199g half-inflatable full length pad

[Jan Rezac]

After some research, I'm approaching the weight of my CCF pad with a more comfortable half-inflatable pad:

I've bought a cheap (it was about $18, now I found one for $10), plastic inflatable pad from china (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ultra-light-318g-UL-outdoor-inflatable-cushion-sleeping-bag-pad-outdoor-beach-camping-mat-moisture-proof/1800816029.html). It doesn't look very nice but it feels more durable than it looks. The weight, 330 g, is sligtly more than what the sellers claim but still on par with the other lightest full-length inflatables. It has two chambers, so I cut one to have a torso-length pad (actually, it's longer, and my head fits on it as well). I sealed the other half so I got two of these for that price.

Then, I added a piece of a reflective insulation from a hardware store under the legs. It's thin but it provides some insulation, I can put my pack under my legs if necessary. Making the pad full-length saves me the hassle with mating two-part system. With such a pad, I can skip the groundsheet if the conditions are good. The pieces are joined with Tyvek tape, it holds well on the plastic.

I also reinforced the area around the valve with a piece of fabrics backed Tenacious tape as it looked like the weakest point of the pad and the tape might provide some protection.

The result is a pad that weights 199 grams and is surprisingly comfortable. What I really like is that the inflatable part is 60 cm (23.5 in) wide so there is more room for my hands than on common inflatable pads. The inflatable part ins not very high so the drop is not a problem for me. I've tested it on an overnighter and it worked great – now we'll see how long it lasts.

Edit: Weight of the original pad added.

[Nick Smolinske]

What's the weight of just the inflatable? I use a torso-length CCF and a full-length 3/16" plastizote right now, so this could be a viable replacement for the torso pad. And the plastizote would provide plenty of protection for it.

[Jan Rezac]

The weight of the original, full-length inflatable is 280g according to the specs, I don't remember wow much it actually was but it was less than 300 g.

[Nick Smolinske]

I was actually curious about your cut-down weight, without the reflectex. I'm assuming the 199g that you posted includes both parts of the pad?

[Jan Rezac]

I weighted the second half I didn't use – it's 165 grams.

[Jan Rezac]

I have used it for a two more nights, sleeping in a forest without any groundsheet. The pad is tough enough to survive that without any visible damage.

However, one problem occured – the plastic cap which closes the vent cracked. While it still worked (only the lower part cracked, the seal was still OK), it won't survive long.. I replaced it with the same cap I got from a small collapsible bottle which uses the same welded-in spout. For future use, I will either wrap the cap in a strong tape or press a tight fitting tube over it to prevent this failure – the walls of the cap are very thin.

[Paiolo Montanel]

Hi Jan!

I was interested in buying the same $10 sleeping pad from aliexpress, can you share your thoughts after a year of use? Does it survived?  ;-)

A basic question: why does it have TWO caps and not only one? Is the pad divided in two independent chambers?

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