Bushwalk Australia

As the subject mentions. I'm after a sleeping mat for end of May this year for the overland track. I'm average/short height at 158cms, plan on using clothes/jacket as a pillow.
Looking for lightweight...cutting down on weight where I can

Suggestions?
Cheers

If you are not a cold sleeper , the Women Pro Lite Plus (Thermarest) at 570 g is a safe solution. (R 4.2)
You can save some weight and get extra warmth with the Neo Air X Therm (also Thermarest) at R 5.7.
This does not come in a shorter than 183 cm version but it is 430g.
If you like your mat a bit soft you can have the X Therm not fully inflated and still at R 4 plus (R5.7 I think is measured at 80% inflation)
Keep in mind that they "self deflate" a bit when your warm breath cools down inside the mat . (or use an inflation bag...)

I will never forget the woman from the Israeli Army, she was tough
Slept on the bunks during her Overland walk.
No sleeping mat for her, no tent or food, she ate walkers left overs,
so she travelled lite. Ah the 90's were fun.
Regards OLM

Exped.

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Strider wrote:Exped.

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Me too. I use one of their synthetic mats and it's great. I use a dry bag pump with it.

Lots of different preferences for lots of different people. It'd be ideal if you could borrow a mat for the walk, and compare that with what the others have. A lot also depends on what sort of walking you expect to be doing after that. Having a mat with a good R value adds a good bit of warmth-for-weight to your sleeping system.

I looooooooove my NeoAir Xtherm, so a big agreement with Franco on that. I use my pack liner as a giant airbag, cinched around the valve, which means my mat is full with no huffing or puffing, or warm moist air that will cause some deflation later (thanks for that simple-but-very-effective tip, icefest ).

My Exped Downmat stays at home, except for some car camping trips. The 'sighing' of the valve drives me and other tent occupiers nuts. So I sleep with the foot as the head, wear ear plugs, and don't share my car with anyone. Yes, I know the air has to equalise at the pump every time I roll over blah blah, but I finally caught the mat sighing when I was on the other side of the room!! But more importantly, I hate opening the exped valves. Struggle with them every time. Unlike the NeoAir, which is a breeze to use.

Overlandman wrote:I will never forget the woman from the Israeli Army, she was tough
Slept on the bunks during her Overland walk.
No sleeping mat for her, no tent or food, she ate walkers left overs,
so she travelled lite. Ah the 90's were fun.
Regards OLM

I remember a French lass who had no stove ,sleeping mat or Tent only nuts for food who walked in knackered sandals and bare feet??

BTW, my winter mat is the Exped DM 7 and I love that mat but it isn't all that light.
Whatever mat is chosen try it several times at home to make sure it does stay inflated.

Tortoise wrote:Lots of different preferences for lots of different people. It'd be ideal if you could borrow a mat for the walk, and compare that with what the others have. A lot also depends on what sort of walking you expect to be doing after that. Having a mat with a good R value adds a good bit of warmth-for-weight to your sleeping system.

I looooooooove my NeoAir Xtherm, so a big agreement with Franco on that. I use my pack liner as a giant airbag, cinched around the valve, which means my mat is full with no huffing or puffing, or warm moist air that will cause some deflation later (thanks for that simple-but-very-effective tip, icefest ).

My Exped Downmat stays at home, except for some car camping trips. The 'sighing' of the valve drives me and other tent occupiers nuts. So I sleep with the foot as the head, wear ear plugs, and don't share my car with anyone. Yes, I know the air has to equalise at the pump every time I roll over blah blah, but I finally caught the mat sighing when I was on the other side of the room!! But more importantly, I hate opening the exped valves. Struggle with them every time. Unlike the NeoAir, which is a breeze to use.

Has yours got one of those built in pumps?

DanShell wrote:Has yours got one of those built in pumps?

Yep. Sounds like they might have overcome that problem - good! I still hate the valves, though, and last time I looked they're still making them the same way.

Tortoise wrote:

DanShell wrote:Has yours got one of those built in pumps?

Yep. Sounds like they might have overcome that problem - good! I still hate the valves, though, and last time I looked they're still making them the same way.

They definitely overcome the issue with the mat I own, it has no built in pump

They may have changed the valves as well as mine are brilliant. Nice and easy to pump up and very fast expelling air. So fast in fact it is almost amusing when trying to let a little bit of air out at night and in an instant you end up laying flat on the ground!

I love my neo thermarest. It comes with a little pump. You need to have a couple of batteries though. Get one of these mats. Y0u won't regret it. As mentioned, they don't weigh so much.

And everyone in my world (cycle touring) says these are the best - last the longest. I went with a lesser thing for far too long. (don't be tempted by a cheap mat unless you don't want to use it much.

But buying one in Australia is tricky. They are expensive to buy here and you can't buy directly from thermarest or america. So try getting one from MEC canada. That's where i got mine in the end and it save me at least $80 with postage included.

This is increasingly becoming a difficult question to answer. Exped, Therm-a-Rest, Sea to Summit... They're all doing great mats that make it in the comfort vs size vs weight vs warmth vs price contest.

The Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm is probably the best option when it comes to balancing weight and warth. But as Stroller mentioned, they're pretty expensive and not all that prevalent on the Aussie market.

Definately be mindful of the R value of whichever mat you choose - the higher it is the more insulation it'll provide against the cold ground. It gets pretty cold in that neck of the woods at that time of year.

I think your budget can help dictate which way you go with this one.

I'm doing the OLT over Easter and was wondering about my mat too. Of course the weather could do anything at that time of year, but I'm planning for some pretty cold conditions. I use a Thermarest Prolite Reg, which I think has an R value of 3.0 (not sure as it's a few years old so it's hard to find the specs). What I was wondering is how sleeping on tent platforms affects temperature? Does being off the cold ground make it warmer? Or does having cold air circulating through the gaps in the timber make it colder?

Drew wrote:I'm doing the OLT over Easter and was wondering about my mat too. Of course the weather could do anything at that time of year, but I'm planning for some pretty cold conditions. I use a Thermarest Prolite Reg, which I think has an R value of 3.0 (not sure as it's a few years old so it's hard to find the specs). What I was wondering is how sleeping on tent platforms affects temperature? Does being off the cold ground make it warmer? Or does having cold air circulating through the gaps in the timber make it colder?

Drew I walked the OLT in April and used the same mat. I was uncomfortably cold on the damp ground at Waterfall Valley on a minus 5 or so night but was ok from then on, on platforms but admittedly it wasn't as cold. I dont know the science but in my experience being on a platform even if they are getting cold air under them is still better than being on a wet frozen ground.

Thanks Dan.

It looks like there are tent platforms at most sites but I'm guessing if there are lots of campers you could miss out on these. Is that the case? Maybe a warmer mat or a foamy underneath the thermarest would be worthwhile...

Drew wrote:Thanks Dan.

It looks like there are tent platforms at most sites but I'm guessing if there are lots of campers you could miss out on these. Is that the case? Maybe a warmer mat or a foamy underneath the thermarest would be worthwhile...

The only place where you are put on the ground is at Waterfall Valley. Every other designated camping area has more than enough platforms, providing you are not in really late and it is overly crowded I guess.

But yes I ended up dragging a bit of closed cell foam under my torso which I think did help on that freezing night. It was only a small piece that I used to kneel on in my vestibule but I was desperate at that stage!

I take that back, Echo Point has no platforms either but you will not need them there is it s great place to camp

The reason the platforms allow less heat loss from the base of the mat compared to wet ground is due to the good insulation properties of the timber and the fact that heat loss is mainly occurring along the small gaps between the planks. On wet ground the heat loss is from the entire mat lower surface and the moisture allows the heat to be quickly dispersed maintaining a large temperature difference between the mat and the soil surface.

That does look like a cold morning! You should have pitched in that lovely sunny spot instead

The reason the platforms allow less heat loss from the base of the mat compared to wet ground is due to the good insulation properties of the timber and the fact that heat loss is mainly occurring along the small gaps between the planks. On wet ground the heat loss is from the entire mat lower surface and the moisture allows the heat to be quickly dispersed maintaining a large temperature difference between the mat and the soil surface.

Thanks Mark, makes sense.

For those soggy cold grounds, layering some dead leaves and grass before pitching can moderate the temperature gradient in my experience.


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I can recommend the Sea to Summit Comfort Lite Insulated Large.
It has an r value of 4.2
Weighs between 550 and 695gm depending on what size you get.
Super comfy.

dagsands wrote:I can recommend the Sea to Summit Comfort Lite Insulated Large.
It has an r value of 4.2
Weighs between 550 and 695gm depending on what size you get.
Super comfy.

I got one of these for myself and my girlfriend recently, and we're both pretty pleased with them. We've had some good sleepin' on them so far, and I look forward to trying them out in colder weather.

Exped insulated inflatable mat extra long with the pump self contained. I have used it in winter in snow camping in Victoria and at Base camp in India at 3000 M.