Therm-a-Rest - NeoLoft™ Sleeping Pad

I have the thermarest neoloft ($200 on sale) and some random trekology one, the ul120 ($50)and for 3 seasons i still prefer the $50 one. Honestly with a decent closed cell foam pad underneath it ive even slept plenty warm into the high 30s with the ul120. Weight is even similar. Obviously r value is the big difference but i don't know if its worth the cost.

I recently bought both the neoloft and the Zenbivy Flex Air. Both have 4-way stretch fabrics on the sleeping side which help reduce pressure points. I think the neoloft is slightly more comfortable but honestly they’re pretty similar, and the zenbivy is ~1/2lb lighter. The zenbivy is a little louder when you move around but it’s not crazy or super crinkley. Before these I was sleeping on the Zenbivy UL mattress and I think the stretch fabric definitely improves the comfort at the cost of a few ounces.

2 things here, time of year is key, the other is age. even late spring, in the uplands in the UK you can get hyperthermia pretty easily without decent ground insulation. You mention student, so i'm guessing circa 17-22. You should be able to sleep on a roll mat just fine at thatt age with, esp after a day's hard PT in the outdoors. For this if you want to save money, forget amazon entirely and look at an army foam matt, or a thermarest one if want to buy from a regular shop. Both will keep you alive and insulated in all weathers. As for airpads, they are a liability. I know i've had most brands over the years and the reality is there is no cutting corners. Sure can get a cheap one from amazon, say trekology one of the better one's but know it will fail, and its not a question of if, but when. Note a non insulated airpad, you will have a very very uncomforable night, as in freezing. I've been all over, all different terrains and super remote, a hard foam matt will never fail and you should always carry one, even if you have a top of the range airmat, because without one, if the airpad fails your screwed. As for air pads themselves. My advice is having tried all leading brands, save up and get a thermorest neoair (avoid uber) and go for a xtherm if wanting winter, and the normal(yellow) one if 3 season. yes they are expensive but if they fail (which out of all the matt's ive had over the years are the most reliable) the customer service is second to none, you will get a replacement. So you can buy x number of cheap pads without any ability to get a replacement a year down the road, but over the seasons it adds up. So best advice, is save up a little, make home brew to save money lol, and buy once, but buy quality. The other thing is sleeping bags, and again that becomes very costly. If your young and thus should be fit and thus your not worrying about every gram, look no further than uk ex military surplus stock for sleeping systems/bags. They will last, are well proven and just work.

Love my neoloft. Not UL but soooo comfortable and no noise at all

I have used the xl disco cots, and those are very comfortable. From there one of the 4” thick memory foam sleeping pads. Both can be a bit bulky, but very comfortable. I also recently got the thermarest neoloft which I plan to use more when flying someplace because of how small it packs down.

Get something with a super high R rating - higher than you think you need. Look for a baffling system that is either dimpled or vertical. For whatever reason, horizontal baffles don’t have a lot of “give” to them so they are less comfortable for side sleepers in general.  Therm-a-Rest Neoair Xtherm is probably the warmest pad out there (not the highest R rating per se but the most effective insulation system means it is still warmer than other pads with higher R values). It may not the most comfortable for a side sleeper because of the horizontal baffles, however. But this is the pad you want if you want to prioritize warmth. If you want to prioritize comfort, Sea to Summit Ether Light XR Pro will probably not sleep as warm but will be more comfortable for a side sleeper because of the dimpled baffling system. Nemo Tensor Extreme Conditions is also very warm and only slightly less comfy than the Ether Light.  Exped Ultra 7R is a bit heavier and bulkier but is very comfy for a side sleeper. It uses down rather than reflective film for insulation. So it won’t be quite as crinkly as a lot of warm pads, but I’m not sure if the down insulation is more or less effective in this application.  Big Agnes Campmeister Deluxe is quite bulky and heavy for a backpacking pad but is super, super comfortable and has a very respectable R value of 7.  The other big, bulky “luxury” comfort backpacking pads - Exped Megamat Ultra and Therm-a-Rest Neoloft - are great options for comfort but with lower R values so they may be less warm than you might want.  Other things to consider - even a well-insulated sleeping pad will only stay as warm as your body is able to heat it. The bigger the pad, the more of your body’s heat it will draw away from you. So don’t buy a massively oversized sleeping pad thinking it will automatically be more comfortable. For insulating purposes, something that is only as big as you need it to be will be more efficient for your body to keep warm.  Make sure you take advantage of all the usual strategies for staying warm in the backcountry: Use your Nalgene as a hot water bottle and keep it in your sleeping bag/quilt with at night. Do some jumping jacks or other activity to get your heartrate and body temperature up before going to bed. Make sure you are properly hydrated and getting enough food to keep warm. Etc. 

It's very simple if it blows up with air and inflates - at SOME point it's gonna get a hole in it. That's life! The whole air mattress thing started with Therm-a-rest's and they were pretty tough back then, now with everybody sporting hard-on's for "ultralight" gear its gonna get worse. Same goes for actual air mattress, you can sleep on them but if you're not in Texas or Arizona yer still gonna freeze your butt off. Here's why ....... People these days buy inflatable pads for the comfort, but you really need them for the insulative qualities they actually provide. Don't believe me go sleep on the actual ground one night. When you crawl in to your sleeping bag you actually crush the down or syntho fill in the bag so there is no insulation there under you and the cold even in summer can seep right in. You need a pad under you to keep you off the ground ..... the best ones for that are still the cheap blue ensolite foamy's you buy at the cheaper stores but yes, for comfort they suck. There is a yellow thicker brand called Zotefoams Evazote and they got up to an inch thick but I haven't seem them for years but they were good quality and tough and CAN'T deflate ! So ultimately if you want comfort you need to go buy a big chunk of open cell white foam four inches thick and 7 feet long like you see in hobby stores - mega comfy and the size of a house! But now you can't pack it anyway so you're back to the blow up pads - and that's it. You can go to stores and look at stuff like Futons and crap but they don't pack well ! Heck even Ikea makes a folding mattress but again good luck carrying it around, right? Pick one but they WILL get a hole in them at some point however you can try to limit that with a cot. I've used them for years and its nice. I'm gonna suggest a Cabella's Lounger Cot but they are $350 bloody bucks and the same goes a real camping pad, something like a Exped Megamat itself is $400 bucks by itself. The two cots I wanna get are gonna cost me $405 bucks so add in two decent pads like Expeds and they're $500 .... great huh? It's nuts at a thousand bucks! I actually might just go get some memory foam cut at an RV store and use that. They can't deflate and its about the same bloody price as these inflatable ones, granted it won't be near as packable and portable but both my Thermarest leak, both my Big Agnes pad leak, even the TWO Coleman air beds leak, you can't win. My tent is 210 sq feet and 10 feet tall so I don't need backpack-ability either ........

Throw a thermarest on top of a Walmart foam pad lol save yourself some money on the process. Otherwise I would just stick to Thermarest.

The issue I have with the Neoloft is it makes my shoulder numb. I spend most of my time on my side, but I toss and turn like crazy. I was playing around with the inflation level but so far haven't solved the numbness issue. Other than that, I agree with you it's probably the most comfortable pad I've yet tried. The Big Agnes Divide is very good and weighs about the same. Both these pads are just under 2lbs if you get the Wide version. This one has vertical baffles that I think work better for me, especially as a very active sleeper to keep me centered. No numbness. I have a CCF Switchback that I only used once without much grass under it. It was hard on my back and pretty much makes side sleeping impossible. I want to try it again with some taller grass underneath to pad it. There may be some times where the weight savings are worth.

This comes up a lot. Search the sub for ‘mat’ for loads of replies. For me, thermarest, but I’ll break your budget unless you can get one second hand.

The Neoloft is very stable for me when it’s not under-inflated. It wants a bit more tension than thinner pads. I have a lighter weight pad for backpacking but in other camping situations I love it.

Best sleeping pad is a 1,000% subjective. Different pads will be comfortable to different people depending on their preferences and sleeping habits, and the most important thing is finding a sleeping pad that is comfortable for you to sleep on. Now, there are **objective** differences between sleeping pads when it comes to things like price, R value, weight, packability, durability, etc. Many of these qualities are going to be directly antithetical to each other (e.g. higher R values and durability are generally going to come with a weight penalty; lighter weights/more packable are almost always going to be more expensive as well as more delicate). You just gotta try to find the pad that feels comfortable to you AND has the best combination of those objective qualities that matter most to you. Personally I've settled on the Therm-A-Rest Neoloft as my 3-season pad and the BA Campmeister Deluxe as my colder weather pad. Those pads are bigger and heavier than a lot of options on the market but they are super comfortable for me to sleep on and are made from more durable materials (75D on the BA and I believe 50D top/75D bottom on the Neoloft) so hopefully the odds of me waking up on a flat pad on cold hard ground are greatly reduced. Although I do also own a Nemo Tensor if I ever feel like I need to go super light for some reason. I am lucky to be in a position to own several high-end sleeping pads to keep around as options for different conditions!

I haven’t slept on them outside yet but my living room tests felt like the Zenbivy slept noticeably warmer than the neoloft

we each have a folding cot with a thermarest and a sleeping bag. we go car camping so it all fits in the back seat and the trunk. We also have (what they call) a seven person tent, but it fits our cots and a folding table comfortably, and we can stand up in it.

Get a thermarest sleeping pad. They hold up long term. I had one for 10 years and it's fine, but I upgraded to a thicker, wider, and longer model with a better R value as I got older and fatter. You can inflate them by blowing into them, no air pump needed.

I am a Neoloft user and it is worth every ounce IMO. I still keep my base weight below 15 pounds with it. Not great, but not bad at all.

The neoloft is a game changer!!! Absolutely worth the extra weight.

For a while, being broad-shouldered, I thought I needed a wide pad but eventually learned how to sleep with a 20” wide pad. But before that, I cut the bottom 21” off my regular wide Thermarest and found that easy to adapt to. It reduced the weight of a 16 oz mattress to only 12 oz, as well as reducing bulk. Cutting a thermarest mattress is surprisingly easy. The key is to cut such that your knees are supported by the pad. The feet can rest on your backpack, spare clothes, and/or sit pad. More comfortable than you would think.

Both times I’ve hiked the PCT my thermarests have popped in the desert . The first time it was an older thermarest that had already seen a bit of action . The second time it was early on in my hike and it was the one I’d replaced the previous one with! After that I went CCF pad and was absolutely fine with it. In many ways, I prefer it.

I am fortunate enough to have both the mega mat and the new Neoloft I’ll skip to the end and tell you that the megamat wins-that layer of foam right under the surface combine with its thickness is just unbeatable, and it is darn close to a real bed. But I have the Neo loft because it’s really comfortable, it does have a bit more give, and isn’t so supportive in some places as the mega mat. But it rolls up into a very small role that I can throw into my pack, or check on an airplane or whatever. I have back problems and can sleep perfectly well on both pads, but the mega mat is just a bit more comfortable and supportive. But it’s absolutely huge.

Ooh wait! The new Neo Loft in Large would be real nice. https://www.rei.com/product/241039/therm-a-rest-neoloft-sleeping-pad

I have tried the tensor / helix / ether lite / neo air X lite. A couple I’m forgetting. For me as a side sleeper the neoloft is far and away the most comfortable pad I have ever slept on. No more waking in the night with asleep / sore shoulders. I sleep through the night more often then Not. It’s a bit bigger and heavier than other pads, but man the sleep quality is worth it for me.

I have a chronic spinal injury and bought the Wide Neoloft for comfort - I have 3 nights on it and found it to be very stable, warm and comfortable... Compared to previous Sea to Summit and Nemo mats, this is exceptionally comfortable and in my opinion money well spent.

Take a look at my post history, my most recent post in this sub might be helpful to you. Fwiw i did try out a neoloft on my last trip and it is SO comfy, I'm just not sure yet if it's comfy enough for the weight penalty. The quality of my sleep did not improve, at least according to my Garmin watch. I'm trying out some new pillows on this next trip too, including the Nemo fillo (not the elite version, that's what I have used in the past) and the thermarest pillow that comes in all the cute prints.

Follow your instincts. You will not find a pad (which qualifies as a backpacking pad) more comfortable than NeoLoft. The closest is the discontinued NeoAir Topo Luxe, which NeoLoft replaced. Pro tip: Buy the NeoAir Micro Pump

This ?? Helped my bad back side sleeping immeasurably

For one year trip I would use something cheaper, more sturdy than ultralight. Thermarest often listed is great but £50 decathlon air mat is more sustainable, you'll have less stress. To increase R factor, you can add some CCF pad.

I did the PCT with just the thermarest and it was fine. I did the AZT with Thermarest and 1/8" foam pad and it was awesome. I slept much warmer and it was very nice to have the foam pad for breaks.

If you plan to sleep in shelters at all, you definitely want something under your pad to protect it from splinters and nails. My first thermarest popped in TN due to me raw dogging it in shelters. For my second pad, I got a sheet of tyvek and it made it all the way to Maine without any issues.

Yes.  Until I just got a huge one. Thermarest neoloft.   I got it as my prior one was deflating overnight so I decided to upgrade.   It's incredibly light and supportive and amazingly thick (comes with a bag to inflate it, it's really simple and clever, blowing up that much vokume by lung power would not be fun if exhausted.   I have yet to take it out on a trail since I got it but set it up at home and was impressed.  Give it some research if you're interested.  It's not cheap, but sleep is hard for me as I worn wierd schedules, so I figured splurging a bit to sleep comfy outside was worth it for me.  

Neoloft Thermarest sooooo much smaller same comfort

I know its not exactly ultralight, but you ranked comfort first so i suggest you take a look at the new thermarest NeoLoft. Just released. I guess it has the best comfort/weight ratio while weighing 850 gramms, but for me, the 400 extra gramms are worth the best sleep ever

I tried the neoloft in rei. At first I thought I found heaven. Then I moved and it felt kind of rolly-bouncy in a way that made me almost feel seasick. I think it was too thick.

thermarest neoloft ????