Therm-a-Rest - NeoAir Xtherm Series

XTherm seems to be the gold standard currently and is what I have. I have nothing but good things to say about it - super warm, super light, decently comfortable, and (from my experience) durable

It's tough to find a quality sleeping pad with an R-Value of 5 around the $100 price point. What type of weather will you be hiking in? My off the cuff recommendation within your budget is the [Kylmit Static V (Insulated) ](https://amzn.to/4irkjTc). It's got an (alleged) R-Value of 4.4. I have their non-insulated version of this pad as a spare pad that friends borrow for summer hikes. It's lightweight and comfortable. I've heard that the insulated version (linked above) is on the "Meh" side of the spectrum for R. If you really need an R-Value of at least 5, I'd go higher and go with a [Thermorest](https://amzn.to/4htamDn). I don't like being cold at night ?? I've got a slightly older version of this pad and it's super warm and comfortable, though it's a little "crinkly" when you move around.

Personally (I�m in my 40s and a side sleeper) an Xtherm or Xlite is one of my favorite purchases. But everyone has different needs. I�m a fan of not buying new things until you actually need them. Or you are sure that your goals will outgrow your gear. A cheap inflatable is definitely not worth it.

If you have something you�re happy with, decline to participate in outdoor culture�s fascination with over consumption. That said, getting an expensive XTherm pad completely changed the range of temps I�m stoked to be out in.

It depends on your conditions. I have a full length Xtherm for 40f nights but the half sized Xlite (now discontinued?) for 60f nights. It�s great, good weight savings. Sometimes put my backpack under my feet, but generally I�m not that fussy.

The Xtherm was a total game changer for me. The warmth from the reflective technology makes a huuuge difference

Thermarest Xtherm for me.

15F frequently or �just in case�? This is my set up: Xtherm Thermarest, 0F Enlightened Equipment Enigma (bought in 2021, I�ve heard their quality is decreasing), 90gsm alpha fleece sleeping layer. SMD�s Gatewood Cape , which offers minimal heat trapping. I feel good to 20F. I�d be uncomfortable but ok at 15F. If my tarp isn�t cutting the wind well enough, I�ll also sleep in my rain layers. There�s no one �true�/�best� way. It�s going to depend on your body, your baselayers and how much comfort you want. Alpha fleece is incredible, but only if you take care of it and have a wind layer. 850 or better down is going to be a good thing to look at. Lighter materials need more care/are more fragile. Thicker material on a sleeping bag will also cut wind better, but be heavier. Managing sweat and condensation is also going to be a big part of being warm. https://preview.redd.it/ql5u7bcm7b6f1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3447a515da55f7c7c722dd870512568afebd5473

You'll never regret being warm. Go for high r value. I have a thermarest xtherm which is a whooping 7.3r value. It's absolutely the warmest pad I've ever owned. It however is very crinkly sounding, so much so that I can't recommend it. (Newer versions may be better I hear) Go for the higher r value pads. It's worth the extra weight.

You should go to REI if you can and try out different pads. I had a very hard time sleeping on the neoair, the horizontal baffles killed my shoulders (Im a side sleeper). I recently got an exped 5r mummy which is still under a lb depending on size. I love it. Its so comfortable, it feels sturdy, doesnt slide around. I sleep better than I ever got on the trail I love it. I think its a nice balance between very light & obscenely heavy (like the neoloft).

Yep I bring two pads as well. Although my system is a little bit different in that I use an X-therm combined with a 80x40 1/8th pad as my floor and then can fold it down in an emergency. I'm surprised that worked for you. I know when I had first gotten my sulo I took it down to 22F on snow with just a nemo switchback because that's all I owned and could very easily feel the cold from the pad

I have both the XTherm and Nemo Tensor All Season. The Nemo is more comfortable, so that�s the one I tend to bring. I�m a very cold sleeper though. If it�s below freezing, neither pad feels warm enough, so I need a CCF pad on top.

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.

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.�

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.

Pretty sure the reactor is the best. And the obvious pad recommendation for you is the Xtherm

I don't think the comfort is the best for the Xtherm, but it's comfortable enough for me. And very warm, I have yet to feel cold when using it (in Norway and Iceland for instance).

Xtherm neoair, very impressed, almost too warm for the conditions I ended up in but it surpassed expectations Being more comfortable, pratical to use and less noisy than reviews had suggested. Seemed robust enough with my use directly onto the floor too. Can't wait for winter and a real test!

Plus one. I have a therm-a-rest Xtherm, two cheap Amazon pads (they didn�t last), a Big Agnes, and I�ve tried the foam pads (they�re not for me). Exped seems to have the best tech. Their pads are quiet, comfy, reliable, and I love the synthetic down on the inside

Thermarest Neo-air x-lite for 3 seasons use or the x-therm if you are looking at colder weather. Yes they are expensive but they have a lifetime warranty and great customer service

I�ve used the xterme since it came out with zero problem. At the beginning of last summer I bought the xlite and it immediately leaked. Used it for about 10 nights and took it back to REI. Never again.

Thermarest Neoair Xtherm or Xlite are my picks.

Then it�s a CCF pad for you. I�ve had no issues with reliability. I�ve owned an Uberlite and two Neoairs (NXT and non). But if something can break, it will eventually. I�d recommend babying it, in every way (site selection and clearing, handling, etc.).

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.

XTherm seems to be the gold standard currently and is what I have. I have nothing but good things to say about it - super warm, super light, decently comfortable, and (from my experience) durable

I have the Thermarest NeoAir XTherm (max) and freakin love it. Yes it sounds like a crinkly bag of chips, but I sleep with earplugs. It is VERY warm, well made, and surprisingly light/compact. I just went with the idea of "buy one really damn good pad" and then not have to think of it every again - I slept in moroccan desert and high arctic with it - very enjoyable!

I've 200+ nights on my NeoAir. I've patched a couple holes over that time, but it was easy to identify and fix them in the field. Cascade Designs, the parent company of thermarest, will replace your pad if there's a defect in it (I've warrantied an MSR tent with them). Thru hikers use inflatable pads and do just fine. Are you having this problem with multiple brands and models? Are you super heavy? Are you sleeping wearing anything that is metal? Maybe get a gossamer gear 1/8" foam pad and put it underneath your inflatable.

THIS! The new one is perfectly fine! I�ve used it on a 10 day trip above the arctic circle and i slept really well, every single evening!

I went kayak camping pretty recently. I doubled up and packed my thermarest neo-air in my kayak since it packs down so small, then I tucked a foldable foam pad to the top of the boat.l under the bungee lines. It got wet but the material doesn't hold water so it worked out. I'm a bit of a princess when it comes to my sleep set up and this worked pretty well. To sleep I put the foam pad down then the thermarest over it.

Great summary! FWIW my (particularly specific) alternate take on sizing is: having a Neoair Xtherm revolutionized my experience on the trail thanks to a proper nights sleep (including on snow) - HOWEVER my first one was standard width, and my brain never fully shook the underlaying feeling that I was about to roll off (obligate side sleeper, so always a degree of instability). I did use my pack to my back to help ease this, but very suboptimal, especially in a small or shared tent. Getting the wide version was the final peg in giving me a warm stress free sleep - the increased weight was negligible for me in this case. Of course everyone�s mileage will vary wildly, but sometimes it�s the myriad little things that make the difference - I always recommend trying to find a friend or rental you can try your top 2-3 options in the field before sinking the dough :)

I would not recommend a ccf pad though I take a small piece to sit/kneel on at camp. Found the Thermarest Neo-air uncomfortable and a pain to inflate; bought a Klymit Static V2 at less than half the cost and they�re definitely on to something with their design. It�s a few more ounces than the neoair. I�m a side and stomach sleeper and slept like a baby on my last 5-night trip. It seems thin at first so I was skeptical but its wide/channeled design does a miraculous job of cradling your body and distributing the weight. Honestly, best pad I�ve used backpacking in 25 years.

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 ........

For solo? Assuming you don�t need a free standing tent, take a look at Mier Lanshan 1P on Amazon. It uses a trekking pole. I have like a 16 year old NeoAir pad which rolls up slightly smaller than a Nalgene. It�s kinda pricey but they still make them.

The therm-a-rest is the most popular and i have the blue one but depending on the conditions you camp in you could pick the lighter one (yellow). That being said this one and the nemo extreme conditions will have higher denier material underneath which makes them less prone to puncture. I don�t know about the other ones on top of my head. Nemo and thermarest both have good warranties and spare parts, so I�d be leaning towards that. It�s polarizing but both are known to make a lot og noise no matter what they claim.

That's still not true though. An X-therm weighs 16oz and has a R value of 7.3. Whereas a z-lite weighs 14oz and has a R value of 2. Even if we assume that foam pads perform above their stated r value you would still need multiple to match the warmth of a single inflatable.

When I was younger I got a 3/4 length therma rest sleeping pad for a backpacking trip to save on weight. It worked it was fine for the trip, I'm really short anyway and didn't notice. 12 years later I used it again and let my bf use the full body one because he had never gone real camping before. Oh man, I can sleep through a lot and pretty easily. That was the most uncomfortable I've been in years sleeping on the ground. Get one. You'll regret it.

It's tough to find a quality sleeping pad with an R-Value of 5 around the $100 price point. What type of weather will you be hiking in? My off the cuff recommendation within your budget is the [Kylmit Static V (Insulated) ](https://amzn.to/4irkjTc). It's got an (alleged) R-Value of 4.4. I have their non-insulated version of this pad as a spare pad that friends borrow for summer hikes. It's lightweight and comfortable. I've heard that the insulated version (linked above) is on the "Meh" side of the spectrum for R. If you really need an R-Value of at least 5, I'd go higher and go with a [Thermorest](https://amzn.to/4htamDn). I don't like being cold at night ?? I've got a slightly older version of this pad and it's super warm and comfortable, though it's a little "crinkly" when you move around.

Exped megamat for car camping, thermarest neoair for backpacking

Auspost delivered a new S2S Etherlight XR (regular Mummy) this morning so I set it up next to my old Thermarest Xtherm (2020 model) - Here are my first impressions. **Comfort** \- It feels more comfortable than my Xtherm. At 10cm thick it is much more plush. **Size/shape** \- The extra 4cm in width feels good. I am a 181cm, 100kg side sleeper and this feels like a better size and shape for me. It is also wider near the foot which is very welcome. **Profile** \- the Etherlight is higher at the sides than in the middle which feels a lot more stable. The Xtherm with its horizontal baffles regularly made me feel as though I was about to roll off the side. **Noise** \- They are roughly the same in volume but it is a different sound. The Xtherm sounded like a muted chip packet - still crinkly but not as noisy as the old Xlite. The Etherlight sounds more like a thick balloon - still makes a noise but a lower pitch. **Weight** \- Heavier. On my scales the Xtherm is 440g. S2S was 481g. **Warmth** \- The design looks pretty good. The new Etherlight uses reflective aluminium film - similar to the thermarest. The welds use a loop in the centre so it maintains an air gap even at the weld. Will actually take a few nights outside to really tell. I am not expecting it to be as warm as my old mat but we shall see. **Slipperyness** \- The fabric feels a little more grippy than the Xtherm so hopefully won't slip around as much. Once again - will need a few nights in the outdoors to really tell. **Packability -** Great. It folds down to same size as the Xtherm. I believe is a great improvement over the old Etherlight XT due to the new insulation. So on most points the Etherlight looks to be a winner. Size, shape and comfort is great. Weight is a bit higher and warmth is TBD but I feel like this is going to be my main mat form here on.

The thermarest Neo air mats are lightweight and good quality, if a little pricey. MEC alternatives aren�t bad either. I prefer a foam/air mix pad and have been really happy with the one I have form Sea to Summit. If you want to be on the inexpensive side, look at Woods or Decathalon, but expect more weight.

I would very highly recommend a quilt sleeping bag. I have a katabatic gear palisade and I love it. https://katabaticgear.com/collections/elite-quilts/products/palisade-ultralight-quilt I use it with thermarest xtherm and when it gets cold enough you just use the straps. You can roll inside of it without moving the bag.

i have a therma neo air therm--good. but what makes it great is the 1cm closed cell foam pad that i bring along with it--keeps me xtra warm at night, but more importantly is a great lounging pad in the winter kitchen and kneeling pad at the tent door etc

Our family recently went camping with cub scouts last month, it was my wife's first time camping. She had a horrible night's sleep on the thermarest inflatable pad I had, so bad it was more comfortable to sleep on the ground without it. I've been eying a megamat for a while now, and this was enough for me get ready to finally pull the trigger. Now I'm trying to figure out which one to get. We have another camping trips planned with cub scouts in May, but the REI deals seems like the best time to buy. Do I get the long x-wide for my wife for \~$155? or the duo since we'll always be camping with the kids for \~$251? then will the kids fight for the good pad, and I'll need to get a second duo (also I kinda want one for myself) but now that's over $500 in sleeping pads, which seems egregious. If anyone with a family who's navigated this could chime in it would be appreciated. Thanks!

One Tigris isn't a brand I would ever personally consider, usually poorly designed and often more expensive than similar products. This mat is another example of this. For a budget "4 season" mat the Bestway is less than this. If you require a mat that will take you down to such low temperatures I would be looking for something that has been tried and tested in those conditions e.g Thermarest X-therm.

Have you considered a camping cot? There are a lot of ultralight options now which are about the same price as a good sleeping pad for side sleepers. The only difference being is the weight, you�re looking at around 1.5kg for a cot bed which would be double the weight of a sleeping pad. For me, the extra weight is worth it for the comfort. For context I�ve tried Therm-a-Rest, Big Agnes and Nemo mats. If I�m going for comfort, the cot bed wins every time.

The idea that you can�t be too hot on a pad is reductive. Anyone who sleeps hot in their home will tell you the kind of mattress they use makes a huge difference in sleep comfort. In my experience an X-Therm is very uncomfortable in 50+ F degree temps. I think the reflective feature makes it more uncomfortable in warmer tempts. In hot temps I want a pad that cools, not insulates. It�s worth having options, just like quilts, to have the best setup for the conditions.

Thermarest xthrerm works pretty well. I also run cold and cold has never been an issue for me in Canada with it. My only regret is not buying the extra wide size. The normal mummy bag shape fits my sleeping bag perfectly but the mummy wide shape would give me a bit extra room for my arms so they don't hang over the edge.�