Gossamer Gear pads

It depends on how you sleep. But what I do when the temperatures get cold is use a Torso Pad, a sit pad, and a 1/8" full length pad.

The 1/8" pad is either laid full length or folded in half and used on the lower body. The Torso pad is used under my torso. And since I'm a side sleeper, my legs are curled up to a certain extend inside my quilt which I find warmer then sleeping on my back. The sit pad is placed turned sideways and put under my legs where most of the leg weight wants to be which keeps most of the legs off the ground. All of this is placed inside my MLD superbivy under my 20F quilt.

That keeps me warm down to the high teens/low 20's without issue. If I was going to go any colder, I'd likely get a thicker 3/8" full length pad (with the option of folding it to make it thicker as necessary. You can also use extra clothing as added insulation under you if necessary.

I would stick with a thermarest solar short length pad for colder weather since its r value is higher and it will weigh the same as a 3/8 pad – about 9.8oz. For freezing and up I am not sure but I am also looking for a lighter pad than the ridgerest solar. The 1/8 gg is only a few oz but I imagine it isn't warm enough for those temps by itself. Also I've found that egg crate designs on pads only last for a few weeks before they flatten. The ridgerest does not.

Maybe a 1/8 and a torso length 1/4 would work?

I can't use these, they are too hard for me to sleep on as the sole pad in the summer. However, in the winter now, I use the torso length and a sitpad under my CD XTherm and it seems to be working, in freezing conditions and on snow too. I've shaved quite a bit of weight moving from my XPed DAM and blue ccf pad to the Xtherm and GG pads. The new Zimmerbuilt, 33oz. pack shaved another 3 lbs. off my old winter pack weight.
Duane

I personally use these to protect air pads from puncture.

"I already have the nightlite torso pad, when paired with the 1/8" it's not very comfortable. Thinking about the 3/8". Any thoughts?"

My thought is…you are correct. Its not very comfortable.

But its light. Sort of. My nightlight torso pads are 2.7 oz, the ones they are selling now are much heavier and thicker.

The least I am willing to settle for nowadays, is a 7.6 oz Xlite short, with a piece of CCF of some form under my lower legs. About 9 oz total.

P.S. The ridgerest sucks too.

No free lunch. You will see really light gear lists and a very stern, "you ain't changin' my [pick your comfortable model] sell pad" notation with the "heavy" pad. There are a few more compromises with cold weather camping and I think a heavier pad that works is well worth the weight. 3/8" would be a minimum for me.

I've been one of those not willing to sacrifice the comfort of an inflatable pad, however I am trying to not only get lighter, but get more…"efficient" if you will. I like the idea of not having to blow up a mattress every night and deflate every morning, also I know one of these days I will blow out a seam/valve and be miserable. I like the toughness of a foam pad.

My Exped is about 16oz. I wonder how comfortable I could get with 16oz (or less) worth of foam..

Does anyone pair the Torsolite with a 3/8" pad? Or a 1/4" pad? (Or 1/4" pad doubled up to be a 1/2" thick pad?)

If you use one of the Gossamer Gear pads in conjunction with a Neoair Xlite, should the Gossamer gear pad be on top or under the Neoair Xlite? Does it add a noticeable amount of insulation?

Aaron,

I use a 1/2 inch pad from Lawson equipment combined with a thermarest prolite extra small. I have the foam pad cut into a mummy shape, and then cut it into 2 pieces. The smaller section ( where my feet go) I use as my backpad/frame for my GG mariposa, and then roll and carry the upper half. Total weight of the setup is about 21 oz. 8 for the prolite and 13 for the foam. I made the foam 24 inches wide at its widest point, so I could squeeze a few more ozs out of it, if I desired. Additionally because I used part of the foam to replace the stay and pack back pad, I effectively count it as a 16oz net weight. So I am indifferent between carrying this set up, vs not carrying it plus another 16oz pad solution. I could save further weight by going to 3/8 inch foam vs 1/2 as well.

I loved the comfort of inflatables, but summer of 2012 I had 2 trips where my inflatable failed (and also had another inflatable that I lent to a fellow hiker also fail). We field repaired, but that was enough to change as it still ruined nights of sleep. The prolite is pretty robust, has foam in it so its not completely worthless deflated worse case, and the 1/2 foam is enough to be noticeably better than sleeping without anything.

My last trip this year in September, we got snow and temps were down to 21. I was warm and comfortable with this combo.

Aaron,

You probably already know this, however, I thought I would share it here just in case it might help you or any others reading this thread. I understand sleeping comfort and pads are "very personal", and I have found that my site selection plays a huge role in how well any foam pad preforms for me. I think inflatables are much more forgiving in this area and I didn't really employ this thinking when I first started using foam pads. I just threw my down in the spots where my group was setting up camp.

I have gone from a thick, full length inflatable pad down to the GG Nightlite over the last several years which included 16 straight nights last year on the Nightlite and I was more comfortable this last year than I ever was using the inflatable pad. When I add in the fact the Nightlite also helps my pack carry better than a GG SitLite or even a full length 1/8" GG pad, it cannot ever get a hole, it's 1/4 the weight, and setting up and taking down is soooo much easier, I currently wouldn't trade that pad for any other pad on the market even if someone else carried it for me.

Another thing I noticed is that it took "time" for me to transition to a 30×19 foam pad. Two years ago, I took the 1/8" pad and a short Thermarest and doubled over the 1/8" to make a 1/4". If you do take a full length foam pad of any thickness, you do have the option of folding it over to double it if needed or leave it full length.

As far as freezing temps go…..I do not have any issues with the NightLite as while the areas I hike in have night time lows near freezing, the ground is never frozen. If it was, I'm sure my current system would not work.

I understand that most people don't sleep better on tiny foam than full length air so I consider myself very lucky, This said, I also think "selecting a site based on ones pad" is often overlooked and I feel this has made a HUGE difference for me. I heard this years ago, yet really didn't incorporate it to the degree I do now.

Sean – Did I understand you correctly that you are saying you stayed warm with 1/4" total insulation under you in low 20* degree weather?

Aaron,

I have been using GG Pads for a few years now and took used the combo of the Torso Pad with the 1/8" pad on the JMT in 2011 in Aug with snow conditions more like July due to snowfall being 160-200% of normal.

15 Days out with a few nights with temps that dropped down to 35-28 F, I felt the chill of the ground seeping through the 1/8" inch pad, even with my Jam2 pack under my legs.

Since that trip, I swapped out the 1/8" full length pad to a 1/4" one, and I have not felt the chill seeping through since on my 3 season trips in the Sierras.

Hope that helps.

Tony

Lots of interesting perspectives here.

Has anyone tried pairing a GG Torso pad with something like a CCF Thermarest Zlite or Ridgerest?

I think I saw a thread where someone paired it with a Lunapad. Never found out how it did in the field. http://www.nunatakusa.com/site07/accessories/lunapad.htm

Aaron,

I had the idea of trying to pair the GG Torso Pad with a Z-Lite, however, I could never get past how to get both of these pads in my pack so that I had enough room for the rest of my gear and food. I personally don't like the look of having pads strapped to the exterior of my pack. I know this reply does not really answer your question about how these 2 function together, yet I thought I would share this as it was a snag for me.

Actually that is good info, as I too need everything to fit in the pack. I have a GG Gorilla so the torso pad fits in the sleeve against my back, and if I could burrito roll or somehow fold the thermarest inside the pack it might work for me.

I've decided to try a Ridgerest Solite (size LARGE), which I plan to cut down to a torso/mummy shape. Its 25" wide which I am really looking forward to. I'm not sure what dimensions i'll trim it to…maybe 48" long, narrowing from the 25 at the shoulder down to 18 at the knees. If I can get it to about 11-12oz, paired up with the GG Torso pad, I think I might end up with a warm, not-too-uncomfortable CCF system that will work well with proper site selection.

Aaron,

Sounds like a good combination. I believe the Small Solite (20 x 48) is about 9 oz so hopefully you can get your large size pad down to the 11 – 12 oz mark you are hoping for. I don't know what type of pillow you use, and, last year I was surprised to find out that I sleep just as well on a 30" long pad as I did on the 48" pad I had used the previous year. Years ago, I would never have thought I would not want / need a pad under my head, however, with the Montbell UL air pillow I was able to find the correct loft to work great with only a 30" pad from the tailbone to my shoulders. If this option happens to work for you as well, you probably wouldn't have any trouble reaching your goal weight even with the wider 25" pad.

Regardless, best wishes with the retrofit and hope everything works out.

So I got the Large Ridgerest, and went right to work on it.

Right now its a "mummy" shape, the upper half is a full luxurious 25" wide, then it sharply tapers down to about 18".
This shape, at 50" long weighs exactly 13oz. I might shave off some edges and things to try to get it down to 12oz.

It is remarkably comfortable and the width of the torso is really nice especially for sleeping on my back.
When I pair it with the GG Torsolite, it is extremely nice. Still need to do some further testing.

Aaron,

Congrats as it sounds like you are making some great headway. Have you figured out the best way to carry both pads and still have enough room in your pack for the rest of your gear and consumables?

I'm using a GG Gorilla. When rolled burrito style at its current dimensions, the pad fills the height/circumference of the pack very well. I can fit everything i'd take on a 5 day hike inside the buritto, however it stacks up pretty high. There is just enough room at the top of the pack for the lid of the pack to fold over and buckle shut.

I can fit the Torso pad in the pad sleeve against my back. With this configuration, the pack feels pretty nice, albiet a little "full".

The ridgerest is suprisingly comfortable though, so much so that I may just use my single GG Sitlight pad, or even part of the 1/8" thinlight pad in the pad sleeve.

I am still optimizing things, but hopefully when all said and done I end up with a CCF system that weighs ~16oz, is warmer than my inflatable pad, and is more comfortable than the typical CCF pad alone.

I tried the same configuration as you, although, I never liked the feel of having a 2.25" tick pad (the Torso Pad tri folded) in the GG sleeve. That thickness pushed the pack too far away from my body and messed with how the pack felt when carrying it full. I had better luck with just a sit light pad or a fill length 1/8 GG pad and opted for using the 1/8" full length in the pack sleeve as it worked better than the Sit Lite in my sleep system.

If you can find the comfort you want with the foam pads, you will also enjoy leaving the patch kit at home and how much easier setting up and tearing down camp will be.

I agree about the Torso Pad in the sleeve, it feels pretty bulky.

After a little more surgery I got the Ridgerest down to 11.48oz.
Its still 25" wide from my shoulders to fingertips. I cut the length to exactly 48" long, and shaved a bit off the corners.

I'll likely experiment with the 1/8" pad as well as the Sitpad, and see what ends up most efficient. I think your system seems pretty optimal.

Having the full length 1/8" pad was nice as it gave me the option to fold it in half if I wanted 1/4" more cushion. I opted for the MLD 1/8" pad because it was 76" long (verses the under 60" length of the GG 1/8 pad) so even when folded it still gave me almost 40" of coverage. Unfortunately, MLD doesn't seem to have their foam pads online anymore so maybe they are no longer available.

The nice thing about a 60" 1/8" pad is that when folded into 10" sections it is only 3/4" thick in the pack sleeve and I find this to be most optimal as a virtual frame for my frameless pack. The packs appear to ride much better for me when closer to my body.