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I like the Big Agnes AXL mat. It weighs in at 321 grams with the pouch adding 6-7g and the repair kit another 3g. It’s a mummy shape to save weight but there’s a rectangular version available that’s about 10% heavier, some people prefer rectangular mats because they’re easier to stay on, but I don’t mind, I’d rather save the weight as I don’t find the mummy shape a problem, especially this one bec …

Coming in at a mere 258grams and packing down to around half the size of a regular lightweight mat, we were very keen to get our hands on the X Frame. This not a relatively new product and often gets talked about on various threads regarding ultralight trekking. Most will agree that the X frame appears to be truly innovative and quite an exciting prospect for a full length mat of this si …

Knowledgebase Page - Choosing a Thermarest Sleeping mat Which Thermarest mattress is for you?Thermarest offers a great choice of mats from self-inflating to closed-cell foam. Choosing your camping mat is entirely dependent on how, when and where you plan to camp. Knowing how you camp is the first step in choosing your mattress. Thermarest breaks down their mattresses into three categories to make …

Selection: I selected the Thermarest Xtherm for a backpacking trip to Scotland because I was intending to camp quite high on occasion and it can get quite cold, even in May. I normally go for the lighter Xlite model which I think is excellent and ideal for 3 season use, but taking the Xtherm gave me a chance to test it.When you compare Xtherm to the Xlite the additional weight is very sm …

How to choose an Exped MatWith so many Exped mats to choose from we've written this summary page to help you make sense of the range. In addition, for Spring 2017 Exped have renamed and re-packaged most of their mats so will also indicate the old name where this is applicable. The new versions also come with an inflation device such as the Schnozzel Pumpbag and the Fast+Lite series mats have a new …

Which Exped Downmat?If you are considering a downmat at all it is probably because you need a warm mat for use in cold weather and for sleeping on snow or frozen ground. There are other forms of insulation in mats but down remains the best warmth to weight ratio of any insulator. Down loses insulation value when it gets wet, so Downmats should not be inflated using the mouth, rather they come with …

Extensively tested and reviewed by Cairngorm Treks from May to September in the Cairngorms, Glen Affric, and surrounding mountainous areas.Rest and recovery! An important factor for anyone who spends a great deal of time in the outdoors. Whether your adventure is on land, water, two wheels, or climbing a rock face - if you intend to spend multiple days in the wilderness it is essential to pac …

Thermarest NeoAir All Season SV Sleeping Mat Review You expect to encounter snow in Scotland in March so I wanted to be sure that whatever mat I took would provide excellent insulation. Thermarest launched a new version of the All Season mat for 2017 which has their new Speed Valve hence the SV. This clever innovation allows the user to blow up the mat much faster and more easily than a co …

Design room to manufacturing floorTherm-a-Rest started out by making camping mattresses in their hometown of Seattle in 1972 and have always stuck by their philosophy 'to make what we sell'. They embodied this philosophy by acquiring their own manufacturing facilities and even built their own machines to create some of the worlds most comfortable camping mattresses.But when you create high quality …

UOG Review of Exped Hyperlite and Winterlite MatI've been using Exped sleeping mats for a number of years now and really like them, until now every one has been rectangular in shape, which is the obvious shape to make them. The new series of Exped mats break this mould and are 'mummy' shaped. Mummy shaped mats more closely match the human body shape, so the maximum width is at the shoulders and th …

A very useful piece of kit to take trekking, weighing 175g and easily attached to the outside of a backpack there is no reason not to carry it. It offered great thermal protection, no matter what terrain I was sleeping on. The night when my tent was submerged in ice cold water I was very warm and didn’t even realise I was in water until the morning when I unzipped the tent door.A great design feat …

Selection: There's never been any doubt in my mind that if I was going to camp on snow then I'd want an Exped Downmat with me, a mat with a high insulation value is essential for winter camping. Until recently the standard Exped Downmat was a relatively heavy option at 880grams for a Regular, then cam along a plethora of Exped Downmat 'Ultralight' mats which had lighter face fabric, no integrated …