gerry
Ammo Smith
- Mar 1, 2007
- 6,964
- 1,965
Thought I should do a few product reviews in the next while of products that work well starting with the Exped mats. It all started in the fall of 2011 on an alpine grizzly hunt where my light and thin Thermarest decided to develop a slow leak. That mat was marginal at best to begin with and the short version is I ended up getting very bad back spasms way out in the wilderness. My wife insisted we get a new mat, after some research Exped mats came up as a very good choice.
We have these two in the house now:
http://www.exped.com/canada/en/product- ... ownmat-7-m
http://www.exped.com/canada/en/product- ... ynmat-7-mw
For my next birthday after that hunt I asked my wife to buy the Downmat 7 and it has been amazingly good. It is very comfortable, it keeps me off the ground completely and adds warmth in colder weather. It is rated to - 24 Celcius but even at this time of the year where it is warm it feels great, was just out last night camping and was again reminded how good it is. The built in pump is slick and takes about 3 minutes to inflate.
We needed to buy a second one for my wife, she said her old Thermarest was good but I knew that one of these would be so much better. After doing some more research I decided to surprise her for her birthday with the Synmat 7 medium wide. All the reviews said it was just as comfortable as the Downmat and it is rated to - 17 Celcius which is much colder than she is ever going to be camping in. It comes in a medium wide version that the down version doesn't come in which is perfect for my wife that loves a bit more room to move around at night. She is amazed at how good her Synmat is, it is every bit as comfortable and good as as the Downmat.
The only con I can think of is they are a bit more bulky than a Thermarest. However since you have all that wonderful insulation under you you could get away with using a little bit lighter sleeping bag and be just as warm or better. The Synmat is a bit more bulky yet but that isn't an issue for us either since Maria would never have to pack heavy loads anyway if we backpack somewhere, I would be taking the heavy items.
If you are in the market for a backpacking mat you will not be disappointed in how they perform. I should point out though the ultralight versions of these mats don't have the same warranty as the standard ones and I wouldn't consider those, durability is much more desirable than light weight.
Hope this helps.......
We have these two in the house now:
http://www.exped.com/canada/en/product- ... ownmat-7-m
http://www.exped.com/canada/en/product- ... ynmat-7-mw
For my next birthday after that hunt I asked my wife to buy the Downmat 7 and it has been amazingly good. It is very comfortable, it keeps me off the ground completely and adds warmth in colder weather. It is rated to - 24 Celcius but even at this time of the year where it is warm it feels great, was just out last night camping and was again reminded how good it is. The built in pump is slick and takes about 3 minutes to inflate.
We needed to buy a second one for my wife, she said her old Thermarest was good but I knew that one of these would be so much better. After doing some more research I decided to surprise her for her birthday with the Synmat 7 medium wide. All the reviews said it was just as comfortable as the Downmat and it is rated to - 17 Celcius which is much colder than she is ever going to be camping in. It comes in a medium wide version that the down version doesn't come in which is perfect for my wife that loves a bit more room to move around at night. She is amazed at how good her Synmat is, it is every bit as comfortable and good as as the Downmat.
The only con I can think of is they are a bit more bulky than a Thermarest. However since you have all that wonderful insulation under you you could get away with using a little bit lighter sleeping bag and be just as warm or better. The Synmat is a bit more bulky yet but that isn't an issue for us either since Maria would never have to pack heavy loads anyway if we backpack somewhere, I would be taking the heavy items.
If you are in the market for a backpacking mat you will not be disappointed in how they perform. I should point out though the ultralight versions of these mats don't have the same warranty as the standard ones and I wouldn't consider those, durability is much more desirable than light weight.
Hope this helps.......
