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Backpacking Light

Pack less. Be more.

Lightweight Inflatable Sleeping Airmats – State of the Market Report 2011
Part 1: Important Factors When Choosing an Airmat

Home › Forums › Campfire › Editor’s Roundtable › Lightweight Inflatable Sleeping Airmats – State of the Market Report 2011
Part 1: Important Factors When Choosing an Airmat

Viewing 17 posts - 1 through 17 (of 17 total)
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  • Author
    Posts
  • Aug 9, 2011 at 12:31 pm #1277827
    Addie Bedford
    BPL Member

    @addiebedford

    Locale: Montana

    Companion forum thread to:

    Lightweight Inflatable Sleeping Airmats – State of the Market Report 2011
    Part 1: Important Factors When Choosing an Airmat

    Aug 9, 2011 at 12:51 pm #1767530
    . .
    BPL Member

    @biointegra

    Locale: Puget Sound

    Thanks for the whetting article and series intro. I am greatly looking forward to the rest of the report as well and am happy to see Kookabay pads included.

    Aug 9, 2011 at 2:07 pm #1767550
    Devin Montgomery
    BPL Member

    @dsmontgomery

    Locale: one snowball away from big trouble

    Yummm. BPL at its analytical best. Delicious.

    Aug 9, 2011 at 5:06 pm #1767617
    Ron Bell
    BPL Member

    @mountainlaureldesigns

    Locale: USA

    We sell the Klymit X Frame Pads and they are the lightest inflatable pads available at the same width and length available.

    The above listed regular full length X Frame ( 9oz) and the new not listed Torso Length X Frame (6oz) and the wider/longer not listed X Frame XL (16oz) all have inflation hand pump ports and mouth ports but almost no one ever uses or carries the 1oz pump.

    All of the Klymit sleep pads can be inflated to proper comfort levels easily by mouth alone. The torso size one takes only 1-3 breathes and the reg length 3-7 breaths – very very fast.

    I've not heard back from a single customer or talked to anyone that ever used the pump in the field. It might be handy if you are very heavy.

    Aug 9, 2011 at 5:18 pm #1767623
    Warren Greer
    Spectator

    @warrengreer

    Locale: SoCal

    Just got going and it's over. Can't wait for Part 2. Too bad that the newest ThermaRest pads aren't in the round up.

    Aug 9, 2011 at 5:45 pm #1767635
    >> Bender <<
    BPL Member

    @bender

    Locale: NEO

    FYI the pricing as tested for Kooka Bay airmats is as follows:

    Rectangular Synthetic insulated with Climashield Apex 46x20x2.5" $99

    GoosePad (DAM) 800+ FP Canadian Goose Down 72x24x3.5" $219

    TaperLite $69.99

    Kooka Bay now has custom made air valves! These new valves are welded directly to the nylon fabric for an extremely reliable seal. Valve airflow has increased 2x for easier inflation & deflation. Weight was kept to a minimal 11.5g! The Synthetic insulated airmats will be available on our website in about a month and the GoosePads will follow shortly.

    Here is a pic of the new style valve.

    Aug 9, 2011 at 6:07 pm #1767644
    Rick Dreher
    BPL Member

    @halfturbo

    Locale: Northernish California

    I hope you placed a pea beneath that amazing stack 'o mats!

    Great work all, and no small task you've tackled.

    Cheers,

    Rick

    Aug 9, 2011 at 6:27 pm #1767647
    George Matthews
    BPL Member

    @gmatthews

    Love the pic of the ultimate air mat!

    Appreciate your efforts to research this topic.

    Keep 'em coming.

    Aug 10, 2011 at 10:32 am #1767854
    Jeffrey Dunning
    Spectator

    @boredomhero

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    I think your laboratory staff should wear hairnets and lab coats. The methods are great and the results will be valuable, but the lab setting was a little jarring :)

    Aug 10, 2011 at 12:42 pm #1767897
    Henk Smees
    BPL Member

    @theflyingdutchman

    Locale: Spanish Mountains

    First of: Something has gone wrong with the footnote (16) of the Vaude Norrsken??

    Second (more important): Since I am about to buy a new mat (had more or less decided to go for a NeoAir), I find this article to very timely. Really appreciate the effort. I'll wait now until the rest of this series is out before making the final decision.

    Thanks.

    Aug 10, 2011 at 2:45 pm #1767937
    Gabe Miller
    BPL Member

    @gabespartan

    I think it's the best on the market, comparatively. I have the long and normal men's. Very solid, the long actually only weighs 11 oz. and the R-value is 2.4. Only cost $70 on sale too.

    Aug 10, 2011 at 3:56 pm #1767958
    Michael Arambula
    Member

    @marambula

    Very excited about this protocol. However it's just enough to really tease my appetite for results.
    Looking forward to the finished product! Thank you for the hard work!

    Aug 12, 2011 at 10:40 am #1768656
    Aaron Sorensen
    BPL Member

    @awsorensen

    Locale: South of Forester Pass

    I have a full length Klymit X Frame Pad and will attest that there is no need fo the pump. You can even give short quick breaths to the pad and make it way to hard just from oral inflation.

    I think the pump would be more of an ammusing toy for a 4 year old than anything.

    Aug 13, 2011 at 12:08 am #1768905
    Brian Peck
    BPL Member

    @brianpeck

    Locale: North America

    Hi, Great to see detailed reviews, I love the stats and appraisals. Although this is an airmat review I still shy away from inflatables for long remote trips. In these situations I like the Thermarest SoLite at 540gm, R2.8 for a full 77×25" though I don't have one yet. Simple, bulletproof, trimmable though bulkier. 77" is just right for this 6'4" hiker. Ah well, just wanted to put my 2 cents in..

    Exiting Tibet into Nepal

    Aug 13, 2011 at 7:03 pm #1769085
    Andrew Priest
    BPL Member

    @aushiker1

    Locale: Fremantle

    Hi

    Nice read. I did find the comment on the Exped Synmat SL 7S being hard to get interesting. They seem to be readily available here in Australia and for a lot less than the US MRP. I picked mine up in July for AU$108 :) US buyers might want to consider buying from Australia. A quick Google should find you are reasonably priced Western Australian dealer.

    Andrew

    Aug 14, 2011 at 8:46 pm #1769372
    Matt Sanger
    BPL Member

    @iparider

    which new thermarest pads are those???

    Aug 16, 2011 at 11:40 am #1769987
    Walter Underwood
    BPL Member

    @wunder

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    When I switched from my Therm-a-Rest ProLite to a NeoAir, I found that I didn't need to clear out (non-sharp) sticks or rocks where I slept. This helps avoid leaving a clean spot where a camper has obviously been. I could even sleep over small roots or embedded rocks, so it opened up camping spots that wouldn't work with a thinner mattress.

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