How to Choose the Best Sleeping Pad for You

Sleeping pads may seem like a pretty simple piece of gear. But there&#;s actually a lot to consider when it comes to being able to choose the best sleeping pad for you. Having a good one can majorly increase your quality of sleep on the trail. And better sleep means a better overall experience.

Changyuan supply professional and honest service.

There&#;s a lot to consider when it comes to buying a sleeping pad. Here is a list of three questions to ask yourself when looking:

1. What will you be using it for?
2. How important is it to you that you sleep comfortably when camping or backpacking?
3. What will the lowest temperature be when you&#;re out?
4. How much money are you willing to spend?

Types of Sleeping Pads

• Manually Inflated Sleeping Pad: This pad is one you have to blow air into to create a nice, comfortable sleeping spot. It&#;s typically lighter weight and packs down smaller than a self-inflating sleeping pad because it doesn&#;t have the materials needed to self-inflate. It&#;s a simple design that is a great option if you want a lightweight, but comfortable pad. Perfect for backpacking.
• Self-Inflated Sleeping Pad: These are similar to manually inflated pads, but instead of you having to blow air in, you just open the valve and they inflate on their own. As a result of their inner construction, they are a little heavier. They are a great option if you aren&#;t concerned with weight, and don&#;t want to have to work as much for a comfortable spot to sleep. They tend to be a little more padded and comfortable as well. Perfect for car camping.
• Closed-Cell Foam Sleeping Pad: This type of pad is the most simply designed and is by far the most affordable option. Consequently, it is probably the least comfortable. They are made up of small closed air cells. As a result of that, foam pads don&#;t compact down very small, so make sure to take that into consideration. One benefit though, is you don&#;t have to worry about them popping and needing to carry a patch kit. Because of that, I use this kind of sleeping pad for my dog to sleep on because I don&#;t have to worry about him popping it. Being a cheaper pad, closed-cell foam pads are a great option for someone who is just getting into camping or backpacking and doesn&#;t want to drop a lot of money to spend on gear.

Manually InflatedSelf-InflatedClosed-Cell FoamPrice$$$-$$$$WeightLight-MediumHeaviestLightestWarmth&#; -&#; &#; &#; &#; &#; &#; &#; Comfort&#; &#; &#; &#; &#; &#; Best Bor Backpacking or CampingCar CampingBackpackingComparison chart to help choose the best sleeping pad

Shape of Sleeping Pad

Sleeping pads come in lots of different shapes and sizes so you can really get a custom fit. Depending on your height and weight, you will want a pad that you are comfortable on. You can get a rectangular shaped pad or one that tapers toward the feet. Some are wider than others. The lengths also vary. To choose the best sleeping pad, you will want to consider what you are going to be using it for: backpacking or car camping.

If you are looking for a sleeping pad that you can take backpacking, you will want something lightweight. Things that are going to save you weight are a a shorter, narrower pad, that tapers. You don&#;t have to get a pad with all of those things, just things to consider when you&#;re thinking about weight. If you are car camping, you don&#;t need to worry about weight, and find something that is comfortable.

If you always go camping with a partner, you might consider getting a double sleeping pad. It allows you to sleep closer and even stay warmer.

Warmth of Sleeping Pad

If this is your first time purchasing a sleeping pad, you might not realize how important your sleeping pad is in helping you stay warm at night. When you are laying in your sleeping bag, all the insulation beneath you is being compressed and doing absolutely nothing to keep you warm. So it&#;s only the insulation from your sleeping pad keeping you insulated from the cold ground.

R-Value

R-value is the insulating ability of a sleeping pad. The higher the r-value, the warmer the sleeping pad. Unfortunately, it is not a universal rating and what one company considers an r-value of 2 may be different from another. Nevertheless, it does give you a general idea of how insulated the pad you are getting will be.

Some companies don&#;t use the r-value and instead opt to use a temperature rating. Here is a chart that shows a good general idea of what r-values are good for different temperatures.

Graph from Moosejaw.com

What I Use

When I go car camping, I go all out and don&#;t care about weight or size. We use the Exped MegaMat Duo 10 Sleeping Pad. It is a double sleeping pad and very thick. When it&#;s blown up, it barely fits inside the back of our Hyundai Santa Fe, and in our 3-man tent. It&#;s a self-inflating pad that is extremely comfy. My husband and I love it. I have also slept on it with just my 10 month old and there was plenty of room.

When I go backpacking, I love my Klymit Static V Insulated pad. It is rectangular and has an r-value of 4 so I can use it on very cold nights. It is not too heavy, and packs down to about the size of a Nalgene bottle. I am a stomach and side sleeper and find it to be very comfortable. My husband is 175lb and sleeps on the same pad. He loves it and sleeps great. Klymit also makes a lighter weight version that looks great also if you really want to cut down on ounces!

Knowing how to choose the best sleeping pad for you will go a long ways to making your backcountry sleeping experience a whole lot better. If there is one thing I covet, it&#;s my sleep. And I do everything I can to get a good night&#;s sleep when I&#;m out camping and backpacking. Find what works for you and go for it!

If you are also in the market for a new sleeping bag, check out my post all about How to Choose the Best Sleeping Bag. I go over everything you need to know to make the right decision for you.

Check out my other blog posts on backpacking gear:

If you&#;re looking for a budget option or a sleeping pad for two people , we&#;ve got recommendations for those, too.

After sleeping on more than 35 sleeping pads&#;carrying them on a total of eight car-camping and backpacking trips&#;we concluded that the Therm-a-Rest LuxuryMap Sleeping Pad is the best choice for car campers. And we found that the Nemo Quasar 3D Lightweight Insulated Sleeping Pad is the most supportive pad for backpackers.

This sleeping pad isn&#;t small, and it isn&#;t light. But it&#;s the most comfortable pad in the game. If you&#;re driving up to your campsite, this one is a wilderness luxury.

Basic but reliable, this pad is lightweight, durable, and inexpensive. But it&#;s not our most comfortable or our warmest pad.

With enough thickness to support your back and hips, this durable sleeping pad is the most comfortable option we tried that was still light enough to carry for long distances. But it&#;s not warm enough for the winter.

This 3-inch-thick, notably warm pad is the most comfortable one we tested. And it&#;s easier to inflate, deflate, roll, and store than any other car-camping pad.

For more information, please visit Outdoor Camping Sleeping Pad.

After a long day, the last thing you want to deal with is a complicated valve or a sleeping pad that takes forever to fill.

The self-inflating Therm-a-Rest LuxuryMap Sleeping Pad has long been a favorite with our testers, and it has stood the test of time&#;six years of car-camping trips, to be specific. This 3-inch-thick pad has extra foam, with an air pocket on top, placed exactly where the body exerts more pressure; this increases comfort and helps prevent the pad from bottoming out overnight. Side-sleepers, back-sleepers, and stomach-sleepers all found this pad to be comfortable and supportive.

With an R-value of 6 (R-value is a measure of how well a pad insulates), the LuxuryMap pad is more than twice as warm as our backpacking pick. In our tests, the LuxuryMap pad&#;s face fabric seemed to reject lint and dirt better than fabric on rival pads. And its carry bag was refreshingly easy to stuff and tote around (this is not often the case with larger sleeping pads). The only downside: This pad is heavy. But as long as we parked close to our campsites, that didn&#;t bother us.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

If you&#;re looking for a sleeping pad that&#;s supportive yet still light enough to carry&#;for backpacking trips in the spring, summer, and fall&#;the 3½-inch-thick Nemo Quasar 3D Lightweight Insulated Sleeping Pad is a solid choice. It has an R-value of 3.3 (comparable to that of its competitors), and it comes with customized baffles that contour to your body. Compared with most of the other backpacking pads we tried, this one felt more like a supportive mattress.

It&#;s also very durable. During testing, we blew up the pads and let them sit. After three weeks (during which they were jumped on by little kids), the pad showed no wear and tear or deflation. The Quasar pad comes in regular, regular wide, long wide, and double sizes. At 1 pound 12 ounces for the regular size, this pad is heavier than some of the other backpacking pads we tried, but it packs down small.

If your top concerns involve cost or durability, the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Sleeping Pad is a standout choice. This lightweight pad (14 ounces) is durable and inexpensive. Even so, it&#;s no surprise that this pad is not nearly as comfy as our other picks, since it&#;s made with basic foam and is the thinnest of our offerings (less than an inch). Still, the pad has an R-value of 2.6, which is impressive considering how thin it is (though all of our other picks are still warmer). If you ever decide to upgrade, the Z Lite Sol can become a go-to backup or a loaner pad you can expect to use for decades to come.

Here&#;s the thing: The Exped MegaMat Duo 10 is not easy to pack. It&#;s not easy to inflate. And it&#;s not easy to carry around. But it is absolutely the most comfortable double sleeping pad you can buy&#;it&#;s so comfortable, in fact, that many of our testers found themselves using this pad for guests in their home, instead of a typical air mattress. The MegaMat Duo is 3.9 inches thick and weighs about 7½ pounds (the Duo LW+ model is almost 10 pounds), and it has an R-value of 8.1, making it the largest and the warmest option we tested.

Over the course of two years and dozens of camping trips with small children, our testers observed no damage to the MegaMat Duo. There&#;s enough padding to support side-sleepers&#; hips and shoulders. And stomach- and back-sleepers appreciated the bed&#;s lower-back support. The MegaMat Duo also stays firmly inflated for several days, but we do recommend giving it a pre-sleep top-off of air. If you&#;re headed out on a car-camping trip where weight isn&#;t an issue, this is the couple&#;s pad to choose.

Also great

Exped Widget Pump

A lightweight air pump

This air pump works much faster than using a pump bag or your own breath to blow up a sleeping pad.

Buying Options

$37

from

REI

Many sleeping pads have to be inflated with your breath (as you&#;d inflate a balloon) or with a sack (called a pump bag). But there&#;s another option: a lightweight air pump. The Exped Widget Pump isn&#;t directly compatible with non-Exped beds&#;its seal works best with Exped pads. Yet the airflow is so powerful that we found it still works on other picks, even without a direct seal, and it sped up the inflation process tenfold. We were able to inflate a single pad in about 30 seconds, and this pump added just 7 ounces to our pack weight. You do need to use a USB charger to charge the pump before a backpacking trip.

Are you interested in learning more about OEM inflatable mattress? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!