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Alps mountaineering 6oz full length closed cell foam pad… too good to be true?
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Alps mountaineering 6oz full length closed cell foam pad… too good to be true?
- This topic has 17 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 10 months ago by Victor Jorgensen.
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May 5, 2016 at 10:35 pm #3400336
I’m looking for a new foam pad and saw this on backcountry http://www.backcountry.com/alps-mountaineering-foldable-foam-mat?skid=ALM001U-GRN-ONESIZ&ti=U2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHM6YWxwcyBtb3VudGFpbmVlcmluZyBzbGVlcGluZyBwYWQ6MTo0OmFscHMgbW91bnRhaW5lZXJpbmcgc2xlZXBpbmcgcGFk
The claimed weight is 6oz but I find that hard to believe for a full length pad. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I can’t find anything on google.
May 6, 2016 at 10:07 am #3400392I don’t believe it. That looks like the old style Thermarest egg crate model… before they lightened it up… I bet it weighs about 12 oz or more. If you want to pursue it, call and ask them to weight one for you.
billy
May 6, 2016 at 10:15 am #3400395REI has been known (ahem) to be off on their specs but here are the posted specs for the Z lite size regular which I believe are correct.
72 x 20 x 0.75 inches = 14 oz.
Backcountry is advertising the Alps pad specs as:
71 x 22 x 0.75 in = 6 oz.
Sounds great but I’m not inclined to believe the hype. This is one of those cases where I’d be happy to be wrong though so if anyone would care to take one for the team and try it out, it’d be greatly appreciated.
Assuming it’s closer to 14oz, it still looks like a good pad for $24.
May 6, 2016 at 10:37 am #3400402If you go to the Alps Mountaineering site, it is in fact quoted to be 6oz. Interesting.
May 6, 2016 at 10:39 am #3400404It’s possible. A few years ago there was a thread on here about some South Korean mats available on ebay looking very like this mat. I got a couple. They’re PVA and one weighed 220g and the other was 200g. They’re not super durable but we’re still using them.
May 6, 2016 at 10:45 am #3400409OK, I placed an order for one. I will weigh it and report back after it has arrived.
May 6, 2016 at 10:48 am #3400412Interesting!
May 6, 2016 at 10:57 am #3400415The plot thickens!
May 6, 2016 at 11:32 am #3400425A comment on the REI site: I received the pad this week and haven’t used it yet. However, I would like to note that the specified weight on the package says 6 oz., but I measured 10.2 oz. In the lightweight backpacking world that is a large difference.
May 6, 2016 at 12:01 pm #3400430Can’t comment on the weight, but the Z-rest style is a good and versatile one. A good price if you don’t mind the under-reported weight.
May 6, 2016 at 12:08 pm #3400433I bought a few sit pass from Gearbest.com an they look exactly like these except smaller. $3.50. I don’t have the dims on hand but they’re roughly the same size as the Z Lite sit pad but 1.1 oz vs 1.8 (Z lite). The Z Lite is definitely nicer and seems more durable but I think these will be just fine and hold up for long enough.
May 6, 2016 at 12:44 pm #3400436I have used both TAR’s Z-Rest sit pad as well as the cheapie Asian version (at different times). The Asian ones are noticeably lighter, but they wear out (i.e. compress down) much more quickly. At 6oz, it would be a great find; at 10oz, IMHO it’s a “good” not “great” find.
May 6, 2016 at 2:32 pm #3400471Called up Alps Mountaineering and had their product team weigh the mat. 10oz total. They’ll change the weight on the site today. Oh well…
May 6, 2016 at 4:50 pm #3400509Bummer! Still 10oz is pretty good I might swoop one anyways. Thanks for the help guys!
May 6, 2016 at 4:53 pm #3400512“Still 10oz is pretty good…”
Yes, for the weight of a full length foam pad… but what about the comfort level? And R factor?
Y’all who ordered, please let us know about these other factors…
billy
May 6, 2016 at 5:53 pm #3400526Ordered two of these a couple of months ago from REI. One was 11.5 oz. and the other was 15 oz. Width varied from 21 3/4 inch to 21 7/8 in.
May 7, 2016 at 12:51 am #3400619If it’s the same thickness but at a lower weight, I would think it must be less dense material, therefore not last all that long. I have an very well used thermarest z-lite sit pad and next to a new pad it’s lost about half it’s thickness from compression.
May 13, 2016 at 7:46 pm #340235111.31 ounces on my scale. I still may use it paired up under my uninsulated Klymit static V pad. The size is a good match. But the slightly wider width of this pad (21 3/4″) makes a bulky item to pack.
The cushioning of the pad is quite a bit better than I expected for it’s thickness. The long time durability is unknown, but i expect similar to other foam pads that I have owned. I have no reason to expect less. I just tried it briefly on the tile floor. I have not slept with this pad yet.
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