Exped Hyperlite and Winterlite first impressions

John, thanks for posting a separate thread on the new Exped mats. I was not following the REI thread.

I'm a current DM UL7 owner. Exped was awesome enough to send me a new Downmat Winterlite to replace my UL7 (blown baffles). I also picked up a Hyperlite during the REI sale. I got both both in M instead of MW. I'm a side sleeper and the M seems very workable, functionally not much different for me than the UL7. But I do wonder if the MW is worth the weight, at least my fiancé might be more comfortable. Do you have any additional insights from your comparison of the sizes?

Thanks John and Dan,

I did go in an REI when I was passing last week (nearest one is 2 hours away)
But they had none in stock.

How do you find the comfort of this compared to a Synmat UL 7?

I see on the Exped site they recommend a rectangular pad for side sleepers.

Edit: great idea of placing the pads at the door to see the insulation.

Thanks for the review! i just got my winterlite a few days ago and haven't had the chance to get it out of the package. perhaps it's not an improvement over the downmat UL7 that I loved…..

Jennifer, yeah, if you could weigh your winterlite that would be really helpful…was it a downmat or synmat?

And….I did already talk about the size comparisons in the other thread. Here to make things easier I'll post the two largest posts here too about the hyperlites.

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Ok…so received the new hyperlites. First impressions are mixed.

The good, is that its still the same smooth/silky fabric which is nice for quilt users. The xlite and expecially xtherm have a sticky texture so I couldn't turn over as easily (I'm a side sleeper that turns through the night).

And, the side tubes are larger just like the UL 7, which makes it harder to fall off the mat, and makes the entire width useable (unlike the xlite).

Weights are accurate to exped's website specs, not REI specs. Not sure where REI is getting their numbers…they say a M weighs 11.6 oz, and MW 14.4. Exped lists weight at 12 oz and 15 oz respectively. My weights show 1 M at 12.0 oz, the other M at 12.1 oz, and the MW at 14.8.

Width measurements also are accurate. Actually, I'm measuring close to 20.5+" width towards the top (though I measured the UL 7 as 20.5" as well…so I'm not sure exactly how exped measures). The foot is 13.8 or around that…can't measure too closely to the 1/10th of an inch, on the M and 15.7 on the MW.

Here is the M on top of the MW

M on top of the UL7

MW on top of the UL7

Ok, so….I would recommend the MW for a back sleeper. It kept my elbows on the mat. I'm not a back sleeper though, so I don't think the MW did much comfort wise for me over the M, at least not 2.8 oz worth. The extra 2 inches of foot width didn't really do much. I still have 2 weeks on the sale so I might return the MW and get a M, or a winterlite pad or something.

Now, the M vs the UL7….whether the 4 oz difference or not is worth it is a good question for me. I do like the UL7 b/c I can put my feet in basically any position and they are not falling off. I also like that I can put my hands near my pillow in the UL7 and they are nicely on the mat. With the hyperlite…I would need to put my hands more underneath my pillow to make sure they stay on the mat b/c of the head taper.

Which, speaking of pillows…a quick blurb about the big sky dreamsleeper pillow…I think its the best. Just throwing that out there.

Anyway, with the pillow, I do have to be careful on the hyperlite so it won't fall off since a lot more of the large rectangular pillow is not on the mat. Might need to put some gear at the top of the shelter to keep the pillow wedged better. Its not really a problem with the ul7.

So, yes…of course the taper is going to be not as comfortable as a rectangular shape, simply b/c there is less mat "real estate". I'll have to decide for myself whether the 4 oz is worth it or not and the only way will be with trial runs. I think it will be fine though.

Ok, and…the biggest issue I see with the hyperlite…is that the tapered side baffles do not have ANY insulation in them. So, not all of the weight was due to the mummy shape…there is also less insulation. Exped didn't bother with cutting the insulation to shape the taper of the side baffles…they just left it out completely.

You can kind of faintly see it in this pic.

What also needs some trial runs is two M hyperlites and the accomplice.

My initial thoughts are that its going to be fine.

Yes…the toe width is not as wide as the toe box of the accomplice…but the accomplice toe box was hanging off the 2 UL7s too…I just wasn't really noticing it.

The UL7 is the exact same length as an accomplice (regular length)

But….who sleeps like that? You would have to have your pillow off of the mat (and off the insulation of the mat) in order for the toe box to not come off with a 72" mat. The quilt is going to be several inches lower..kind of like this ->

color is off in this pic

So, the quilt hangs off the mats anyway, so having just more of the quilt off the mat won't make a big difference ->

The head area shouldn't be an issue. The hyperlites kind of angle off/away from each other, but so does the accomplice quilt. The accomplice quilt "flap" that is in the middle of the couple is quite wide…it covers the gap between the two tapered heads.

John, I got the MW version (i really wanted a MW version of the downmat…) and it's 18.6. It also has a tag that says R=6.0

My previous one was the downmat UL7 short. it was pretty close to perfect, but I'm such an active sleeper (left side, right side, left side, back, stomach, right side, stomach…) that I wondered what the wide version would be. So basically I got a full length wide version of my downmat for the same weight.

Now…whether it's worth it or not….

I also have the synmat UL7 short (I'm only 5'7" so the short length is actually pretty perfect for me. if only they'd make a short/wide…..)

I didn't think the hyperlite was worth the weight savings, especially given the mummy shape. My plan was to keep the synmat UL7 S for warmer weather trips, and the winterlite when I want the R boost. (Which, by the way, at least for me (cold sleeper), the higher R is an exponential improvement over lower R value pads.)

Now I'm not sure.

Much appreciate all the info John.

I went all over the map deciding which exped pad to get. I've used the UL7 for years and love it. But I was about to pull the trigger on the winterlite for the added r value. I'm a stomach sleeper, when I finally stop tossing and turning. I decided that the tapered head of the Winterlite would leave my arms and hands off the mat. (This is a minor issue with the UL7.I sleep with my pillow off the mat.) So at the last minute I went with an UL7 Medium Wide, going in the opposite direction weight saving wise. Surprised myself. But I'm hoping the wide will address the same issue with my arms and hands. I think the weight of the UL7 MW is comparable to the winterlite MW that I was going to buy.

I wonder if Exped will come out with a rectangular winterlite next year. and I wonder if the tapered head isn't really an issue after all. hard to tell without trying it out.

Just got mine plan to use it tomorrow night for 1 niter…Thanks for putting up the review and pics last week John, very helpful…

,,

I'm all over as well. I was excited for the new pads but from my limited use of the synmat winterlite mw, it seems like the taper negates a lot of the extra width. I also don't like how the outer baffles have no insulation. Not sure how that would actually impact warmth though. I'm coming from the syntmat ul 7. I may stick with the rectangular pads. I just ordered a 2014 downmat on discount to compare since I no longer have the synmat.

I had a tapered Kookabay pad years ago but could never get on with it.

I got my Winterlite today; my Hyperlite arrived last week. Here are my measurements, measured in grams then converted to ounces, along with the grams listed on the Exped UK site (I'm in the U.S., but went to the UK site to get the measurements in grams for comparison).

Hyperlite M: 340 g / 12.0 ounce (350 g)
Winterlite M: 410 g / 14.4 ounce (405 g)
Downmat UL 7 M: 565 g / 19.9 ounce (575 g)

So for me, I was within 3% of spec for each of the mats. Coming from the Downmat UL 7, the weight savings is definitely noticeable. However, this is with a few tradeoffs: The tapered shape feels narrower, and of course the insulation is much lower. The advantages of coming from a Synmat UL 7 would be less clear.

My initial impressions, coming from sleeping on the Hyperlite indoors overnight (hey, gotta try out my new stuff!) is that the tapered shape of the Hyperlite (and presumably, Winterlite) is a compromise, trading a small amount of comfort for an appreciable weight savings. I am planning a 3-4 night trip coming up, where I'll get a better feel for the Hyperlite.

When laying on my back, my hands and forearms don't stay on the mat. I will say the Downmat is more comfortable when I am on my back, but since I'm mostly a side sleeper, I'm don't think i'm giving up too much comfort, and it should be workable for the times I do roll onto my back (or, less frequently, my stomach).

I'm a bit slimmer than average, but a bit broad-shouldered for my build and weight, and I find my forearms and hands don't completely stay on the Hyperlite when I am on my back. If you're larger and primarily a back or stomach sleeper, the MW or LW might suit you better.

I won't miss the dual values (inflate, deflate) from the Downmat. In fact, I think I prefer the single value. Also, the down tends to shift in the Downmat, gathering at the ends so I have to shake and otherwise coax it to distribute it along the length of the baffles. The Synmats (Hyperlite and Winterlite, as well as the older versions) don't have this problem. I may end up appreciating that over time.

I'll continue to use the Schozzel pump bag that came with my Downmats with the Synmats; the Synmats don't include one. Filling by breath is less of a problem with the synthetic insulation, but I find the Schnozzel bag so convenient, I'm willing to carry the extra 2 ounces (and can take the place of a pack liner or stuff sack, and on many of my trips is shared by three people).

Summary:

My two pads were close to the specified weight, and so far, I think the tapered shape is a compromise I'm willing to make for the reduction in size and weight. The weight savings over a Downmat UL 7 are appreciable, but those coming from a Synmat UL 7 won't have as much of a change.

I'll post further impressions once I've had a chance to use the Hyperlite on my next trip.

John, which version of the Dreamsleeper pillow are you recommending? Thanks.

Ok, first..real quick. I'm recommending just the ultralight inflatable pillow…not the "deluxe" that has the overweight pillow case. I take the pillow itself and wrap it in a buff that I use for a million other uses.

I did receive emails back from Exped…and I got to say that they have some great customer support.

The exped representative emailed the development team in Zurich, and state:

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They have confirmed the insulation weight for the Synmat Winterlite sleeping mats is 200 g/sqm. Our website does list the correct spec and the packaging is incorrect. This will be correct on future production.

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As for the weight, they stated ->

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We have only received the first production run of this new sleeping mat. I weighed a couple of Synmat Winterlite M mats we had here in the office which are from the same production run as your mat. Both of the mats came in at 14.1 oz.

Let me know if you just weighed the mat alone? If so, I'd be glad to exchange your mat for one of the mats we weighed at our office.

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And, they are sending me a prepaid label to send my winterlite and they'll ship me one of their 14.1 oz ones. I'll ask again why mine is so overspec…the size seems right so I can only assume it has more insulation? (which…maybe I should keep it if its warmer…)

Anyway, excellent support from Exped.

Wow, the more I read this thread the more confused I get. I really like the weight savings potential of the M, but I do wonder if the MW would be better for me if I get more comfort for a couple of ounces. I realize this is a personal choice, but I just can't decide! I'm also wondering if the new DownMat is overkill as a complement to my Hyperlite, and whether I could get the Winterlite in a MW for the same weight as my second mat. I love the Schnozzel, but I already have one from my old UL7. Shit, I just can't make a decision.

I just got the new Exped Down Pillow in M. I've been a long time user of the Air Pillow in M (non UL). It's okay, but I think this model is significantly more comfortable. The size is perfect for me, and keeps my neck exactly level in my side sleeping position. Wish I had a scale to weigh it, the spec is under 5 oz. I've always been intrigued by the UL Pillow / Goosefeet combo, and see this as a slightly heavier but cheaper solution (if you are starting from scratch). Would love to know if someone could compare the two…

From my emails with exped:

from me:
And another question…do you have an idea why the side baffles do not have insulation? Sure, it would save weight…but is the reasoning that users are not utilizing the side baffles as much as the middle ones so the side baffles don't need insulation?

exped:

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You are right on with why the side baffles do not have insulation. It's one area where weight can be saved and has the least impact on the user. The side baffles are effectively air rails which help keep the user centered on the mat.

I tested the two mats we have here in the office on a couple of other scales. Mat 1 came in at 14.46 and Mat 2 at 14.39. Both a little higher than our scale in the office. I will be sending Mat 2 as the replacement since it came in at the lower weight.

Once the mat arrives back we will weight it and see if we can figure out if there is a specific reason this mat came in about an ounce more than the published weight. The mat weights listed are an average of multiple mats tested from each production run. There will likely be small variances in weights of materials and parts through the production process.

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Just received a Hyperlite MW, and the mat alone (no stuff sac) is exactly 15 oz on my scale — Exped's website has it at 14.6 oz. Sure, mine's a bit heavy, but I'm not going to send it back for a 0.4 oz differential; that just seems too petty…