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sleeping pad

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sleeping pad

Postby saddlesore » 11 13, 2017 •  [Post 1]

How about some recomendations on sleeping pads. I have two very old Thermorest that don't do thejob. I am a side sleeper so need something a little thicker or maybe inflatable, .For many yeas I used a twin size air bed but need something now that is more packable yet thick enough so I get some comfort.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Indian Summer » 11 13, 2017 •  [Post 2]

I'm a side sleeper too with one arm above my head. Pad has to be forgiving. I'm very happy with my inflatable Exped Downmat.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby saddlesore » 11 13, 2017 •  [Post 3]

Indian Summer wrote:I'm a sude sleeper too with one arm above my head. Pad has to be forgiving. I'm very happy with my inflatable Exped Downmat.


Is that the 7 or 9? One website says the7 is no longer available
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Lefty » 11 13, 2017 •  [Post 4]

I dont like cots, too hard on my back.My father in law likes 3" open cell pad.
A thick self inflating pad. not an air only pad not foam only.

Im still using a 13 year old Cabelas 3 1/2 inch Pad. Between my daughters and myself well over 500 nights in the woods. I slept on it in a cave with the scouts Friday.
Of course they don't make the 36" wide thick self inflating pad anymore :cry:

My over 60 year old wife sleeps better in the back of the pickup than at home.
We have an R-10 slightly over an inch thick solid closed cell foam pad. Then 2 Cabelas Outfitter pads (2 1/2 inch ) Velcro together. then '' memory foam pad.

Therm-a-rest had some thick pads and foam most pads are too narrow for me, so two pads together the seem keeps me centered.

For backpacking I used a cheap closed cell pad $14.00 at walmart. I prefer it over Klymit static air pad.

I doubt Ill ever buy another pad, but I would spend the money on this one.
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/produ ... 08&redir=Y
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby wawhitey » 11 13, 2017 •  [Post 5]

I use an inflatable sea to summit sleeping pad. If youre at all a tosser and turner, would not recommend. Its damn tiny, and shaped lkke a mummy bag. Ill be buying a new pad for next year. Shaving a few ounces off my pack weight isnt worth not getting a good nights sleep.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Swede » 11 14, 2017 •  [Post 6]

I hate those small vinyl pads. I change positions in the night and those greasy things don't stay where your sleeping bag is. I like my memory foam pad. It is no back packers dream, but I sleep well in it in camp. Saddlesore you could put on in a garbage sack and I think your mule could handle it. The mule might be willing to test it for you too, just to make sure it was comfortable. My foam pad is about 30 inches wide and four inches thick. It rolls up nicely.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Backyard » 11 14, 2017 •  [Post 7]

Swede wrote:I hate those small vinyl pads. I change positions in the night and those greasy things don't stay where your sleeping bag is.


This is the reason that I use the Big Agnes sleep system. The pad slips into a sleeve on the bottom side of the bag. Never roll or slide off. Saves space and stuffs smaller than most bags as there is no insulation on the bottom of the bag. The pad (insulated) becomes the bottom side. Works great!

https://www.bigagnes.com/Gear/Sleeping- ... ystem-Bags
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby saddlesore » 11 14, 2017 •  [Post 8]

I have tried foam pads several times. 30" wide, 4" thick.The main problem is that the foam gathers body moisture and every night I slept colder and colder.Even if I turned my bag back every morning,it never dries our.I tried putting a layer of plastic or a pauncho between the pad and my my bag.That helps,but then you get the sliding.
Before I switched to the camper,an air bed was my main choice and most comfortable. But even the twin size along with a 4 D Size battery operated pump,they get bulky.
Get enough bulk and the panniers get unweilding and even with good tight double diamond the top pack, which is usually only duffel, shifts around.

My goal is to switch to all light weight backpacker type equipment ad carry it on the mule. I figure with food and all gear, my panniers could be about 50 pounds each. One trip in for me and another round trip to bring in mule feed and I should be good for 5-7 days. My criteria is a tent I can stand up in and a very good sleeping set up.

This will be all bought early next summer after I see how my shoulder replacement works out
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby >>>---WW----> » 11 15, 2017 •  [Post 9]

What Backyard said, Big Agnes rocks!
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Swede » 11 15, 2017 •  [Post 10]

Saddlesore. It is strange that your sleeping bag was wet after sleeping on a foam pad, and the bag did not dry out in the day. Was the pad wet too? I say that is odd, but I had the same experience. I just attributed it to high humidity and cool air. I never checked to see if the pad got wet. Why would it get wet when sleeping on a cot and not when it is in a home on a normal bed?
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby saddlesore » 11 15, 2017 •  [Post 11]

The bag was not wet, or it dried.The foam pad was damp. You can't feel it w very well,but it builds up enough that the little bit of moisture freezes. In your home,I don't think it ever freezes so you don't feel it. Mostly you feel it if the temps are below freezing, you will sleep a little bit colder every night

An air bed will do something similar,but the vinyl doesn't absorb the moisture.If you don't put a heavy blanket or such between your bag and the air bed eventually your bag will be moist. The heavy blanket absorbs the moisture , but by turning back the bag during the day,that blanket will dry.The foam won't because the moisture wicks into it a lot deeper.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Swede » 11 15, 2017 •  [Post 12]

Thanks Saddlesore. It was not freezing , so I suspect it was just perspiration and high humidity that caused my bag to feel damp when I first got in. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Lefty » 11 15, 2017 •  [Post 13]

Those open cell pads need to breath, and dry, For years I have advised parents to not send those with scouts on over nighters, as you said; they draw and soak up moisture,.. and with boys dirt and pine needles, ( and Skittles and jerky and Soda :o )
I know how bad it is to have too short of a tent,.. but Im willing swap tent height for a better sleep. And park a chair under the fly to help get dressed in the morning
Cabelas sells a couple different open cell foam with covers.
My wife really likes the ( covered with cotton sheets) memory foam over the self inflating pads ( over closed cell foam). Cool nights frost and dew the foam does get wet.
My wife is talking about hitting a high elevation reservoir Friday to fish and I can hunt geese, knowing the temps will be low teens and maybe over 20 inches of snow

When I summer back pack I have a nice down synthetic covered bag, which slips off of every pad I own. I try to pile u pine needles under the tent ( yep and sap has caused even more problems, dry grass works great.

I posted a pic a year and a 1/2 ago of a nearly 100 year old bed roll a friend still uses.He puts a couple thick ( unused ) flat saddle blankets. He said his gramps spent thousands of nights using the horse saddle blankets as a pad
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby saddlesore » 11 16, 2017 •  [Post 14]

I have spent more than a few nights sleeping on horse pads/blankets and most of the time they were not unused and many more nights just on the bare ground with a cheap bag.Now days,and I bet gramps would agree. I will gladly trade those pads for a comfortable cushioned pad. :lol:

In the 60's we would take a bale of straw , and put that down. Lay a canvas tarp down,throw a bed roll or some old quilts down, get in, pull remainder of the trap up over us/heads and sleep without a tent. I'm not anywhere that tough now days
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Lefty » 11 16, 2017 •  [Post 15]

saddlesore wrote:In the 60's we would take a bale of straw , and put that down. Lay a canvas tarp down,throw a bed roll or some old quilts down, get in, pull remainder of the trap up over us/heads and sleep without a tent. I'm not anywhere that tough now days
Ive done that same thing with straw and hay more than a few times.
When we first moved to Utah I was asked to be a scoutmaster and was told that the 2nd week in February the 12 and 13 year old Scouts always went to Locomotive springs, not a house home or cabin for over 100 miles to the south and over 15 miles each direction to the North East and West.
We were out in the desert early the boys discovered they didnt have tent poles. The state had bought a ranch for a wildlife area, and a stack of hay was left. (wire bound)
The boys piles two pickup loads of hay layed there tent and bags on top. At 9:00 PM it was zero out. at 10:00 Pm it was -10. I was was worried about the boys and kept checking on them all night.
They were like birds in a nest, When they got warm they wiggled to the outside. when cool they rolled to center. They had a lot of fun , but a miserable night for me. In the real cold there isnt a better bed than grass hay.!!!
My brother us to cold weather camp, hunt and fish with his kids, . He had a big old feather tick.

Get the widest, thickest self inflating pad you can find
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 11 16, 2017 •  [Post 16]

Ahh yes... the old break up/spread some bales of straw, throw an old canvas tent over it, a chunk of plastic underneath, and lay the bags on top. Been there and have the T shirt but like SS said, I'm not down with that anymore :shock:. A good inflatable pad (I have one of the inexpensive Intek mattresses for base camp) with a battery powered inflator works well and provides a good nights sleep (well, if my campmates don't snore too loudly).
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Kentrek » 11 17, 2017 •  [Post 17]

My go to for cold weather is a z pad on the ground, then my klymit x light half pad inside my sleeping bag, then i fill up my upper portion of my bivy with my extra clothes as my pillow...if its extra nasty then my extra clothes stay inside a dry stack but still use it for a pillow

The z pad is bomb proof but not so comfy....super fast set up and take down tho which is nice, and it keeps ya warm....but it just needs alil more cushion

The big agnes hurt my hurt my back...but i prefer a firm bedding

Thermrest isnt to bad but i like the klymit "body mapping" better and the z pad insullates better

Klymit sucks in the cold tho....seems it took a couple times to figure that out for some reason...

I got a sea to sumit pad that i still havent gotten to use yet....hoping it will take over my z pad/klymit combo


Back at the truck i use a 4 inch foam pad with two sleeping bags and im pretty dang comfy

An intex twin air mattress is the go to on my bike in extended base camp trips
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby Indian Summer » 11 21, 2017 •  [Post 18]

saddlesore wrote:
Indian Summer wrote:I'm a sude sleeper too with one arm above my head. Pad has to be forgiving. I'm very happy with my inflatable Exped Downmat.


Is that the 7 or 9? One website says the7 is no longer available



It's a 9. I've had it for quite a few years and still no problems.
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Re: sleeping pad

Postby garyMichel » 11 23, 2017 •  [Post 19]

Another recommendation for the Exped downmat. Lightweight and comfortable. Never felt cold sleeping on it.
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