Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Gear Lust / Lost & Found

Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Author

Sleeping Mats

Scottf

13-May-2012
6:54:51 PM

So I want to get a new sleeping mat. This is a dedicated car camping mat so weight and size (within reason) are not an issue. I just want the best nights sleep. Have been looking at the exped mats but am wondering if there are better value ones out there. This is not for hiking.

thanks.


arniearms

13-May-2012
7:13:13 PM

2 options u may not have considered...

Approx $350 Mammut tripple bouldering pad, use it for bouldering, then maybe with a protective cover (foam bed roll) sleep on it...

I have a $100 Wild Country 4wd mattress from Rays Outdoors, I bought during a sale. Its comfy but takes up alot of room in storage...

Plenty of other options I'm sure...


Miguel75

13-May-2012
7:21:37 PM

+1 for the Wild Country sleeping mat. My mate and I can both fit on this easily enough and its pretty darn comfy.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

13-May-2012
7:31:36 PM

On 13/05/2012 Scottf wrote:
>So I want to get a new sleeping mat. This is a dedicated car camping mat
>so weight and size (within reason) are not an issue. I just want the best
>nights sleep. Have been looking at the exped mats but am wondering if there
>are better value ones out there. This is not for hiking.
>
>thanks.

I acknowledge the car camping aspect and have similar to the wild country one mentioned above, but arniearms is right about them taking up a lot of storage space when not in use.

I asked a kind of similar question a while back and ended up getting an exped mat based on the replies that I received...
It is brilliant (super comfy), and I highly recommend it. The only negative I think may apply to it is that it would be perhaps too warm in summer...


arniearms

13-May-2012
7:38:10 PM

On 13/05/2012 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>a lot of storage
>space when not in use.

On that note, if anyone from Sydney wants a double Wild Country mattress for $50, it's urs, as my storage requirements have changed from having a garage full of crap, to more of a man cave that I can hang out in, plus I can just sleep on my Moon Saturn crash pad if I lay diagonally (but not so good for car pooling w/ends away... but I dont mind bedrolls for a night or 3)

The Wild Country mat only had 1 week use in Arraps, and held up just fine. I was thinking about converting it to a crash pad as it's actually pretty decent foam (aprox 10cm thick), but the cost of high desnsity foam + canvas + effort etc still negates picking up a new or newish one.


shortman

13-May-2012
9:41:25 PM

I like doubling up on the mats. Super cosy sleep.


JamesMc

13-May-2012
10:04:21 PM

Love my Exped. But really, if bulk, weight, and warmth don`t matter, just cost and comfort, then why not get a cheap air mattress?

JamesMc


freepete

14-May-2012
8:29:31 AM

+ 1 for Exped mats - outstanding


Big G

14-May-2012
8:50:02 AM

another exped lover, super comfy and you can still take it hiking!

pecheur

14-May-2012
10:37:01 AM

I too have an exped, the Sim Lite 2.5.

When car camping I combine it with a cheap blue foam mat which makes it warmer, more comfy and quite unlikely to get punctured.

When hiking below the snow line I just take the exped, above the snow line I use a Thermarest Ridge Rest SO lite (carried externally). I am considering getting a thicker Exped to save space.


nmonteith

14-May-2012
10:45:31 AM

Does anyone else find the whole hand pump inflating aspect of the Exped highly annoying? I own one and find I almost never use it as it takes so long to inflate.


Zarb

14-May-2012
11:02:50 AM

Can you mouth-inflate the Exped? I would hate to have bought one only to find out it required a pump.

I have used the Klymit skeleton style sleeping pads for the odd adventure race, and I find they are great for those ultralight persuits. But I wouldn't want to sleep on it regularly.


nmonteith

14-May-2012
11:11:34 AM

On 14/05/2012 Zarb wrote:
>Can you mouth-inflate the Exped? I would hate to have bought one only to
>find out it required a pump.

Because they are full of down (well mine is anyway) you have to blow them up with an 'in built pump' as moisture from your breath kills the down. The built in pump is laborious to use - takes at least 10 minutes to pump it up. I should say i have the largest version that requires a lot of air.

kieranl

14-May-2012
11:13:36 AM

We've also got a Wild Country self-inflating double mattress for car-camping (well, we don't do any other kind now). Had it for nearly 10 years. The only drawbacks are:
1. Size. Probably impractical if you have a small car
2. Deflating/rolling up is difficult with only 1 person.


Big G

14-May-2012
11:41:47 AM

On 14/05/2012 nmonteith wrote:
>Does anyone else find the whole hand pump inflating aspect of the Exped
>highly annoying? I own one and find I almost never use it as it takes so
>long to inflate.

I know what you mean but the end result is worth it - not a mat to fill up in a hurry though!

bones

14-May-2012
12:27:58 PM

Big foam custom cut mat from Clarke Rubber is super comfy. Folded in half in the back of a subaru. I find it more comfy than inflatable mats, and quicker to set up, but it takes up more room in the car obviously.


figs

14-May-2012
1:38:18 PM

Pads like this can be zipped to fold along their long or short edges. If you fold along the short edge then it makes a nice single bed:

http://www.ocun.cz/en/products/crashpads/paddy-sundance.html

White Trash

14-May-2012
8:37:32 PM

get a van an leave your bed set up the whole time.

Paz

15-May-2012
1:20:36 AM

On 14/05/2012 nmonteith wrote:

>
>Because they are full of down (well mine is anyway) you have to blow them
>up with an 'in built pump' as moisture from your breath kills the down.
>The built in pump is laborious to use - takes at least 10 minutes to pump
>it up. I should say i have the largest version that requires a lot of air.

Haven't used one of these but look pretty good for the bigger mats...

http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage_int.nsf/0/D40032FC0AEC3EE9C12579BC002DE9F6?opendocument

same device blows the 7ul up pretty quick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INHVFeS3uw0

simone

15-May-2012
3:52:12 PM

On 15/05/2012 Paz wrote:
>Haven't used one of these but look pretty good for the bigger mats...

>same device blows the 7ul up pretty quick

That looks great. Does it come with colour coded attachments for different diameter slip on nozzles?

There are 25 messages in this topic.