Mt. Washington vs. NightLight pad

There was just a post about this earlier. The article is wrong. It has an r-value of 2.27.

doh

doh

Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that the NightLight is only slightly warmer than the Z-rest? It seems like it should have a higher R-value, judging by how it’s built and what I’ve heard from people who have used it. Any thoughts?

Stephan writes:

>> Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that the NightLight is only slightly warmer than the Z-rest? It seems like it should have a higher R-value, judging by how it’s built and what I’ve heard from people who have used it. Any thoughts?

I’ve used both the Z-Rest and original Mt. Washington pads. R-values not withstanding, I’ve found the Z-Rest to be cooler. I attribute this to the edge effects of the mats (which are not reflected in the R-Value). The Z-Rest ridges allow more cold air to circulate under (and maybe over) the pad than the Mt. Washington. I haven’t tried it, but if you could seal off the Z-Rest edges on top (perhaps with your bag) and on the bottom (maybe with duff?), it should be warmer.

Cheers,

-Mike