Outfitting the In-laws

The orientation of the baffles seem to influence many pad purchases. No more regular NeoAirs either. Do they prefer tapered or rectangular?

They might be OK with tapered (depending on how aggressive it is). Interestingly, they could have a huge sleeping space with a large sized neo air for the same weight as one of the others I listed there.

I'm not sure if I qualify as an older guy – 60 year old side sleeper with arthritic hips. I tried several from the NeoAir line and then the Exped SynMat UL. The Exped was much more comfortable to me. I also greatly prefer dedicated in/out air valves. I went with the SynMat UL and will extend its insulation with a thin CCF under it when necessary. I was shocked at how much difference in feel there was between different insulated air pads. I would hope they can find a place to try before they buy – REI here had a bunch available to try.

Good luck with the search. I'm happy to see they didn't just give up when they had an initial bad experience.

Jim

I'm in there with James – go with the Exped Syn UL!

I'm also 60 years old, and I have tried the current NeoAir pads, including the extra large one that weighs the same as the Exped Syn UL. While the NeoAir XLite was tolerable, the Exped was clearly superior: no crinkling, more comfy, slightly thicker outside tubes help stay on the pad, and overall, it just felt like my bed at home.

FWIW, I use Exped's Schnozzle Pump Bag to fill the pad, then use it as a dry bag for my down sleeping bag and sweater. I'm very pleased with it.

Slightly off topic: Why is it that you can tell folks you know and who know you about what gear to get, but when they go in the store, they end up with all the wrong stuff???? They trust a salesman more than someone they know? I don't understand it!

Sounds like the Exped is going to be the way to go. A nice added bonus is the price, it sure is a lot more affordable than the Neo Air as well.

Regarding your slightly off topic question… in the case of my in-laws, they had no idea what the difference between light and heavy was. None whatsoever, they had never gone backpacking before – there was no grid. So they honestly thought that they guy would give them as good as advice as I would. It wasn't until they actually put the stuff in the backpack and used it that they realized the error in their ways.

Regardless of what they actually know or what their motivations are, the salesperson is getting paid for it so they are obviously experts. You,re just someone who does it for fun.

I'm not sure if that was the explicit thought process in this case, but many who are consultants depend on that implicit line of thought to make a living.

Jim

P.S. I am a consultant.

Damien, I'm still trying to figure out how people can sleep on the regular sized neoair, to me it's about the worst pad I've ever used so far in my life, except for normal 3/8" regular closed cell, but it may be worse, because on a recent 5 day trip, for the first time ever, I find myself longing for the 3/8" foam pad. I'm thin and not tall, and every part of my body hangs off some part of it at night as I move around.

So the trick here is to figure out a few things: how do people who like and recommend pad x or y sleep? How much do they weigh (critical I suspect) What position, how much movement, how much padding do they need? Side, back, do they lie still all night, not moving? That latter case I think probably explains why a lot of people can sleep on things I could never sleep on.

If I were them I'd try a regular prolite type pad and see if they find that ok, it's simple, and easy to use, and it's light enough. Plenty light enough. No rocking or waving like a neoair, plenty of support, easy to overinflate to get it hard enough to keep your body off the ground, still my favorite solution, by far, now that I've given a neoair a fair and reasonable chance in real world testing.

While I have no experience with other air mattresses on the high end light side, I found it interesting that when noting how much I'd disliked my (neoair) air mattress, a friend who has camped but not backpacked noted right away the problem with airmattresses, and his preference for foam cored, for the same exact reasons I'd found, waving, too high, etc. Which made me chuckle a bit, made me realize that despite the hype and price and weight, these things are still just air mattresses, love them or hate them. And foam core is still the fix for that problem, though maybe feathers etc help mitigate that issue, no idea, never tried that.

Rockin and rollin…For me the key to stability on the inflatable was to get the correct air pressure combined with the right pad. On the horizontal tubed NeoWhatever I couldn't get comfortable regardless of the pressure. With the Exped, fully inflated – hard, I felt like I was on top and might just roll off. Too little pressure and my hips would bump the ground. Somewhere in the middle I found comfort and stability. I do think the Exped slightly bigger outside tubes helped me.

I'm 5'10. 185lb. Mostly side sleeper, legs pulled up some, with some rolling around but not much. When I first started trying out pads in the store, I made the mistake of laying flat on my back — even though I never sleep that way. I hated every regular width pad I laid on. My elbows hung off both sides. When I finally woke up and tried them like I really sleep, I was able to comfortably fit on my regular width, short pad.

I've tried CCF and the old ThermaRest self inflating pads from way back. Absolutely not for me – I have to have more thickness if I'm going to sleep.

HYOK, YMMV, etc

Jim

I used a Neoair for couple of years and got on well on flat pitches but if there was any slope at all I would fall off the pad, I changed it for an Synmat Ul 7 and really like, so much in fact I got the Downmat Ul 7 for winter.