New sleeping pad

[quentinc]

OR, can you inflate it manually? This pump bag thing I'm reading about sounds like something that happens after a colostomy.

[fishmonger]

Campsaver has a 20% sale on the thermarest stuff right now. Just ordered a the new Neoair Xlite.

16oz, mummy shape, 25 x 77, 3.2 Rvalue. I lose 8 oz of weight and gain .4 R and length and width vs my old prolite plus, but folks say these are comfy. And I definitely agree that comfortable sleeping in the backcountry is very important. Also an effort to lighten my pack (and my wallet!). I will just hope this is a good choice.

EDIT: Came in the mail last night and this is quite the piece. Translucent and you can see the aluminized baffles inside. Definitely took some breaths to get it inflated but it was comfy. I have heard a lot of complaints about the crinkly noise that it makes but its not that bad at all really. I packed it back up and it's tiny and very light. Seems you should be careful with it concerning punctures, but with a tent or good groundcloth I see little issue. Guess we will see next trip.

any long term experiences you can add? I'm in the market for the Xlite or an Exped mat for a late fall trip. I'm getting tired of carrying two foam pads (they do the job, just the bulk is annoying).

The Xlite appears to be significantly lighter than the Exped downmats, and if you're willing to carry a short foam pad in really cold conditions, I think the Xlite/foam pad combo allows more flexibility. In fact, I may even consider the reglar Neolite plus foam pad, as that may be plenty warm for anything but an arctic expedition.

[Flux]

The sad state of affairs is that I haven't slept in the backcountry yet this year. Just found out the wife is pregnant with twins and life is gonna be..................................interesting for a while.

Got a 10 day planned for late august though, so I will know then. Best read up on the online reviews at all the big gear retailers. Those can be pretty telling.

[ERIC]

Just found out the wife is pregnant with twins...

Congrats!

[rlown]

congrats on the twins!

I watched OR fill up his exped. The bag is pretty interesting. He can fill it up in 3 bags of wind if it's windy. 4 If not. I also watched him patch it again. He looks for feathers sticking out and then applies duct tape appropriately. My yellow Neo Air is still going strong after 3 years.

[maverick]

Rlown wrote:
I also watched him patch it again.

Again , what happened this time? Maybe he needs something made of kevlar.

[rlown]

I've no clue.. it was a slow leak. He does a ground cloth under the tent so It had to be something else. I was pushing pine cones away from under my tent. I don't use a ground cloth and let the tarp tent take the brunt.

[87TT]

I just got an Exped synmat 7 UL and the external pump. The pump works great and only weighs an ounce. The downmat 7 ul is only slightly heavier. The synmat 7 is way comfy but I haven't tested it in extreme cold. I do sleep hot though.

[Flux]

Well thanks for the congrats on the twins. I am overjoyed and terrified all at the same time.

Just made solid plans for late-ish august up into Royce, French, Bear/Gables. So i will definitely know how this pad works out by the end.

[tim]

The sad state of affairs is that I haven't slept in the backcountry yet this year. Just found out the wife is pregnant with twins and life is gonna be..................................interesting for a while.

Got a 10 day planned for late august though, so I will know then. Best read up on the online reviews at all the big gear retailers. Those can be pretty telling.

Congratulations! Only about 3-4 years of "interesting" and then it gets easier

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You might think about getting a satphone for your late August trip. There was no way my wife was going to let me be out of touch for 10 days when we were expecting twins
There are plenty of reasons to panic, even if some of them were false alarms (not to worry you but she did end up on bed rest for 12 weeks and then the twins were born at 32 weeks).