Death of the NeoAir?

[ULWalkingPhil]

Could this be the death of the neoair as claimed?

I don't know. Reviewer claims its as comfortable as a bed. I am sus with these type of reviews that claim so much.

How could a 7cm mattress be as comfortable as a bed. Its all nonsense in my opinion. Similar reports are out on the NeoAir XLite. I find it a torture machine to sleep on. One of the worst sleeps ever. I couldn't wait to get out of bed to start walking so to repair my back. I will stick with my hammock, thank you very much.

http://www.keithfoskett.com/the-death-o ... #more-1947

[Mark F]

Another British writer acting as a puff boy for a UK manufacturer. It appears to have an R value of < 1 and is slightly narrower than a NeoAir. If anything I suspect most complaints about mats is their width.

"It has a 3/4 season rating and Multimat claim it’s good down to -15C." Multimat claim it is 3 seasons with a Tog value of 1.6. He has totally misrepresented the Multimat claim that "The TPU membrane used in the Superlite Air will tolerate a range of -15oC to +50oC." because he doesn't realise that the TPU layer is the airproof coating on the fabric, not insulation and that it will remain flexible to -15 so you can fold up the mat in really cold conditions.

The Tog 1.6 value appears to equate to R 0.9 http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=56690 thanks to Joomy (I assume the same as posts here). So more comfortable than a sheet of plastic but not much more insulation.

[wayno]

you get what you pay for, it's lighter than the neoair, so thinner more fragile fabric? more prone to puncture? not to mention mark's comments about having a far lower insulative value

[Strider]

you get what you pay for, it's lighter than the neoair, so thinner more fragile fabric? more prone to puncture? not to mention mark's comments about having a far lower insulative value

Its a less complicated internal design, which is probably where the weight saving arises from.

IMO the Neoair range was well and truly dead and buried when Exped released their UL versions.

[Ent]

The reports of the Neoair death are rather overstated given the continuous failures of the Exped baffles. Frankly given the failures of Exped I have seen first hand it is impossible for me to see then as an alternative as much as I wished they were.

[ninjapuppet]

I have tried a few multimats and they all totally overestimate their temperature ranges.
Take this one for example: http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/sleeping-mats-c58/closed-cell-foam-mats-c137/superlite-compact-xs-short-closed-cell-foam-mat-p222

Its rated -15C to +60C but there is no way I would take that thing below zero degrees anymore.
Death of the neoair is a grossly inaccurate term to describe any other mat on the market today.

[Franco]

The Neo Air is one of those product lines that some love to hate.
Go to DPReview and regularly you will see someone predicting the death of Canikon (that is both Canon and Nikon).
Why ?
Well some people are just like that.

Anyway, I find it ridiculous that an R1 mat is compared to one almost 3x warmer....

[Mountain Rocket]

Looks narrow, flimsy, large pack size and cold. The pillow also looks like it has zero R&D - how is your head meant to stay on that thing?
I will certainly be keeping my Xtherm over this thing and any other mat currently on the market.

[wayno]

IMO some ultralight hikers just go with the lightest option by default and love the concept that its the lightest and they convince themselves it still does the job as near as good as anything heavier.
The rest of the ultralighters are smarter than that...

[Strider]

I reckon Phil is a good example of the above. Losing pack weight so he can add a dry baking kit. Brilliant!

[GPSGuided]

The pillow also looks like it has zero R&D - how is your head meant to stay on that thing?

It actually came out of the latest high tech research, the inflated and elevated portion is actually designed as a neck support. With the accurate acu-pressure, it guarantees cloud 9 sleep sessions with prolonged REM sleep phases and NPTs.

[Nuts]

I reckon Phil is a good example of the above. Losing pack weight so he can add a dry baking kit. Brilliant!

Actually not a bad idea at all, loose unnecessary grams to add more luxuries!
I slept on one of the new t-rests, the xtherm. tbh I wouldn't bother unless you expect to camp in the cold, i was uncomfortably warm then alternately cold and damp. Something lighter and cooler could be more suitable in summer or especially qld.

[Joomy]

Could this be the death of the neoair as claimed?

I don't know. Reviewer claims its as comfortable as a bed. I am sus with these type of reviews that claim so much.

How could a 7cm mattress be as comfortable as a bed. Its all nonsense in my opinion. Similar reports are out on the NeoAir XLite. I find it a torture machine to sleep on. One of the worst sleeps ever. I couldn't wait to get out of bed to start walking so to repair my back. I will stick with my hammock, thank you very much.

http://www.keithfoskett.com/the-death-o ... #more-1947

Phil, have you tried the vertical baffle style air mats? I find them much more comfortable than the NeoAirs. Also the slighly stretchy nylon that Exped and most other manufacturers use gives the mat a springiness more akin to a mattress than the NeoAirs, so they do feel more like a bed rather than a piece of contoured steel.

I sometimes can't believe the ratings these manufacturers claim. It's like the STS Thermal Liners all over again. If someone actually went out and used on of these pads or those liners in -15C they'd be endangering themselves.

One reason I could see myself getting lightweight but virtually uninsulated mat would be to make my sleep system redundant against deflation. You could bring a lightweight CCF mat R rating of 2-3 to use underneath your air mattress which adds a bit of warmth and significant comfort, but would not leave you with no ground insulation should it fail. Also I use a large inflatable mat for comfort but really only need most of my insulation beneath my torso and upper legs so I could take a regular or even 3/4 length CCF mat. Hmmz...

Edit: In fact you could take 1 or 2 3mm to 8mm CCF mats for roughly 0.5 to 1.0R value each depending on the level of extra insulation you needed...