Thought I'd do a quick review on this sleep mat as I hadn't seen anyone else do it but apologies if they have and I've just missed it.
Bit of background is I've currently done two overnighters now since getting in to the whole wild camping thing last year. Just two sleeps have really taught me a lot about what works and my kit has evolved as I've gone along.
I've used my Czech bedroll as the main component when it comes to sleeping on something and to be fair it's been brilliant. Last time I camped out in a 3 season bag on top of the bedroll at zero centigrade, possibly less and was just about within my comfort zone. Any colder and I'd have climbed in to the bedroll for another layer.
As I plan to get out again early February I decided it couldn't hurt to improve the system a little. My only issue with putting the sleeping bag inside the bedroll is I'd be halving my ground insulation as well as sleeping on a much thinner, less comfortable surface. The bedroll I'd say is reasonably comfortable to lay on top of but its obviously a little firm. It's no spring mattress!
Things can always be improved so I decided what I needed was one of these fan-dangled self inflated mattresses everyone keeps raving on about. The idea is, when it gets really cold (below zero) I can then be inside my sleeping bag, inside my bedroll and still have some decent insulation and comfort underneath me.
So of course I hit this absolute minefield of choices. Where to begin.........well price obviously!
While an Exped Downmat 9 would be great, I can't really stretch to that sort of money at the moment so I was trying to strike a balance between performance, weight and price and so I came up with this one. The Thermarest Trail Lite Regular.
On sale at Gaynors it cost me just £45.99 plus £5 for next day delivery.
Firstly some basic specs:
Weight: 800g
Dimensions: 51 x 183cm
Compressed Dimensions: 28 x 18cm
Thickness: 3.8cm
Top Fabric: Polyester
Bottom Fabric: Polyester
Fill Material: Urethane Foam
R Value: 3.4
A couple pics of it prior to unwrapping:
IMG_0201[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
IMG_0202[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
Side by side with a 1 litre drinks canteen for a size comparison. Not bad I thought. To my surprise even the most lightweight of mats aren't drastically smaller. There are smaller ones out there obviously but not by a huge amount. They'll be double the price and often not as warm either.
Once opened out, the mat didn't self inflate too well but the instructions were clear and explained that as the mat had likely been in storage for some time that this would happen. I left it about 10 minutes and then gave it probably 5 - 6 good puffs of air so it was really well filled.
IMG_0203[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
Instructions advise to store the mat this way for a while as the foam will be more used to staying in the inflated shape as opposed to squashed up so it just means you'll get better performance from it than if it lives squashed up for the majority of its time. After about 24 hours I'll open the valve but store it as is.
Obviously I gave it a little test. Led on it and almost immediately found it noticeable in how much heat was being directed back at me. I see a 3.4 R value as being relatively low but its surprising just how much this mat gives back.
The only negative thing I have to say is the 51cm width feels a tad narrow. It's ample enough to lie on comfortably but I tend to move around a lot and I think I may find it an effort to keep on it.
The L version of this mat is 63cm so would be better in that area but it would come at the expense of pack down size. Overall I'd sooner save the pack space I think. The reason is that during the colder months when staying on a mat is important I plan to go with this set up:
IMG_0204[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
The bedroll will prevent me from really rolling away by much. This sized mat also fits inside really well whereas the L version is longer so I can't comment on how easily it would fit within this system.
My other thought would be that when flat, this mat is so thin that I think it would probably roll within the bedroll which always attaches to the outside of my pack, thus saving space within my pack. I'll try this method out and let you know.
My bedroll has also just been given an upgrade with a cheap CCF mat between the base layer of the shell and the buttoned in blankets so that should up my R rating quite nicely and I'm fairly confident that a 3 season bag within this system will mean I can sleep warm in pretty much anything the UK winters will throw my way but time will tell.
The flip side is in the warmer months I now have the beginnings of a much lighter weight setup and I'll probably get to leave the bedroll at home.
In summary, my first impressions are that this will be a great addition to my sleep system. I'll report back after my February camp
Just in closing I thought I'd mention some possible alternatives within a similar area of the market..........
Well there are similarly designed offerings from the likes of Vango or HiGear for as little as £20. The reasons I decided not to go with these are 2 fold:
1. It was difficult to find R ratings from these offerings. Perhaps being cheaper, they don't undergo the same sort of testing?
2. The Thermarest comes with a life time warranty against defects. So as long as I treat the mat well it will probably outlast the other mats by 2, 3 times or more so in time it will pay for itself in comparison I hope.
Other options were the same Trail Lite mat but the womens version. It's around £10 - £15 more and is advertised with an R rating of 4.9 which is considerably more. However its shorter in length at 168cm (compared to 183cm) so don't expect to keep your feet on it unless your shorter in height. I'm also unclear whether this additional warmth has only been measured around the hip and foot area of the mat where it has had further fill added specifically for women. The other areas could be the same as the 3.4 rated version?
A couple of other options:
Thermarest Trail Pro Regular - Slightly more at £59.99 but R rating of 4.8, a packed rating of 28 x 15 (3cm less in width) and slightly thicker at 5cm inflated. It's 110g more than the Trail Lite Regular
Thermarest Scout Regular - Cheaper at just £42.99 delivered, an R rating of 3.7, only 680g weight but is only 3cm thick.
Thanks for reading everyone. Comments welcome
Bit of background is I've currently done two overnighters now since getting in to the whole wild camping thing last year. Just two sleeps have really taught me a lot about what works and my kit has evolved as I've gone along.
I've used my Czech bedroll as the main component when it comes to sleeping on something and to be fair it's been brilliant. Last time I camped out in a 3 season bag on top of the bedroll at zero centigrade, possibly less and was just about within my comfort zone. Any colder and I'd have climbed in to the bedroll for another layer.
As I plan to get out again early February I decided it couldn't hurt to improve the system a little. My only issue with putting the sleeping bag inside the bedroll is I'd be halving my ground insulation as well as sleeping on a much thinner, less comfortable surface. The bedroll I'd say is reasonably comfortable to lay on top of but its obviously a little firm. It's no spring mattress!
Things can always be improved so I decided what I needed was one of these fan-dangled self inflated mattresses everyone keeps raving on about. The idea is, when it gets really cold (below zero) I can then be inside my sleeping bag, inside my bedroll and still have some decent insulation and comfort underneath me.
So of course I hit this absolute minefield of choices. Where to begin.........well price obviously!
While an Exped Downmat 9 would be great, I can't really stretch to that sort of money at the moment so I was trying to strike a balance between performance, weight and price and so I came up with this one. The Thermarest Trail Lite Regular.
On sale at Gaynors it cost me just £45.99 plus £5 for next day delivery.
Firstly some basic specs:
Weight: 800g
Dimensions: 51 x 183cm
Compressed Dimensions: 28 x 18cm
Thickness: 3.8cm
Top Fabric: Polyester
Bottom Fabric: Polyester
Fill Material: Urethane Foam
R Value: 3.4
A couple pics of it prior to unwrapping:
IMG_0201[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
IMG_0202[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
Side by side with a 1 litre drinks canteen for a size comparison. Not bad I thought. To my surprise even the most lightweight of mats aren't drastically smaller. There are smaller ones out there obviously but not by a huge amount. They'll be double the price and often not as warm either.
Once opened out, the mat didn't self inflate too well but the instructions were clear and explained that as the mat had likely been in storage for some time that this would happen. I left it about 10 minutes and then gave it probably 5 - 6 good puffs of air so it was really well filled.
IMG_0203[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
Instructions advise to store the mat this way for a while as the foam will be more used to staying in the inflated shape as opposed to squashed up so it just means you'll get better performance from it than if it lives squashed up for the majority of its time. After about 24 hours I'll open the valve but store it as is.
Obviously I gave it a little test. Led on it and almost immediately found it noticeable in how much heat was being directed back at me. I see a 3.4 R value as being relatively low but its surprising just how much this mat gives back.
The only negative thing I have to say is the 51cm width feels a tad narrow. It's ample enough to lie on comfortably but I tend to move around a lot and I think I may find it an effort to keep on it.
The L version of this mat is 63cm so would be better in that area but it would come at the expense of pack down size. Overall I'd sooner save the pack space I think. The reason is that during the colder months when staying on a mat is important I plan to go with this set up:
IMG_0204[1] by davidpingu, on Flickr
The bedroll will prevent me from really rolling away by much. This sized mat also fits inside really well whereas the L version is longer so I can't comment on how easily it would fit within this system.
My other thought would be that when flat, this mat is so thin that I think it would probably roll within the bedroll which always attaches to the outside of my pack, thus saving space within my pack. I'll try this method out and let you know.
My bedroll has also just been given an upgrade with a cheap CCF mat between the base layer of the shell and the buttoned in blankets so that should up my R rating quite nicely and I'm fairly confident that a 3 season bag within this system will mean I can sleep warm in pretty much anything the UK winters will throw my way but time will tell.
The flip side is in the warmer months I now have the beginnings of a much lighter weight setup and I'll probably get to leave the bedroll at home.
In summary, my first impressions are that this will be a great addition to my sleep system. I'll report back after my February camp
Just in closing I thought I'd mention some possible alternatives within a similar area of the market..........
Well there are similarly designed offerings from the likes of Vango or HiGear for as little as £20. The reasons I decided not to go with these are 2 fold:
1. It was difficult to find R ratings from these offerings. Perhaps being cheaper, they don't undergo the same sort of testing?
2. The Thermarest comes with a life time warranty against defects. So as long as I treat the mat well it will probably outlast the other mats by 2, 3 times or more so in time it will pay for itself in comparison I hope.
Other options were the same Trail Lite mat but the womens version. It's around £10 - £15 more and is advertised with an R rating of 4.9 which is considerably more. However its shorter in length at 168cm (compared to 183cm) so don't expect to keep your feet on it unless your shorter in height. I'm also unclear whether this additional warmth has only been measured around the hip and foot area of the mat where it has had further fill added specifically for women. The other areas could be the same as the 3.4 rated version?
A couple of other options:
Thermarest Trail Pro Regular - Slightly more at £59.99 but R rating of 4.8, a packed rating of 28 x 15 (3cm less in width) and slightly thicker at 5cm inflated. It's 110g more than the Trail Lite Regular
Thermarest Scout Regular - Cheaper at just £42.99 delivered, an R rating of 3.7, only 680g weight but is only 3cm thick.
Thanks for reading everyone. Comments welcome
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