CCF pads. taking the plunge??

I've found the egg crate convoluted foam to work pretty good. You get many little air pockets formed, and the foam isn't terribly heavy. The good part is that they can't spring a leak. I wrap the foam around my bear canister before it all fits into my pack.

–B.G.–

+1 on the eggcrate. Cascade Craftworks has cosmetic seconds 40" pads for 12 bucks:

http://www.cascadecraftworks.com/shop/eggcrate-closed-cell-sleeping-pad-2nds

I own one and it's the most comfortable CCF pad I've ever used. Fits me shoulder to knees when I sleep (slightly curled up).

Edit: I haven't used the cascade egg crate pad in the link above, but based on how dense & squishy it looks where the hand in the picture is grasping it, and my experience with the Ozark egg crate pad, and the ridge rest – I'd buy the cascade egg crate pad.

Original post:
I found the Z-rest to be most comfortable, but to flatten permanently in active season.
The ridge rest was warmer, and lasts 3-4 active seasons. The thicker (winter) ridge rest is reasonably comfy. The thinner one wasn't comfy enough for sleeping on my side, or rocks.

The blue foam pads at walmart and pinkish blue foam pads at REI were uncomfortable and not very warm. The REI one shed less pieces.
The Ozark brand egg-crate CCF pads were almost as comfy and warm as the ridge rest, but heavier and not very snag resistant.

I had an older evozote pad, the was 3/4" thick and flat faced. It was stiffer than the ridge rest, so it evened out rocks and roots better, and was warmer, and never flattened (even a little bit). It was more dense than the GG pads though – a full size weighed 1.5 pounds.

The thing I liked best about the flat faced pads, was that you could wipe off rain, and mud easily – so you could lash it to the outside of your pack and use it during breaks/lunch, etc. Getting rain out of ridges or egg crates is irritatingly slow.

In general, I think the CCF pads are significantly warmer than anything but a down-filled inflatable, safer/puncture proof, and more multi-use (rest breaks, stove windscreen, first aid splints) – but no longer the lightest option. I also found that a thin plastic frame sheet only weighs 3-5 ounces, and works as well as 2-3 layers of thick foam – so I keep mine strapped to the outside of my pack so I can use it during breaks, rather than using it as a frame.

My 48" x 20" Ridgerest is 10 oz after cutting and hinging a framesheet section with Gorilla duct tape and Velcro. On warm weather trips, I can pack it burrito roll style inside my Gorilla pack, but the pack is actually more comfortable with it carried externally. I like to carry it vertically on the back of the pack.

It's more comfortable than Walmart blue too. The ridges are great for keeping perspiration away. There are little sweat pools in there in the morning. Sleeping on my side with my knees bent, only my calves on down are off of the pad. I'm 5'8" with a Gorilla-like frame. (See the theme here?) My feet rest on the ground, my shoes, or spare clothing depending on warmth needed.

I usually bring my Synmat UL7 instead though. :)

I've tried a long 1/4 inch evazote foam pad combined with the shorter Cascade Craftworks egg crate Evazote foam pad. I actually invert the egg crate so that the bumps are inside, feels a bit more comfortable that way to me at least (though Andy's point about sweat etc is a good one).

It's not too bad all in all, but i do prefer the Neo Air all Season overall, just wish it was more wide.

If your hips don't lie (mine apparently do), then CCF might work for you. In any case, it's worth a try.

[…]

I'm an intermittent user (mainly summer or if dog is with me) & if my recent purchase, an Exped downmat goes pop, the usage will be permanent.

I've still got a Ridgrest but cut down but do find I get condensation in the 'valleys'

Dunno if you can get them in North America – I use one of these:
http://www.multimat.uk.com/store/products/superlite-1 although mine is only 145g

Quality wise, their mid to top end range are on par with the old Karrimor Karrimats.

They make for NATO & do expedition standard '5' season mats too.
http://www.multimat.uk.com/store/t/range/expedition

+1 on Ross’ suggestion of the Multimat, if you’re looking for low weight. It’s about the warmest for weight that I’ve found, though I’d say it’s less comfortable than the egg crate style. You should be able to get it shipped to the States for a reasonable price from here.

Hello, Jen,

I sleep pretty cold, and don't have much padding on my bones, and am in the older range (64) when folks often say they need to take a big inflatable pad. Last summer I carried the REI Flash I got on megaprodeal (because of the shoulder–ever so much better now, only a little gimpy, I can live with that, thanks to you and Mark!) but it was a big hassle, what with inflating and deflating, patching punctures, etc. I've gone back to my usual CCF pads. I carry them vertically on the back of my pack.

Ridgerest: What I've carried the most for 25 years. Short 48". The old gray ones are pretty flat now; I just lend them out to Camp Fire kids. The newer green and silver one works fine. A little bulky but not all that heavy, 9 oz. I think. Nearly indestructible. There's also a blue and silver one that's a bit thicker, not sure of the weight, I cut it to 48", for colder weather.

Gossamer Gear Nightlight: This is their Evazote one that folds in thirds and fits in the back of my pack in place of the Sitlight that comes with the pack. Pretty good by itself for warm weather. Flattens with time and use a lot faster than a Ridgerest does. I probably need to order a new one. Before it has the life flattened out of it it has an egg-crate configuration. Not sure of the weight by itself, it is just part of my pack. GG has it at 4.55-4.9 oz.

Gossamer Gear Evazote 3/8": For our 2011 and 2012 JMT trips I used one of these with the Nightlight underneath. I cut it to 48". Thinner than the Ridgerest but coupled with the Nightlight it seems just as warm. It deforms more than the Ridgerest but that does not seem to interfere with function. 5.2 oz. cut down. Somewhat less bulky than the Ridgerest.

Zlite: I have one of these, tried sleeping on it once, the hard egg-crate shape was annoying, I gave it to my son, later he gave it back so it is just in the lending gear now.

None of these CCF pads absorbs any moisture that I can tell, shouldn't since that's what "closed-cell" is supposed to mean. The Thermarest ones are firmer than the GG ones. None are as cushy as the inflated Flash, *all* are cushier than the Flash suddenly deflated during the night!! Mostly I am pretty tired at night on a trip, go to sleep at dark or sometimes even earlier, waken during the night but go back to sleep, up at first light. On CCF, I turn often but that seems to be OK. Going back to CCF after using the Flash for a while, it took a bit of getting used to again, but that was OK too. I have not tried any of this on snow, that is out of my range, probably for snow you need more insulation so that might be relevant to your PCT plans.

If you want to borrow any of these to experiment with, let me know.

Mina

Jen,

I think it all depends on your temperature range and the ground you are sleeping on.

Anything over 40* and soft ground and I can easily get by on an 1/8" torso pad.
Any colder (on soft ground) I like a full length 1/8" pad.

Bellow freezing, that's when an egg crate or other pad comes in.
I usually go with a 1/4" torso pad on top of a full length 1/8" pad.

Then sleeping on snow or anything under 20* I go with an 1/8" pad and an inflatable.

Gossamer gear nightlight torso pad
Thermarest z lite sol pad

Love both of them. Th GG nightlight torso for 3 season..The z lite sol for winter

After having a pad go flat on me in cold weather the first night of a 8 day trip and not able to find the leak I always bring at least a half length ccf pad and a half length inflatable or a combination of full and half length pads depending on the expected temp and what the ground is gonna be like. My full length ridge rest is 12 oz it's an old one and I cut a blue ridge brand pad in half it's 5 oz my half length synmat ul is 8 oz prolite xs 8 oz. Last trip was a 66" old style neo air 13 oz and my 5 oz blue ridge ccf

I think it also depends on how much you weigh. My son (5'8" and 120lb) still prefers the Z-Lite. He hates blowing up the Neoairs and says he's just as comfortable on the Z-Lite. Doesn't seem to have an issue with the egg crates flattening out. He's a side-sleeper.

It's actually really convenient to have him carrying the Z-Lite. The accordian-fold design makes it a handy seat or table

The Z Lite is my favorite. Cheap and easy to carry.

If it's going to be below freezing a lot, I use a RidgeRest Deluxe (higher R value). It's bulky but still only weighs a pound. I can't tell if it feels more comfortable than the Z Lite (it should in theory). I did this on the JMT and it was probably overkill.

On the PCT I carried a GG Nightlite from 2007 that is around 60 inches long. It was great, but I would NOT go for something thinner, like the Thinlight. Note that the current Nightlite is really short, so you'll probably want two of them or get one from another manufacturer that cuts them longer. I think Nunatuk sells them, but I am not sure about that.

I almost exclusively use CCF now. I hate the bulk, but otherwise I couldn't be happier.