Having recently had to mend a faulty valve, and then find a puncture, on my (very expensive!) ultralight inflatable mat, I bought a back up in the form of a (very cheap - £4.00) foam roll mat. I've just spent two nights sleeping on the foam roll mat and had the best two nights sleep on it I can remember. I still can't really believe how less than 1cm of foam could induce such a good night's sleep.
I'm seriously considering exploring the slightly thicker foam mat options out there - ZLite Sol, Highlander NATO, etc. etc. The thought of never having to worry about punctures again, and not sliding off an inflatable (I roll about a lot in my sleep) is getting my interest.
Has anyone else gone back to foam roll mats after a few years on more expensive inflatables? Many years ago when I was a slip of a girl the foam roll mats were all we really had when tramping round backpacking, I may be going full circle!
Aye. Me. Use a mutimat ccf mat most nights backpacking. 145g. 4 season. I still have thermarest but flogged the down mats. Zero redundancy. Maybe not as comfortable as they seemed to be 30-40 years ago but not bad.
They're still used by polar expeditions although R ratings much lower than inflatable insulated mats. R value is important to marketeers, social media influencers & instant experts but when it comes to ccf mats I thinks its boll...s.
The only time I use a karrimat now is to stick under my inflatable in the winter. I couldn't go back to sleeping on a karrimat alone. My back wouldn't thank me and I probably wouldn't be able to walk back out. I like the comfort of a full length thick insulated blow up mat.
------------- Hypercamp Alaska
Vango Force 10 mk3
Vango F10 Helium 1
Coleman Cobra Pro 3
Coleman Cobra 2
Naturehike Star River 2
Eureka! Solitaire
Dutch army goretex bivvy bag
The only real bother I get is with my hip on really hard ground being a side sleeper. I'm hoping shedding some bodyweight will help there. I do have to be more careful with pitch choice as CCF mats aren't so forgiving of lumps underneath.
As per spiritburner...Multimat do a range of quality stuff at slightly more sensible prices. I use one of their 50XXL mats base camping...most impressive.
However often on my own I use a mechanics closed cell foam mat...5 cms. In the canoe, the can fulfil 3 functions...
1/ a kneeling mat in the boat and on site
2/ converts to a fabulous seat with a thermarest seat kit.
3/ an excellent 3/4 body sleep mat
Interesting! Funny thing is, I'm broadly a side sleeper but find with the thin, cheap little foam mat I've been really comfortable. I slept again on the cheap foam mat another couple of nights last week and don't find it bothers my hip. I've been suffering a little bit of "small of the back" ache in rent months which I think is just middle age and carrying a little too much weight but sleeping on the hard ground with the mat seems to leave me less stiff in the morning than with the inflatable. Guessing there are so many different variables that come into play with all of us what suits one won't suit another. I think I'm going to buy the OEX foam roll mat when I get paid - currently down to £11.99 in Go Outdoors with their discount card and see how I get on with it. Just love the idea of never having to bother about punctures!
Aye. Their toughness is reassuring. I line my pack with mine & pack my gear in the middle. Good way to minimise impact of their bulk if you don't want to carry it outside pack