3/4 Air mattress – what to do about your feet?

My solution is to supplement my 3/4-length pad with a 1/4-length pad.   To save weight, you can even buy a special integrated version of these two pads.

(ETA: sorry, that wasn’t very helpful.  I’m just in that kind of mood this evening.
Reminds me of the old Tommy Cooper joke:
Patient:  “When I raise my arm up like this, my shoulder hurts.”
Doctor:  “Well stop doing it then.”)

I use a thinner 1″ 3/4 length pad… when I even use an air mattress.
Mostly I just use a 3/4″ x 3/4 length foam pad… a little uncomfortable on my bony parts the first night or two, but after that I don’t even notice it… I find it hard to imagine using a think air mattress like you are using… would require a huge pillow to make up the difference and as you point out… the drop off at the feet is a problem too…
Could try your pack… or some extra cloths… or both.

billy

I’ve settled upon the Neoair Trekker 3/4 (47″ x 25″, 13.05oz) and put my pack under my legs. With the Trekker somewhat underinflated so that it ‘contours’ better for hips and shoulders, I also notice that the dropoff in the leg area is minimized and doesn’t bother me in the least. What really annoys the crap out of me is when my elbows dangle off the sides of skinny air mats, so the 25″ width is greatly appreciated. I googled far and wide and it is the only air mat I found in this short-wide format. I wish TR made an Xlite in these dimensions because the mummy shape and narrow width of the Xlites and many other air mats just don’t work for me. So the Trekker ends up being the only ‘indulgence’ item in my pack — an extra 5oz I carry gladly.

Bob, Gossamer Gear makes a short and wide air mat. I got one. I also hated my arms dangling off the side and love the extra width. Also their pad is really cool because it’s higher at the head end (2″/2.5″ can’t remember”) and tapers down to 1″ at the feet so that the drop off is less noticeable.

If I’m using a CCF sit pad which doubles as a frame in my pack then I slide that under my feet. Or I use my backpack when I don’t take the CCF pad. Or I’ll use both. Works well for me.

Put yr fairly empty pack under yr feet

if yr climbing put the rope there

short pads arent meant to be comfortable, you sacrifice comfort for weight

;)

Jameson, I haven’t tried the GG air mat but I suspect it would be problematic for me because it tapers not only in thickness but also quite sharply in width.

As a huge fan of EE quilts and their strap attachment system, it seems the tapered shape of the GG along with vertical air tubes would cause the straps to work their way down during the night as I toss and turn, which I do a lot. I noticed those “integrated tabs” on the Air Beams for keeping quilts in place, but unless they are somehow spaced perfectly for my particular EE quilt they probably wouldn’t work, and even if they were I’d have to cut the sewn elastic straps to thread them through, or come up with some other workaround solution. The simple rectantgle shape and horizontal air chambers of the Trekker are remarkably well suited for keeping them in place. I just wish it weighed 8 oz… or heck, while I’m dreaming, 3 oz. :^)

I googled far and wide and it is the only air mat I found in this short-wide format. I wish TR made an Xlite in these dimensions because the mummy shape and narrow width of the Xlites and many other air mats just don’t work for me.

Email them, Bob! I do every couple months. They need to know there’s a market out there.

Generally you just use whatever gear is extra. A pack is common, but UL/SUL packs do not supply a lot of thickness…more like a ground sheet.

I used to use a Short ProLite with the Gossamer Gear SitLite pad for my feet. I switched to a folded pad at about 52″ and my pack at my feet. When the NeoAirs were first released, I used that but it didn’t work well in the pack as a frame, so, I put a 3 layer pad in the pack, and used both. Probably the most comfortable pad I ever used in the woods and still use it today… even though the whole NeoAir/CCF thing weighs close to 19oz. I spend close to 3 pounds on my sleeping system. I pay about a pound for shelter (17oz) and another 1.5pounds for a cooking system.  With insulating cloths and a rain jacket this runs between 8-11 pounds total base weight (before food, fuel and water.)

You can try it. I think 3/4-length is comfortable for some people and not others. I am perfectly fine with 3/4-length when using a foam pad or 1”-1.5” thick self-inflating pad. The drop off is not very noticeable to me. On a thicker pad, however, I prefer the full-length. I do wish the short version of the X-Lite was thinner

Bob, the Klymit Inertia X-Wave is 48” long, 25” wide, and listed at 10.5oz. It’s uninsulated though.

Thanks, John, I saw that one also, but it’s also only 1.5″ thick vs 2.5″ for the Trekker. I’m getting old enough now (60, very soon!) that my rather active youth (cycling, hiking, mountaineering) is catching up with me and I need the plush relief for my hips.

I’m sure they’ve worked out the “average human” ergonomics with the Klymit so that the open spaces wouldn’t bother me. But with the R value of the Trekker (3) I can use it year-’round, and am indeed happy with it thus far from 78°F down to -6°F (combined with a 3/8″ CCF pad). Nice to have just one do-all sleep mat.

Reminds me… I’ve got a few air mats to list on Gear Swap or ebay…

I suppose I simply haven’t gotten around to cutting down an air mattress like a NeoAir.  The other short/wide mats don’t seem to cut it (no pun intended).  The Klymit and GG offerings don’t seem to offer a whole lot of weight savings over a full-length NeoAir (10.5 oz vs 12 oz) and offer poor insulation.

I’m curious–does anyone know what the weight of a WIDE NeoAir would be when cut down to torso length?  Would it come in less than 12 oz?

I put my pillow on top of my pad.

I recently cut my Large (wide) Xlite down to a length that I considered to be comfortable with my pack under the lower part of my legs.  I don’t recall the exact length, but it is a bit more than just “torso length”.  It comes in at 10.9oz.    The pack is an (empty) HMG Windrider.   With it oriented in the way pictured here, the drop-off is minimal.  The pack straps, internal frame stays, and thin back pad provide a nice amount of height.   If I sleep on my back, my heels rest comfortably on the padded hip belt area.    Overall I am very pleased with the weight and comfort of this setup.

That’s exactly the kind of setup I was thinking about.  I happen to have a HMG Pack (Southwest) as well.  Can you measure the pad length?  I’m curious.  Also, how is the drop off from the pad to your feet?

The pad is around 50″ inflated.    Drop-off is marginal to me.  You could get an idea by looking at the height of your pack (near the top, if you do it like mine) when laid flat and compressed, and compare that to the 2.5″ height of the Xlite.   I think the point that the drop-off begins is important for overall comfort, and varies from person to person.   I’m 5’11”, sleep on my side, and this length is perfect.

I’ve been using a 3/4 Prolite as my go-to sleeping pad for two or three years at this point.  I haven’t read every word of every response, but using a thicker pad like yours would leave more of a drop off to contend with than my Prolite, so keep this in mind.

It normally doesn’t bother me to not have insulation under my feet during three season hiking and sometimes I don’t use anything at all.  I really hate putting on cold clothes in the morning, especially if they were wet from the day before.  Most of the time, I can knock out two birds with one stone by turning my water proof liner inside out, stuffing it full with my hiking clothes, flattening it out, and then putting it at the bottom of my sleeping bag.

The benefits:

1. Clothes are warm when I put them on the next morning and the waterproof bag keeps the moisture from saturating my down sleeping bag;
2. It’s comfortable to sleep on and add insulation for my feet (I said it normally doesn’t bother me, not always); and
3. I thrash around a lot in my sleep so since this is in the sleeping bag with me, the insulation moves with me.

Like I said, I don’t do this every night as it’s not always cold/wet enough for me to do this, but if I was sleeping on a pad as thick as a Neo Air, I would just to keep my legs and hip comfortable due to the drop off.