Bushwalking gear and paraphernalia. Electronic gadget topics (inc. GPS, PLB, chargers) belong in the 'Techno Babble' sub-forum.

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TIP: The online Bushwalk Inventory System can help bushwalkers with a variety of bushwalk planning tasks, including: Manage which items they take bushwalking so that they do not forget anything they might need, plan meals for their walks, and automatically compile food/fuel shopping lists (lists of consumables) required to make and cook the meals for each walk. It is particularly useful for planning for groups who share food or other items, but is also useful for individual walkers.
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Re: Info on super light weight foam mat

Mon 18 Sep, 2017 4:48 pm

gbedford wrote:The density is the key.

Not quite right but the resilience of the foam you mention is true test. The insulation value is in the air bubbles trapped in the foam. For maximum insulation per unit of thickness you want a low density foam - more air bubbles. As mentioned previously in this thread there are cheap foams and far more durable foams of the same density usually PE based.

Re: Info on super light weight foam mat

Tue 19 Sep, 2017 1:13 am

gbedford wrote:A quick check is to squeeze the mat between thumb and forefinger. If the dent stays any length of time then the mat is low density, cheap, nasty, little insulation and padding and will fall apart easily.


That's what I've always thought too. That a foam mat that holds a dent for more than a fraction of a second is inferior and won't last. But what about memory foam?

On a road trip last year I bought a cheap foam mat. When I pinched it it would remain dented for a while, slowly filling back in. I thought, "What a piece of junk!", but it's all that was available.

Now here's the thing. It has turned out to be a *great* piece of gear. The dent always fills back eventually and looks like new. I can't say yet that it will last 10 years but it impressed me enough that I went back to the same place this year and bought another. As for density, this particular foam is equivalent to EVA30.

Now maybe a pad that springs back in 50ms is superior, but I've revised my idea of what resilience means with respect to foam mats. Also, I think there may be another metric, one that measures how much it compresses under load, that is important to consider. That's something a little harder to measure but you can usually feel it if the difference is enough.

Re: Info on super light weight foam mat

Wed 20 Sep, 2017 9:38 pm

Yes you are right it is not about density. that s what happens when you prattle off the top of your head. However having purchased hundreds of these matter in the course of equipping students for outdoor activities the pinch test is the best way I know of determining the value of a mat. Some matts I have bought in the past compressed so easily you might as well have slept on a ground sheet. Little insulation and you felt every bump.
Not that CCF mats are that comfortable. The tension between comfort, compression and insulation. Not sure about that memory foam Orion.
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