Im Soooooo Stifffffff amd Achy :(

POE Ether Thermo 6. Although I'm sure the NEO-air cult will be piping in for it soon. And a good system for a pillow!

Any insulated air mattress… yes, NeoAir for weight:comfort. I'm a big fan of the Exped DownMats; they're not real light (about 2 pounds), but their weight might be worth it to you for a great night's sleep. Insulated or Diversion Air Core from BA are good, too. I prefer the Diversion b/c the Climashield is a more durable synthetic; it comes in around 24 ounces for 2.5" (+) thick.

Tylenol PM. Seriously.

Although now that Joe brought it up ( ;) ), I used to have a similar problem with my BMW Torsolite. The NeoAir that I use now is wicked comfortable.

I feel your pain!! I am old and been broken and blown up way too many times. The one HEAVY luxury I allow myself is an Exped Down Mat. I believe that a great nights sleep is worth more than making an extra 5 miles any day (at my age anyway!!)
Mike

I feel your pain. After a long hiatus I returned to tents and sleeping bags… only to find that I did not sleep at all, until the wee hours of the morning when I was so exhausted I couldn't see straight. Instead of wandering the maze of heavy pads and mattresses I got a hammock and tarp.

Now I am once again contemplating pads, and picked up a NeoAir – why? because all the gear that you get for ground sleeping works fine in a hammock, and when one wanders in the Sierras for long, one finds alpine areas where hammocks are difficult to hang.

I have no idea if I'll be a member of the Neo cult but I shall be car camping Saturday with it, to experiment with hammock and ground comfort.

Thanks for the invite ;)

I recently rec'd the NeoAir Large and this required a tent erection and backyard campout with my kids. As a pillow I used a golite jam2 rolled up as a pillow.

I'm a side sleeper and inflated the NeoAir to full capacity. It was very firm and I too woke up with stiff neck and back. I tossed and turned all night and I'm sure it had more to do with lack of pillow support than anything else while side sleeping. Not to mention I think you have to adjust the inflation to what is comfy.

I believe I messed up my camp sleep by buying a new tempurpedic bed within the last year.

I have a Prolite 4 as well and had issues with sore hips and shoulders with it.

From what I can tell on these threads, just as you condition your feet to the trail, so too, does one have to condition your body to sleeping on the ground, ccf, or whatever pad you lug around.

I thought the NeoAir would give me sleep to make me feel 18 again… It is comfy but anything other than your bed I think will take time to adjust.

Former Neo-Air Cult Chair,
Shawn

Alright so now I have three different mattresses to consider. A couple of questions for everyone though.

So I am correct in coming to the conclusion that a lot of you a appear to find blow up air mattresses to be a lot more comofortable then self inflating pads?

With the Exped Down Mattress, should there be a concern about allergies? I know my girlfriend may have an issue with me using it because we get synthetic sleeping bags instead of down ones. I am unsure if she is actually allergic to down or if she is just afraid that she is. Regardless, is the down pretty much contained well enough within the mattress so this would not pose a problem?

The Neo Air seems super light, which is great! However, right about now I am willing to carry 4lbs if it means getting a goodnights sleep so this is no longer a huge selling point. Regardless, a couple of you seem to believe that it is comfortable, still I worry about its durability. A lot of out posters have complained about it popping or ripping. I could see why with it being as light as it is; the walls of it are probably super thin. So anymore thoughts on matters?

Diversion Air Core seems like one that is worth checking out. However, I don't know if my body is going to be digging those ridges (I think they might be refered to as baffles?), I am more accustomed to something flat. We shall see though, was that ever a bother to you?

I am going to have to shoot down the hammock idea, I will be hiking above the timberline in a couple of locations.

Geez…I feel like such a wimp after that nights sleep I had yesterday. Sleep is so important to me though. I like to hike hard and sleep heavy. Unfortunately, I used to weightlift a lot and now my shoulders stiffen up a lot at night when they are not given the proper support. In this case though, not only were they sore, but so was my back and neck muscles. It was an all around horrible experience. After we got up today at 9am, I felt anything but well-rested and slept in my bed for 4 hours. If it wasnt for my girlfriend waking me up, I probably would have slept another 4 hours. Yikes! I cant hike the Appalachian Trail next year if this is how I am going to feel everyday when I wake up. So hopefully Ill be able to equip myself with a better mat after hearing more advice and testing everyones recommended mats. Thanks guys!

BP more often and make your body get used to it. After years of air mattresses, I have gone back to foam. It is getting easier each trip. I am now down to a trimmed GG 3/8" foam pad cut down to torso size and 2.6 ounces. Advil helps too.

Im working on what I call a LUL (luxury ultra light) gear list

Exped Down is the pad

In my opinion, it is as good as sleeping in your bed at home. No kidding.

Don't know about the allergy potential.

Out of curiousity, I dont care if its 6lb 12oz (ha ha ha) nut how is the Therm-a-Rest DreamTime?

I think all air mattresses are more comfortable than any self-inflator.

http://www.rei.com/product/780365

Its 3.5 inches thick! That should prove to be nice and cushioned right? Or am I going to be roasting my nuts off in July? Ha Ha Ha. What does thickness add up to?

Also, I noticed they have a Exped SynMat which is not insulated with down…might be a better route to go for me.

It has down in it and would be way too warm for the summer, although you might be able to get away with just a fleece blanket with that pad.

Plus she is heavy.

I use the older model of this, before the built in pump. In the summer I use the short version like here
The only way someone could take mine would to be to pry it…
(HaHaHa)
Mike

Edit spelling

You can try the Big Agnes Clearview, it's like and 2.5" thick. You can put a 1/8" CCF under it for 3 season.

http://www.rei.com/product/768294

This baby looks really nice. It could fit both my girlfriend and I on it, so it would be 3lbs 6 oz for each of us to carry if you were to divide the weight. Also it comes with an unnecessary 14 oz flashlight inflater which I would not bring along. So really, each of us would only have to carry 2lbs 15ozs. Thats feasible, of course not as light as Id like to be. But man oh man, don't you just look forward to your bed at the end of a long days hike? Its like heaven to me. Dont get me wrong, good tasting food at the end of a long days hike is awesome too, but a comfortable sleep, that by far is what is most important to me. I am drifting off into daydream land right now as we speak. *I just hiked 25 miles today, got a belly full of food, and all thats left is hopping inside my tent. Im sooooo excited!!! I cant wait to hit the hay and awake for another long day after going into deep a hybrination* Ha Ha Ha

Side sleeping on a thicker pad is easier. I don't know that I will be able to actually sleep on the ground, tho. I find the NeoAir rather narrow.

You can shoot down hammocking for a few trips above treeline? Man, I'm gonna use that thing every chance I get. It's worth it. I'm only going to ground if I can't hang the straps in the cracks in rocks. The only only only time I ever sleep more than an hour at night while backpacking is in the hammock. I've overslept in it. Nothing, absolutely nothing in the world including my bed at home beats my hammock for comfort. I was a dedicated side sleeper until I got in the hammock, and suddenly I was able to sleep all night without tossing and turning, sleeping on my back, not rolling off the pad… I may be forced to abandon my group to go below treeline if the NeoAir doesn't work for me on the ground, because doing an outing of any duration without sleep is not going to be a trip I enjoy.

I suppose I could spring for a downmat or something very heavy… but not when I'm only using it for part of the trip.

…25 miles is a long way to carry that thing everyday! Looks better than my bed at home though. Did you have a good pillow during your test? I've noticed that a good pillow solves a lot of comfort issues.

Yea I have one of these Large $30 Therm-a-Rest compressible pillows.

I'm a side sleeper and cannot sleep on the standard thermarest.

I started out with Big Agnes AirCore and this worked for years. Super durable, comfortable, and affordable.

In an effort to lighten up, I tried their Clearview but found the polyurethane material stretched and my hips and shoulders could not stay off the ground.

Finally, I've settled on the Neo-Air, which I love, though I've already punctured it (easily fixed, but very careful now).

A 2.5" inflatable is the way to go, but be SURE to deflate it after inflating it to reach your desired level of comfort. If inflated all the way it will be stiff, but if deflated too much your hips will rest on the ground. And, with most of the uninsulated versions, you'll need a Gossamer Gear thinlight underneath for insulation and to protect the bottom of the fabric.

A little Gorilla Duct Tape around your trekking pole will be well worth it if you rip your inflatable in the wild.

I've owned and used many pads including CCF pads, self-inflators, BA AirCores, Exped DownMats, and the NeoAir. For the weight conscious CCF is the ultimate gram saver. I've used the NightLight Torso for hikes of around a month, but I've found that I can't get a really good nights sleep when I have to toss and turn off the pressure points. My latest when using a pad is the NeoAir and I've found that to be very comfortable, even when doing my normal side sleeping. In two weeks I'm heading out on another End-to-End of the Long Trail (southbound this time) and am taking my latest hammock, the Warbonnet. With the hammock, larger tarp, and underquilt I'll be carrying an extra 20oz, but it will be worth it. I can go to sleep instantly in it, and find that I seldom move during the entire night. I can't stay in the sub 3 pound range on a month long hike, but even with the hammock I'm only averaging around a 5 pound base weight.

Here's a statistical outlier: I sleep a lot on concrete floors (weird layovers at work). Just a closed cell Ridgerest cut to torso length for padding and insulation (1/2 inch thick, 30 inches long, 5 oz wt) laid out wherever I can find space.

I've adapted to the discomfort (and I'm up there in years). Relaxation techniques help. I've tried comfy pads but always come back to something minimalist. Beds don't give me much better sleep. On the trail I can sleep on rocks.

Three standard deviations out.

Tim, I had the same problem. I tried lots of thin foam pads, self inflating pads, inflatables and I always got horrible nights sleep on anything except my super heavy REI camp bed coming it at 4lbs 1oz. One time I even stacked a z light, prolite, and an open cell egg shell on top of each other which failed miserably.

All of this came to an end with the introduction of the thermarest Neoair. I love it. I worry about its durability so I always scour the ground before I set up my tent. But Ive already taken it on two hikes and its wonderful. My only complaint is the width. Its only 20 inches wide which saves on weight but my arms and legs usually end up on the ground. I still sleep like a baby though!

Two comments: One, some people won't "just adapt" to sleeping on solid ground. I, for example, have problems with my shoulders and am a side sleeper. You'll never find me trying to "toughen up" for sleeping. I also don't see the point in months worth of bad sleep to try to save yourself zero weight (ie, a short NeoAir is only 9 oz vs. a short RidgeRest at 9oz). Considering other options, sure you might be able to cut a pound from your pack. Is it worth months worth of bad sleep to cut that weight? Not for most reasonable people, I think.

Second, the Downmat (or other insulated air mat) won't make you hot in summer. It's not like you're laying down deep into the mattress, it's not a featherbed. I suppose you might feel a tiny bit cooler on a straight air mattress in summer? But either way, any mattress is air-impermeable and you'll be somewhat hot and sweaty against it. Regarding down, your girlfriend won't have any problems with a downmat. None of the down comes out. Down allergies generally aren't with down, anyway, but with the dust and junk with the down, and most of the fill these companies are using has been hyper-cleaned… low-allergenic. That's coming from someone with bad allergies who pretty much exclusively uses down.

Just my experiences and thoughts, YMMV.

Cheers-