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Thermarest Mats

With so many Thermarest mats to choose from, we've written this summary page to help you make sense of the range. There are some key features and things to look out for:

Closed Cell Foam Mats; are the least comfortable as they are the thinnest, but they do provide insulation and can be cut to size to save weight. Thermarest mats have different designs cut into them to increase comfort, insulation and weight for a given thickness. This type of mat will never fail - they cannot be punctured.

Self Inflating versus Airbeds: Self-inflating mats are made by sandwiching a layer of foam between two nylon covers, they are usually not very thick and offer moderate insulation. Insulated airbeds are lighter, thicker, more insulative and have smaller packed sizes. They are more comfortable than self-inflating mats because of the extra thickness. The only advantage self-inflating mats have over insulated airbeds is if they get a puncture - at least with a self-inflating mat you still have the foam to lie on.

Evolite and AF Mattresses: Thermarest have pioneered a new mat that's a hybrid of self-inflating mats and insulated airbeds - these mats have alternating sections of air and foam so you can have a thicker self-inflating mat without the large increase in bulk. Thermarest have called these AF (AirFrame) mats or Evolite.

SV - Stands for Speed Valve, it's an amazing way to inflate your mat quickly and with minimal effort. Also deflates faster and easier - choose a mat denoted SV and watch the video!

Durability: Many people worry about punctures with insulated airbeds and the lightest mats have the lightest materials possible which could make them more susceptible to punctures - if you are concerned about this choose a heavier mat or check out the 'Denier' of the face fabric; a 75d mat has a pretty tough outer fabric whereas a 30d mat is just about the lightest you can get. Some mats have a heavier face fabric on the bottom.

Thermarest Mats - a Summary of the key features

Regular mat size used as weight reference

Not all mats are available in all sizes but here is a comprehensive summary of the range of sizes that Thermarest produce.