Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Air Mattress thicker or thinner

My wife had a question concerning the thickness of an air mattress under a sleeping bag. Is it better to have a thicker or thinner air mattress between you and the ground for insulating purposes? She seem to think that she read an article that says thinner is better. What is the consensus of the campfire?

If you want warmer, then the mattress needs to be insulated and usually has internal baffling to reduce convective air movement. The warmest pads are not thin. But a thick uninsulated air mattress will freeze you out. It's not the thickness, it's whether the pad is constructed to be a good insulator. REI has R values listed for various pads.

Get a thermarest NeoAir. Great insulator, lightweight. Take care of it, they ain't cheap but worth it IMHO.

This ^

Thick or thin doesn't matter. What does matter is that it should be insulated AND you should use a closed cell foam pad, about half length, to protect the mattress from punctures and so that when you lean on your elbow it doesn't go through the mattress to the hard ground below.

KC

I like thicker, but I'm getting up in my years a little and don't sleep at well at I once did.

I recently bought a new pad and my choice came down to the NeoAir and a couple of the Big Anges pads. I read many reviews, looked at price, features, weight,...

One of the best things that I was able to do was to go into the local REI store (they have demo pads) and get a few of the pads out and lay on them. I thought I was going end up with the NeoAir but after laying on it I had second thoughts ... I found it to be noisy, to the point that I thought it might bother me. It wasn't too bad but noticeable.. especially if only other sounds are crickets.

I ended up with a Big Anges Q-Core SLX... happy with it so far.

I have two NeoAir pads and love them. The key for me is to blow them up very firm. They are more comfortable that way and they don't make any noise either.

Higher the R value the warmer it will be, simple as that. Foam or air, your choice. Air is going to be much more expensive. If you're looking at the NeoAir as others have suggested, make sure you're looking at the X-THERM model which has a nigher R value than the ultralights.

I have the exped downmat and its warm.

Here's a chart with many of the popular sleeping pads/mattresses. It shows thickness, weight, & R-value.
SLEEPING PADS

Thanks!

Think I'm gonna try that Big Agnes Double Fill Double Z as I am a side sleeper and sleep very cold. It's a little bigger and heavier than my current pad but if it's warmer and more comfortable, I'll make that sacrifice!

What I am finding is also important to me is the pad's width. When inflated fully, I find I feel like I am rolling off the thing (Thermarest Xtherm and Neoair 4 season) and do not have enough width because I am a side sleeper. I actually partially deflate my pads so I stay on them (to maybe 3/4 firmness).

If I were to buy a new pad today, I would get WIDE even tough I'm only 160 lbs and 5'10".

^Nice. That should treat you real nice. Nothing like a nice pad after a long day of hunting!

Some of the inflatables have a larger air tube along the outside edges. That helps to keep you from rolling off. Many of the Big Agnus pads and other brands have that.

I like the width, but I am waiting for the day they make a pad for tall people. Most of the pads I have sleep on are to short. I have gone to having two 90" sleeping bags. One to sleep in and the other to lay on top of.