Blow up mattress

[longri]

I find those electric air pumps really irritating. If I heard one in the backcountry I'd fold up my tent and walk a couple of miles.

There are better solutions. I used to take a big roll of high quality 3" foam, cut to fit the floor of the tent. We had sheets too... just for car camping though. I'm sure it was lighter than 10lbs, for two people, but would be really bulky strapped to a pack. It would more than fill a pack.

I replaced that eventually with one of the Thermarest luxury models. I think it's 2 1/2" thick, full length, wide. It's heavy and bulky but less so than the foam. I know one guy with a bad back who carried that model on ski trips. For him the weight was well worth it. I used mine car camping and was a godsend after a day of trying to climb offwidths in yosemite. When you're sore you really want a real pad, not some narrow 3/4 length UL joke.

Both the 3" foam and that luxury pad were expensive though. I imagine the all-too-ubiquitous electric inflatables are super cheap chinese walmart items.

[freestone]

On a recent car camping trip to Death Valley, I stacked an Exped UL down mat and an Exped UL synmat and that was suprisingly comfortable except that the down mat was mostly flat by the morning.

BTW, I got an RA number for that mat and sent it back last week. Enough of that!

[John Harper]

I replaced that eventually with one of the Thermarest luxury models. I think it's 2 1/2" thick, full length, wide.

I got one of those on closeout a few years ago. So comfortable for car glamping, like sleeping on a bed at home.

John

[ericZ]

nimblybimbly... how did the mattress work out in 2017? i had a double sized battery-powered mattress i used in a 3 person Coleman tent when car camping with my daughter. Powered by 4 C-batteries, and the pump is not removable. i can easily see the temptation to take it, but the weight will kill you in the end after several backpacking trips.

i have a Thermarest XTherm, large, thanks to Maverick, and it's been working great the few times i've used it. it seems like i always read Exped uses love their mats, but they always talk about the incredible customer service they experienced, AFTER they've had issues. Thermarest works for me, and the new 2.5 inch thick models are so comfortable; i see no reason to go thicker.

comfortable sleep is so important to enjoying your time outdoors.

eric
fresno, ca.