Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Sleeping pad question for the older guys

Young bucks who can sleep on granite and wake up feeling sporty.............. GFY!

At 50+ years old my trusty 80's thermarest just isn't getting it done. I get a poor night's sleep due to hip and shoulder pressure points. Digging depressions for them helps but isn't always practical.

Cost no object and it doesn't need to be the lightest- if it really works.

Wife has a NeoAir and it might work... seems awefully fragile though.

1 1/2" thermarest on an extra large heavy duty cot (shoulders wont touch the bars) covered with an old blanket and then what ever you desire to sleep under....and a good pillow.

Sorry- should've specified. I mean a backpacking pad.

My setup for hunting camp is as you describe.

My solution was a Therma-rest backpacking cot. They work.

There are some very good solutions but all involve more weight. An ultralight cot with a pad is best, probably followed with an air mattress of 3" or more.

Jeff -

I faced that when I returned to backpacking in 2011 after not having done much for 25 years or so. The old school standard 1" thick, half length Thermarest selfinflater turned from the coolest thing on the trail into some sort of medieval torture device in those years. I hurt like hell that first trip. Folks here gave me some good advice: I bought a Thermarest NeoAir, 2-1/2" thick, full length, 20" wide. It was not a self-inflater. After one night hyperventilating I ordered the little electric pump .. best 2 ounces in my pack. It folds to about the same size as my Jetboil Ti. If I'm using my old external frame pack, then I'll often also take a Z-pad ... full length, 20" wide, 3/4ths inch closed cell foam. The two pads together are awsome and the foam pad protects the air paid from any sticks i might have missed. The only negative to the NeoAir is it is crinkly ... noisy when you move.

Somewhere in the past year I bought an Exped downmat 7 XL. I think it fills the same niche though it is a little heavier.

I'm eyeing one of the Klymat skeletonized pads because they pack smaller and lighter. The idea is that a sleeping bag crushes flat and doesn't insulate well underneath, but the gaps between the tubes allow the bag to expand and fill in between them so you replace pad insulation with bag insulation you're already carrying. Looks like it should work.

Tom

Was just looking at that cot (online)- that could work! 3+ pounds for the L version.

Expeds are nice but on the heavy side. I like a Neoair paired with a z-rest. Best combination of light and comfortable IMO.

That's two votes for the NeoAir/ Zpad combo. I like the redundancy, and that the Zpad can do other duties as well, such as a soft dry seat to glass from or something.

My wife has expressed regrets about her NeoAir; she popped it on its first big trip, the Trinity's in NoCal. Pine cone debris. But with a Zpad under it........ I like that.

I saw a display of one of those skeletonized pads at Cabelas a few years ago. I'm simultaneously skeptical and intrigued. The theory sounds good. They are pretty dang minimalist in person- or at least the model I saw was.

NeoAir XTherm and Zpad or Ridgerest combo. If not hiking too far, the Exped Downmat 9 with Ridgerest is awesome.

The expel down mats are a little heavier but seem sturdier. I've been very happy with the downmat 5 when I get to use it. We bought it as an extra but it has become a favorite. If I have the wife or kids along someone always seems to nab it over the other choices. Also, it doesn't make a bunch of noise. Before that, I'd put a ridge rest under an ultralight thermarest. The little expel is better.

Thanks guys. Now I have some specifics to try out at the (somewhat bewildering) wall of pads at REI.

My wife dislikes how noisy her NeoAir is. That an issue for you users? Also, she says she feels like she's always gonna roll off it, while the similar Big Agnes has the air compartments running lengthwise which, it is said, helps with that. Thoughts?

Jeff,

Like you, my old orange 1" Thermarest did me well for a couple decades. Apparently the insulation inside began to deteriorate and would it plug up the valve when I tried to deflate it.

So I bought a Big Agnes insulated Air Core. Insulated my left eye, that pad is a cold sumbee...... I've borrowed the insulated Q-Core, X-Therm, and a REI insulated pad, and have come to the conclusion I don't like being balanced on a Swimming Pool Air Pad. I keep thinking in the middle of the night I'm gonna fall off and drown in the pool. I kind've feel like I''m balanced on them.

I tried a Big Agnes Two Track self inflating pad and really liked it. It's twice as thick as my old Thermarest and is rated something well below zero. Self inflating foam pads are inherently warmer than the air pads. I found that out myself when I put my old Thermarest Ultra Light 5/8" pad under the Insulated Air Core and it made a world of difference.

Of the guys I talked to who are old enough to have used self inflating pads, they all say the air pads have a greater risk of springing leaks.

Of the young studs I've talked to who do a lot of backcountry extreme skiing they mostly seem to be using the Exped air pads.

Even though the Two Track is rather heavy at something approaching 30 ozs I think that 's going to be the one I buy.


Casey

A couple of tboughts. First, she's probably got it over-inflated if she feels like she's gonna roll off. The right way to inflate is, blow it up all the way, lay down on it, and slowly release air until your hips sink in comfortably but don't rest on the ground. That's how they are most comfortable. Second, the noise doesn't bother me.

Third, why is she still hanging out with a goofball like you?

Youre gonna need to try harder than that if you want those guys to truly forgive & accept you. Be nastier. This wussy-ass passive aggression won't cut it.

Just trying to help a bro find his way back to his safe space. Booo! Ha. Gotcha.

Thanks Casey! Obviously this is very much up to personal preference... I've never liked air mattresses, though it's possible SP's suggest to inflate it less might help. Dunno. I just know that as Tom said, the old orange thermarest ain't cutting it anymore. It's everything it ever was; but I'm not.

WTF are you talking about? You posted a question and I gave you an honest answer, trying to help out. If someone is feeling like they are constantly rolling off an inflatable, they have it inflated too much. Nothing more, nothing less.

That last sentence was just a joke, if it wasn't a joke I would have used something stronger than "goofball."

I'm willing to leave the BS from that other thread on the other thread and give you useful information on the backpacking forum without dragging the dog sh** stuck to my shoes over here.

Try not to be such a fricking drama queen.

The Neoairs are different from most both in terms of durability and insulating value. Much better insulation that my BA insulated air core pad. I have a pile of older self-inflaters in my basement, they're still serviceable but the Neoair is the one I reach for. I already had one but it was recommended to me by the outfitter I used for my AK sheep hunt, and it's what he uses. I used it for 12 days, camped on rocks every night. Never had an issue with it before, during, or after.

You're the one that needs not to drag the crap over here. Although I doubt if you can do so. Then you can throw a smiley out and think that makes up for it.

It's habitual, we've seen it many times. Don't play with Smoke, he will rip you a new azz-hole while at the same time responding to another.

I know of none that has looked for an argument on this forum. All here have let their feelings about you and what goes on in the other forums slide. I think it would be best if you made an effort to keep it that way.

The biggest advantage to the air mattresses are their ability to smooth out the rocks, roots, bumps and dead pine squirrels under the tent floors. But....another thing I don't like about them is when I put my hand, or elbow and sometimes my hip it goes clear to the ground. Inflate the pad really tight in an attempt to address that and it makes it feel more like your're going to roll off.

I've never had a pad spring a leak on me in the field, and I know some people are just hard on that kind of stuff, but I've seen a lot more leaks from the air mattresses than the old self inflators.

I slept on a X-Therm, and as air mattresses go it was the best of the ones I have slept on, but the extra thick Two Track impressed me a lot. Plus the Two Track has a higher R-Value ( If we can trust manufacturers ratings), but it is heavier.


Casey