High Sierra Topix

I keep planning on posting a comparison of the Stephenson/warmlite 64 downmat with the Exped Downmat 7 delux. Haven't done so but the bottom line is that the Stephenson tapers down to 17" wide at the feet while the Exped is rectangular. The stephenson is about 5" thick while the Downmat is about 2 5/8" thick. My concern about the stephenson was that it wouldn't be wide enough to be stable enough for my tossing and turning during the night. I used it for 15 nights in july and my suspicions were confirmed. I felt a certain tension all night long so was not completely rested the next day. I think the Stephenson is just too thick for its width. The weight of the Stephenson + inflatorbag (which is too big to use as a stuff sack), compression bag, and microburst inflator (took 5 min to inflate) is 2.1 lbs while my new Exped (see below) plus stuff sack is 2.5 lbs.

So deciding better sleep was more important than .4 lbs., my next objective was to get my Exped fixed. It had an incredibly slow leak so I called Exped and explained that I had a first generation downmat that had a slow leak that I couldn't find (loss of pressure was not due to dropping of temp). The rep said send it in. I did and a week later I had a brand new Exped with the internal pump! All it cost me was the $10.49 to ship the old one back! Mike

I hear that Exped is coming out with a UL Downmat 7 next year. I have 3 nights on my Exped UL Synmat 7 on Santa Cruz island with excellent results. The real test will be the last week in September at the headwaters of Woods Creek,in the Eastern Sierra fall chilliness. I was using the Down mat 9 before and appreciate the drop in bulk and weight. Then there is the Schonzzel that is used to inflate their mats without the internal pump. Very handy if you are out of breath from the altitude. Gotta be careful though, these little devises can really add the grams to pack weight.

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