adhesive made the work really quite pleasant.
I suggest DIY = look into it and build your own. No brand name. I bought it 500ml at a time.
 

Big G

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jul 3, 2015
3,144
0
Cleveland UK
I'm in the process of upgrading my sleep system. I've been using a Army 3/4 length self inflating mat on top of a Army issue roll mat. I not finding this set up very comfy esp for a good nights kip while tent camping.. i'm 6'2" tall and chunky built.

I was looking at the various Exped mats.. then one popped up on ebay uk from a seller in Austria.. a new Exped airmat basic 7.5 DLX 197x65cm.. pack weight 720g.. packed size 25cmx10.5cm. I got it for £40 inc p+p.. i've not tested it on a camp yet.. but being 3 inch thick should provide a comfy nights kip :)

With a R-value of only 0.7.. i'll be using it with my roll mat & foil mat combination.. in the colder months.
 
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BigMonster

Full Member
Sep 6, 2011
1,322
219
Manchester
192cm 110kg here. been suffering for a long time until I splashed out on thermarest neoair in Large (62cm wide, 196cm long, 6cm thick). Don't try to save weight on your sleeping matt, if anything thermarest also does Wide Torso wersions where you can substitute the leg portion with your rucksack. Swallow the weight or price penalty and just use a biggest matt you can find. Also if you are looking for a sleeping bag Rab makes Long version of their Ascent range and there is room to spare with my 192.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
If you want big sleeping bags marmot do some bags in XL size to suit up to 6'6". My XL size is huge. I can fit into it with my arms folded above my head inside the bags hood. I'm 6'5" tall so I reckon it's good for a good few inches taller than me. Girth is ridiculous IMHO. I can turn.inside it as easy as in bed at home.

We're thinking of getting synmat or downmat 7cm thick mats. We need Three mats to fit inside the tent. The tent is 160cm internal width. That only just fits 156cm width 3x52cm mats must fit into. This means medium or smaller and 187cm length. The longer 197cm mats are all 65cm wide. Not all tall people are wide!
 

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