Gossamer Gear - Thinlight Foam Pad - 1/8"

I have both versions. The darker is slightly smaller in width. It's definitely more durable but not by a significant amount.

I have both versions. The darker is slightly smaller in width. It's definitely more durable but not by a significant amount.

[Gossamer Gear Thinlight Pad](https://www.gossamergear.com/products/thinlight-foam-pad) ON TOP of your inflatable pad and not below it. Years ago Bill (hammock maker and thru hiker) over at Whiteblaze ran some tests on which inflatable/ccf combo was best and he and others found that placing the ccf pad on top of the inflatable pad created a warmer environment in cold temps. I started using that same method a few years ago during a February hike on the AT and found it much better than the other way around.

It will pop.  I bring an Exped Flexmat Plus torso length and a Thinlight full size. Comfy, UL, versatile and never deflates.

A 1/8 GG Thinlight has very little insulating value - it's not enough on it's on in most circumstances. It's also not very comfortable - some campsites may be fine if you dig out a hole for your hip and have a soft surface, but for many campsites it wouldn't be enough for most people. If you want to go CCF at least go with a Z-lite. The poster above was just making a joke being UL. Nobody would actually recommend you ONLY take a 1/8" pad on a thru hike. There may be people who have - I'm friends with a guy who uses a 45\* bag down to 15\*F - he is just better than most at dealing with discomfort - anyways if you're one of those people that could just use an 1/8" pad, you'd know it!

Last summer I slept on a Gossamer Gear nightlight pad with a thinlight pad folded in half for my lower body. I put small velcro dots on each so that I could get them to stay together at night. The nightlight pad is quite hard compared to other pads. It's also very large in dimensions (the panels are wider than the accordion folded pads) when folded which can be annoying. It's nice that it is very stiff because it makes a good structure for your pack if you have the room to put it inside.

I have one of these, it's my absolute favorite, and versatile piece of hiking gear. There are SO many incredible uses. For the price and weight, it's a no brainer.

If you only want it as a base or protection for your actual mat, there are much lighter options. Like the Gossammer Thinlight. If you want a closed cell foam mat to sleep on the Nemo Switchback is better than the Term A Rest Z-Lite.

I’m not sure why everyone is griping about cleaning the thin light pad. I’ve owned mine for several years in SE US and just shook it to remove dirt just fine. Using the pad in the desert you could pick up cactus or goat heads, so definitely be careful in the mid and west US states. I’ll lay on it totally stretched out for yoga, and by the fire or against a tree or on a log folded up… endless uses.. no dedicated sit pad needed….

I use that exact pad for that exact use. I also like to use it when hammock camping! It doesn’t add a huge r-value, but it’s enough to take my pad from “too cold on snow” to “comfortable on snow” and make a 50 degree night in a hammock doable. Also nice for yoga in the mornings! The only downside is that it is a bit absorbent, so I can’t use it to sit on in snow when mountaineering.

I have that exact pad and use it under my thermarest. My only advice would be to resist the temptation to also use it as a sit pad around camp because it will collect tiny prickly things that might puncture the air mattress.

Yup; I use this one under my Tensor on particularly rocky ground.

I use Gossamer Gears 1/8 pad as my back pad for my pack so it kills two birds with one stone

I find that works very well (with gossamer gear thinpad and tensor) and if you bring an emergency mylar blanket to throw under that, it works better than an all seasons pad IMO. Also little things like pushing a bunch of leaves under your tent spot can do wonders. Backpacking brands are like any other company in capitalism where their sales success depends on convincing you you needs 10x different types of soap to be clean, 5x different types of jackets to be warm..etc I did a major and successful downsizing to 1 tent, 1 sleeping bag, 1 air mattress, 1 backpack... i could go on. It worked well across all seasons in the mid-atlantic which gets a lot of different types of weather.

I recommend a thin foam pad like a Gossamer Gear Thinlight for underneath if you're worried about punctures, although modern backpacking inflatables are not as susceptible as your basic Intex/etc

I think they've updated the foam quite recently - but I haven't tried this new kind yet, only the previous one which grass could indeed poke through.

I find it mid as a sit pad, personally. Fine for sitting on rocks or grass, but unlike the egg-crate style ones, it absorbs water. So sitting on it on wet ground? Butt still gets wet. And it wets through as a mountaineering sit pad for snow, too. Totally love mine, sees a ton of use. But yeah, not great for sitting IMO.

The foam pad is easy: Gossamer Gear Thinlite. ~3oz and around $25. Many put it on top of their inflatable because it insulates better than inflatables. Probably something about the foam density. For the inflatable it’s less clear. Lots of personal preference. A small mummy pad will be lightest. If there’s an REI Re/supply they usually have lightly used pads for 50% off. Got a Thermarest Xlite for $100.

Take them both 100%. The thinlight stops the neoair from moving/ sliding around, or sharp sticks puncturing it. Thinlight is great back up if neo air pops. It’s so light, it does double duty for stretching, fast breaks, extra backing in frameless pack. Take it!( I’ve many with it on the PCT)

If packed space is that much of a premium, I would go with the Nemo tensor elite (packed inside the 12L), with a 1/8” thinlight CCF pad on the outside. The Nemo elite is ridiculously small when packed down. The addition of the CCF gets you to right around 3 r value and adds in some protection for the pad and some flexibility if the pad ever happens to bust.

My setup is a GG 1/8th (5 panels, cut off 2 and carry a sit pad) along with a thermarest Neo air xl - all in, right around $250. I’m an AT thru hiker and setting out with this gear on the pct in 2 weeks

I have cut various CCF pads down to 6- 10 panels and just take whatever I think I will need. My go to is mostly the Nemo Switchback. If the ground is especially hard,I triple up my GG thinlight if I have it for under my hips, or if no thinlight put my puffy under my hips if they are feeling a bit tender. The Switchback is fine on its own though in most situations. I am a female side sleeper :-) The simplicity of CCF is bliss.

I have the gossamer pad. It’s great but fragile. It’s rips/tears easily. If used as directed and carefully though, it’s great.

It looks like you're responding to the convo above but the idea of using an inflatable for the torso with pack or equivalent on the legs/feet has many advantages. It's both lighter and has an inherent element of redundancy. If the inflatable fails beyond repair, there's still some kind of insulation for the torso. I just came back from a trip on which I used an old Xtherm torso pad with a GG folding pad that was part of my pack. The old Xtherm only weighs 269g and is much closer to the ground which puts less stress on the knees. The GG pad is 74g. The combo is significantly lighter than a regular Xlite *and* it has inherent redundancy. The Tensor Elite short isn't really a torso length. I'm 170cm and the Tensor Elite short is 160cm. It's too bad Nemo doesn't offer a genuinely torso length version.

Consider adding the GG ThinLight and MLD GoodNight foam pads. I would bet that between those two pads (that get used with many other type inflatables pads and used alone) they are two of the most popular sleep pads around. Tens of thousands have been sold over the years, as many or maybe even more than most any other single style pad from even the big manufacturers.

Closed Cell Foam ftw. They're bomb proof, warmer than equivalent R value blow up pads, much cheaper and serve as a siesta or sit pad. The Exped Flexmat Plus is the comfiest at 1.5 inches thickness.  I cut mine to torso length and combine it with a Gossamer Gear 1/8 inch Thinlight (full length). No blowing up, no popping.

I haven't used it standalone below 2C. In winters gobe by, I have "stacked" with GG thinlight, Switchback and Klymit Xlite torso size (it's kinda like a frame rather than a total inflatable). Or another combo was Switchback with shorter sections of Exoed Flexmat- orange one. This is my conundrum at the moment, and I have moved to a much colder climate. I have ordered a thermarest womens prolite plus self inflating mat in short 120cm size as when side sleeping that will have all but my toes on it anyway. It's R Value is 3.6 I think and it weighs 450g. With a CCF I think I will be ok subzero as anecdotally I fond ccf in those conditions perform better than the R value would suggest, whereas the inflatables I had pre-2021 always seemed to perform worse than advertised. I know it seems very old-fashioned and not UL to get a SI mat, but unless I really have to get an inflatable mat for Winter, I would really rather not.

This is exactly fucking right regardless of what the CCF Crusader is gonna go on about. Things I use my Thinlight for: back pad, sit pad, windscreen, yoga mat, anti-slip mat, welcome mat, pad protection, additional pad insulation. If I'm going on a social trip with friends where I know we're going to be sitting around a campfire for hours and I'm bringing a chair, it's also insulation for my back and butt while I'm in it. I pack very few things that are as multi-use as that stupid pad and it is asinine to act like the only point for it is to sleep on, uncomfortably. So yes, if I bring a lighter inflatable to save weight, I'm saving weight.