Exped Synmat UL7 LW first impressions

[Stuart .]

I'm posting this because Exped added a 78"x26" version to the Synmat UL7 line recently. So far I have seen no write-ups of the LW (Large Wide) model. These are initial impressions having taken delivery of one a few hours ago.

My Synmat UL7 LW arrived in the mail today, three days ahead of schedule (thanks REI!) According to my scales it weighs in at 601g (without the stuffsac and repair kit) – that's 11g over the spec, if my scales are to be believed, but close enough.

Even with my inexpert use of the schnozzel pump bag, which I had to purchase separately, the pad filled with just a little more than three bags of air, and in less than 90 seconds.

This shows the dimensions compared with my Downmat 7 M:

And my NeoAir regular (sorry, not a great photo, but I think demonstrates what I've felt – the NeoAir is narrower than other 20" pads):

The Synmat UL7 LW has the same number of air chambers (8) as the Downmat 7 M, but each chamber is wider.

Here's the acid test for me – does the LW fit in my solo tent – a Hilleberg Soulo? Perfectly width-wise.

And with about 8" to spare length-wise.

The material is much more slippery than my Downmat 7 or my NeoAir, but given the fit inside my Soulo, I doubt I'll be sliding off it any time soon. In another shelter, the verdict may be different, but so far I like it. Fully inflated, the pad is comfortable to lie on, both on my back and on my side. The vertical air chambers mean no more deflations when I roll to the side (my biggest beef with the NeoAir). Sitting up, I do feel the air shift, and there's a similar feeling of 'bottoming out' as with the NeoAir. I'll probably put an 1/8" pad underneath in colder temps and when I'm dealing with rockier terrain.

Next up, time to see how it works in the field. Hoping to report back after next weekend.

[Chris Vandivere]

Waiting with baited breath for your field report. I'm seriously considering one of these as my primary pad – currently on a near original therma rest…

[Stuart .]

Too many spring cleaning chores last weekend, but I'm heading out tonight with it.

[Stuart .]

Attempted to get out last weekend but didn't find a suitable site in time, so instead it was gear fondling time in the living room. My back yard is a 45 degree slope so no dice there. I just received an MLD Superlight bivy in XL and I was curious to see how the pad (26"W x 78"L) plus my WM Megalite would fit inside.

Again, the Exped schnozzel inflated the Synmat UL in three easy bags full. I tried the pad at various inflations. It's easy to adjust down, but without the integrated pump it takes a bit more effort to reinflate if you've let too much air out. Unlike the NeoAir and the Big Agnes Insulated Air Core I had before that, I prefer the Synmat UL almost fully inflated. On the other pads that would make them too firm, and I tended to roll off. Not on the Synmat UL – the outermost baffles are ever so slightly higher than the inner ones. That plus the wider pad kept me in place. Deflating the pad a little, my hip felt like it would touch the ground faster than with my previous mats.

Initially I wasn't sure about the slippery feel of the Synmat UL's upper, compared with my 2011 model Downmat. In two hours of lounging around using my WM bag as a quilt and zipped up, it was comfortable. No icky sweatiness that I had on the BAIAC.

Lastly, the pad and bag fit – just – inside the XL Superlight bivy. The toe box was a little tighter than expected, and that's when I realized the Exped LW is 26" rather than 25" wide. Still, no compression of the down in the bag as far as I could tell. For my 0F winter bag I'll stick with the 20" wide Downmat inside the bivy.

[Joe S]

How is the "squeak factor"? I have a LW Synmat 7, perhaps the most comfortable mat I've slept on, but in certain tent floors it squeaks like mad when you roll or move. And it squeaks a bit on its own.

[Stuart .]

My bivy's floor is cuben, so what I would have heard would be a rustle if anything. I'll need to put it to the test on my MYOG tyvek groundsheet and my Soulo's floor to comment thoroughly, but what I will tell you is that the LW pad doesn't seem to shift as much under me when I move about as my 20" wide pads have in the past.

Edit: The Soulo wouldn't be a good test, as the pad fits so well it's unlikely to move about. But I'll test it on the Soulo's footprint, which is the same material as the inner tent floor, and report back.

[Paul Doran]

I have just bought this for use with a tarptent – and when you say its slippery, that plus a sinylon floor…eek!

[Mike Sobr]

I don't like to put silicone on the tent floor or the pad like many do to prevent pad slippage and have found some very light beige colored non-skid material that is used to put between a carpet and hard floor to prevent the rug from sliding about in the house and a couple one foot square pieces used under the mat will keep it anchored wherever you put it (even on an incline) as it has a very grippy texture.
There are many kinds and thicknesses but there are some that are exceedingly thin and almost weightless and work great and go unnoticed in your pack and are very helpful if you have problems sliding about.

[Stuart .]

Quick overnighter let me test out my new gear including the Exped Synmat UL 7 LW. Location: Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, CO. Altitude: 10,000ft. Conditions: clear, patchy snow on the ground but able to pitch my shelter on bare ground. Temperature range: approx 50F when I inflated the Exped, dropping to low 30s overnight.

I inflated the Synmat fully using the schnozzel pumpbag , so it was firm. Did the same with my Exped pillow. About 3am I was aware both deflated significantly. My hip felt the ground and the pillow was only about 1/2 inflated. In the morning the underside of my tarp was covered in ice and I saw condensation inside the pad. this may be due to the rapid temperature drop. I'll try again on a few more trips before I call time on the Exped. In those temps I'd take a thin pad to stick under the Exped but I wasn't cold, just underinflated by the morning.

On the positive side, I didn't slide off the pad. It was inside my bivy but I felt centered on the pad throughout the night. My site wasn't completely flat, so there was room for me to slide down the pad and it didn't happen.

[Greg Mihalik]

Stuart,
Did you re-fill your mat after you discovered it was low?

If you filled with 50° air, which then dropped to 30° air, it is not surprising that the mat felt low. PV=nRT and all of that…

Exped points this out in their little user's manual. I have experienced it. After a 2am pumping all was well and stayed that way till morning.

You May have a slow leak. You are probably a victim of physics.

[Stuart .]

Greg – I'm sure the rapid temperature drop was the cause of both the deflation and the condensation inside the pad. Given the balmy temps in the front range (80s) and the pleasant temps when I arrived at camp at 7pm (50s) I wasn't expecting as big a drop as happened.

I didn't reinflate the pad during the night because it was inside a bivy and I didn't feel like climbing out of my cocoon – that's the downside of the pads without the integrated pumps I suppose. Good to know that the effort of doing so would be well worth it in future.

[Derrick White]

Hi

Just finished a 6 day trip in the Grand Lake are of Labrador (Canada) with temps falling from around 12-14C at 5PM to 0-2C by midnight. I too experienced deflation as you are reporting. My remedy was to set up my sleep system immediately upon arrival at camp (6PMish) and then reinflate when going to bed (10PMish. It usually only required half a schnozzle. This gave me a nice full mattress all night with no issues.

Kind regards,
Derrick

[mik matra]

I bought this and man it is comfy to sleep on (didn't get the LW just the normal one). In a Denali tent my camp mates complained of the squeak factor but my Tarptent Rainbow does not make a noise with this mat. I put seam seal strips on the floor of the shelter yet on a very gradual slope I still found this mat to slip….vary annoying. I am not going to put more or wider seam seal strip on the floor as I have noticed it catches dirt and grass bits that I am not going to spend the time to pick out at every set up and unset.

[Stuart .]

Just back in from a three day trip in Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO. Three of us were expecting frigid temps following a decent snowfall on Wednesday / Thursday. We took a Hilleberg Kaitum 3, sleeping bags rated to 10F, and three generations of DownMat pad – the DM9 pumpbag, DM7 internal pump, and DM UL7.

Friday night in Fox Park on the Buchanan Pass Trail, temps fell quickly as we set up camp – from low 40s at arrival, to below freezing shortly after sundown, to low 20s overnight. All pads were inflated before sundown, and stayed firm throughout the night without need for extra inflation. There was a hard frost on the ground on Saturday morning.

Saturday night at Crater Lake, temps were much warmer – they remained above 40F until after we retreated to the tent, and barely made it down into the high 30s overnight. Again, no deflation of any of the DownMats.

As for movement of the pads in the tent – it just didn't happen. Friday night we were pitched at enough of an angle to prevent the head-to-toe-to-head sleeping arrangement, and none of the pads slipped down toward the lower end of the tent. Yet the person on the DM9 was the only person who didn't slide down the pad overnight – the fabric seems more matte than the other two pads.

I will say, though, that the DM UL7 squeaked like crazy on the Kaitum 3's floor when its owner moved around. Perhaps it was more noticeable because the pad was that much lighter than the other two pads… difficult to say for certain, though.

[Derrick White]

Hi Stuart,

I am considering purchasing the MLD Superlight XL bivy with cuben floor as you have to use with my Exped Downmat UL 7 and WM Ultralight(6'6") bag. I plan to use it primarily for expedition length hikes in early fall in northern Canada (0-10C) and also wonder if it offers any increase if it were used inside a tent (Big Sky Evolution) in -10C weather.

My bag is rated to -7 and the 5.9 R value of the downmat should help. but wondering if the bivy would also help with insulation and a reduction of cold air movement through the down.

Thanks

Derrick

[michael levi]

Of course it would help, maybe not a lot. What won't be good is if you happen to get condensation.

[Stuart .]

Derrick,

The biggest effect the Superlight bivy has is to keep drafts from penetrating the bag – thereby mitigating convective heat loss. I have both the Megalite and the Versalite, and both seem more susceptible to drafts than microfibre bags I've owned (including those by WM), so I believe it's a function of the ExtremeLite series bags' breatheability.

You don't mention what type of shelter you'll be using for your autumn expedition-length hikes. If it's a tarp or a doublewall tent with a mesh inner, then I'd say the bivy should help for the above reason. But on singlewall tents or doublewall tents with fabric inners, I'd be concerned about the bivy raising the dewpoint inside the sleeping bag.

For the winter trips I'd leave the bivy at home. It's not going to add any insulation per se; if you're concerned about moisture transferring to your sleeping bag from the shelter walls, lay a WP/B jacket over the foot of the bag.

I was out 10 days ago in Indian Peaks, Colorado. Three guys in a Hilleberg Kaitum 3, with the fabric inners lowered on both doors. I was on the outside, and my bag touched the fabric walls. The first night we dealt with significant condensation on the inner tent (low was around 20F). Had I taken it, the bivy would have helped keep the moisture off my bag. The second night was much warmer (high 30s), and we had no condensation issues. The bivy would have been dead weight for that night.

BTW, I have come full circle on cuben. If I were to buy the bivy again, I don't think I'd spend the extra on the cuben floor. It's more susceptible than I would have hoped to puncture holes, for not much weight saving over a silnylon floor. Hope that helps.

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