Sleeping Pads (and ground sheets)
October 10, 2016
Ground sheets
We may as well put the cart before the horse here.
I carry a ground sheet (when I carry one) primarily for one purpose,
and that is to protect my inflatable pad from sticks and thorns.
I have taken to carrying a piece of Tyvek, despite the objection voiced
by some that it looks like "construction site trash", which indeed it does.
Numerous people on Ebay sell this stuff by the foot. The last time I bought it,
it came off a 9 foot roll, so I bought 7 feet of it, figuring that 7 feet would
be a nice length, and I could cut it into 3 foot widths, which I did, yielding
3 sheets that are 3 by 7 feet. Seems just right. The thing to do next is to
shove these into a washing machine without soap and run them through at least
one cycle. This softens up the stuff. If you don't do this, and you camp with
any wind, expect to listen to the stuff rattle all night, as well as any time
you move around. Another options is to buy "pipe wrap", which seems to be a
pre-softened and wrinkled stuff (I also bought a 7 foot length of this to try
out). I see it selling for under $2 per foot.
The Exped down-mat 7
I adore this thing, and am willing to pay the weight penalty to carry it.
Exped gear is of the highest quality, and although any sane person using one
of these will carry a patch kit, thus far I have had no need for it.
This affords not just comfort, but warmth. I will lay on this and feel
"heat" from under my body (my own body heat of course, but I still feel it).
The "7" refers to its thickness in cm (just under 3 inches).
Mine has an integrated pump. This model is apparenly no longer made.
Had I to do it over (and with my penchant these days for hammock camping).
I would get the "7 LW" model where LW indicates long and wide.
Wide being 25.5 inches (rather than the 22.5 of mine).
Long being 77.5 inches (rather than the 71 inches mine measures).
The length is certainly not required, but the width would be
greatly appreciated in a hammock.
The Exped mega-mat 10 LXW
I just went crazy and got one of these. It is NOT a backpacking mat unless
you are a lunatic. It weighs 5 pounds or less, but it sure makes for some
luxurious car camping. You only live once.
The hammock
I have to mention this, since this is my chosen mode of sleeping in the
backcountry in any area with trees. An entirely different topic, but worth
contemplating while your mind is on the topic of sleeping comfort.
The lowly ridgerest
I have an ancient ridgerest pad that I cut in half to yield two torso length
pads. The original intent was to use this to supplement a 2/3 length hammock
underquilt, but honestly if you are a bit hardy, this will suffice for a
ground sleeper and I have used one of these pieces several times in
spartan situations. Very light and indestructible. Use a scissors and
round the corners some while you are at it.
A good old full length foam pad still works fine and can be obtained at almost
any sporting goods store. I see lots of through hikers carrying the ridged
foam pads that fold into a rectangle. I'm not sure just why they are chosen
by this crowd. No doubt they are lighter than self inflating pads and absolutely
reliable -- perhaps that is explanation enough.
Self inflating pads
This are now the mainstay of many backpackers.
The Cascade Designs "therm-a-rest" seems to be the king of this domain.
There are countless variants and they make a game of changing model names
at least every year hoping that customers think they are doing something
new and different. These are quite comfortable, a bit heavy, and prone to
getting punctured. Carry a patch kit.
The Neo-air
These were a craze among the ultralight community when they first came out.
Reportedly they can be noisy. I have no experience with these.
Have any comments? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org