Re: Sleep softly, sweet Charlotte

We've had a lot of people ask us about what we use for sleeping pads. "How can you be comfortable sleeping on the ground?" they ask. They seem to think that sleeping on the ground is...hard.

Well, to be fair, the ground is hard, and we've made some adjustments over the years.

I slept for many years on a 1/2 inch piece of closed cell blue foam. My wife was always trying something new, and usually in combination with at least one other pad--the best combination was a Thermarest Z-rest mattress over 1/2 of foam pad.

But then one year for her birthday, I bought her a Thermarest Neo-Air mattress--the modern version of that old inflatable plastic thing that we used as scouts. It was a revelation, and she was in heaven.

I remained unconvinced. "Goldurn fancypants foolishness" or something like that, was what I could be heard to mutter under my breath.

Until, that is, one day when I accepted her offer to borrow her Neo-Air to take a nap in the afternoon. Holy Mackerel was that nice! I quickly bought one for myself. One order of fancypants foolishness to go, and make it snappy!

They are relatively light (about 12 ounces, all in) and inflate to a VERY comfortable 2 inches or more. Of luxury. All part of our home away from home.

So we used these pads for about four years, and were pretty darn happy with them. Over time they began to leak and flatten out over the course of a night. And after living with them for a couple of years that way, re-inflating them in the middle of the night, we finally contacted Neo-Air about getting them fixed.

Very simply process, and they made it easy. We sent them our mattresses, and they promised to fix them for very little money indeed--all in the course of a promised 4-6 week turnaround. Can't beat that.

Well, you can beat that.

Because about two weeks later, instead of fixing all of the leaks in our older model mattresses, they sent us brand new ones that don't leak.

We're sold. Again. We can hardly wait to sleep on them. Again.

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Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

There seem to be a lot of models: http://www.ske-art.com/stuff/index.php?searchmode=SportingGoods&ss=Thermarest+Neo-Air+&search=Go

Which did you use?

We started with the X-Lite...I think that's also the one they sent us as a replacement.

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Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

I started using a neo-air last year, and now I use it for everything, backpacking, bike tours, even car camping.
It's a pain to inflate it every night, but for me, it's really worth it.

Buy this:
https://www.camp-tek.com/buy/index.html

which is also this:
https://www.amazon.com/Therm-a-Rest-NeoAir-Mini-Pump-B008O6JDKK/dp/B008O6JDKK

Put Lithium batteries in it...

(I "only" bring mine to inflate Z Old Boat... but the blops use theirs to inflate their mattresses)
(I use a short mattress) (and I have a lot of spare hot air)

Anyzoo...

Have fun

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It's 25% off on Amazon currently...

$29.95

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+1 on the NeoAir Mini Pump. I was skeptical: "Really? REALLY? Now I'm bringing in a non-essential item that adds weight, takes up pack space, requires batteries, and is yet another thing to break - instead of just using my lungs?" is the way the internal debate went.

It's really light. It's really small. It's quiet (enough - but not something I'd want running for more than a few minutes at a time) and fast. I purchased one earlier this year from Amazon at the discounted price (which I only learned of because it wasn't available at the time from the direct web site). l and also found a review that (if not falsified) seemed thorough and scientific. I believe he found that it would run for >2 hours with one set of batteries. I'm still searching for that to add a link.

My experience is that it takes just a few minutes to fill a large sleeping pad (Nemo Astro Insulated Lite: 76x25x4), meaning - "filled with air" but not to the final pressure. Still needs a few puffs to complete. Filled two of these pads for 6 nights and batteries were still going strong.

I hate to admit it but I like it. The biggest advantage I found is that you just set it up and let it run, and you spend the few minutes doing other things. This compounds the time saving (faster than blowing up manually *and* you do something else while it works). At least I don't see a need for a "just in case" backup plan (as I have for critical items, like water filtration). If it fails, I expect to have my lungs available as a backup system.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2016 12:48PM by ags.

Another benefit: in winter you avoid blowing moist air into the sleeping pad and thus reduce the chance of ice forming inside it...

I would say with lithium batteries 2 hours runtime seems about right. A set of batteries is good for easily 20-30 boat inflations, and each boat takes maybe 3-5 minutes to fill.

Good point. I didn't think to mention it, but that entered into my thinking as well. Even in the summer, I wanted to avoid the moisture, as my pad has Primaloft insulation internal and I prefer to keep moisture out - even if it won't turn to ice.

I've been thinking about upgrading our sleeping pads since my wife and I are transitioning from day hiking in Yosemite to backpacking. My old 20 year old Thermarest just isn't quite cutting it. I blame the old mattress, not the old bones that sleep on it . How is the Neo-Air for side sleepers?

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hulkman75
I've been thinking about upgrading our sleeping pads since my wife and I are transitioning from day hiking in Yosemite to backpacking. My old 20 year old Thermarest just isn't quite cutting it. I blame the old mattress, not the old bones that sleep on it . How is the Neo-Air for side sleepers?

I think it's great. I sleep on my side like a little baby birdie..

I'd recommend spending the extra cash and getting the Xtherm...

I rarely use the yellow Xlite anymore..

More chat here:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,84534,84647#msg-84647

and here:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,85613,85613#msg-85613

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How much nicer is the XTherm vs the yellow one (which I have)? Is it basically better R-factor, or does it also seem more comfortable for side-sleeping? I notice the weight difference for the regular is only 2 ounces or so and the pack size is the same, from REI's site.

It's just the R-factor. Pretty amazing pad ... works great in winter..
and summer... So no reason imo... to buy a winter and summer sleeping pad.

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chick-on, I've been using this one camping in the Valley in the summer/fall, 'REI Kingdom Sleep System - Queen':



Does not have much of an R-factor, but does have quite a Zzzzzzz-factor!

I had the original NeoAir. Was cold. When the Xtherm was released, I pounced on it. Had been considering getting a heavier Exped down mat or Stephenson's DAM.

The XTherm was so warm and so easy to pack and live with, I stopped looking!

I'm a side sleeper with back and knee issues. I do NOT inflate the XTherm anywhere close to its max. I let the MicroBurst pump fill it up, and that's it. It's squishy. But when I get on my side, it allows my hip and shoulder to sink in enough to not ache, and still be warm.

Note that the three of us also use a ZRest under the XTherm. The zrests are used during the day during breaks as well and as our boat-bottom insulators.

That's the system we use: Zrest under NeoAir. But we leave the boats at home...

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Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

Quote
JustKeepWalking
The zrests are used during the day during breaks as well and as our boat-bottom insulators.

I don't have a boat so I never thought about using insulation on the bottom. I do know the water is cold so it makes a lot of sense.