Sleeping pad

[ChrisM]

Good evening,

Was looking for a good pad to place under my sleeping bag.

Want it to be ultralight and easy to stow in my back pack.

If there are any persons who can help me with advice and recommendations I would appreciate it greatly.

Thank you very much.

[DSettahr]

For what time of year? A winter pad is necessarily going to be heavier- and more expensive- than a summer pad.

Foam pads are light, cheep, and effective at keeping you warm, but also bulky and not always very comfortable.

Thermarest inflatable pads are probably the gold standard of sleeping pads in terms of comfort, function, and durability, but they aren't cheap.

I've had good experiences with Klymit pads. They do tend to run a bit lighter and are less bulky when compressed than Thermarest pads. Klymit pads tend to be cheaper than Thermarest too. But Klymit pads also noticeably don't last as long as Thermarest. It's not like Klymit pads fall apart immediately or anything like that; take care of a Klymit pad and it will last you multiple years. But Thermarest pads do seem to be a bit more durable in the long run.

[billconner]

I very much like my Expeds. I have a DLX9 for winter but use an Ultra 5R for canoeing and backpacking. About the size of a 1 liter nalgene. Very comfortable. Lifetime guarantee. (The Ultra 5R is a free replacement for a similar one I bought in 2013 that blew a baffle.) The DLX9 is from 2005 and still fine.

[ChrisM]

Wow - thank you gentleman for the quick response.

I will be doing winter camping so I looked into Thermarest and purchased one.

Thank you as always for your help.

[snapper]

Another option is to use two thinner pads that you may already have. It's been awhile since I last went winter camping but my go-to pad system was a CCF pad under my old Therma-Rest pad. My Therma-Rest resides in a convertible chair kit so I can sit up and read before unbuckling the side webbing to lay down for the night. I've slept in conditions as low as -32 F (Catskill Mountains over a President's Weekend trip I was guiding) and was toasty warm all night. Obviously, I had a good sleeping bag but the two pads made a major difference in my comfort level.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

[whoknowskaren]

I’ve seen others mention using a foam pad underneath an inflatable, but hadn’t heard much firsthand about how well it works in real cold. That combo you mentioned (CCF + Thermarest in a chair kit) holding up at -32°F is impressive. Makes sense layering would help a lot with insulation and also provides some backup in case one pad fails.

I actually used a similar setup when I did some hiking in France through https://gowithguide.com/France, and it worked really well, especially during colder nights in the mountains.

[billconner]

My DLX9 has goose down in it. Spent a weekend with below zero temps - like -20 first night. My son on a therma rest, me on DLX9. Snow melted under my son's. Snow was still nearly flaky under me.