![]() ![]() ![]() Also, rather than include every inflatable and self-inflating pad available, which is not the focus of this article (see Section Hiker’s sleeping pad article for a more comprehensive list), I chose to exclude any pad with a total weight greater than 20 ounces (1.25 lbs). For some pads, primarily the low-end generic ones I found on Amazon, I was not able to find sufficient data on weights and R value/temperature rating to include them in the data table. I attempted to compile data on all the ccf pads available in the US market, and include inflatable and self-inflating pads for comparison. Unfortunately, I could only find 5 out of their 14 pad options available for sale in the US, through Emergency Outdoors, Mad City Outdoor, and a few Ebay and Amazon sellers. In researching foams for this article, their staff were very helpful in educating me about the different types of foam they use in their low-end, medium-end, and high-end pads, and how those differences relate to warmth and durability. However, they have a wider range of ccf pads than any other company and are using many different type of foam and foam technologies in their pads. The UK-based company Multimat is another company that not many people talk about or use their pads, partly because few of their pads are even available in the US. You can also get some generic foam pads and Z-lite knock-offs from REI, ALPS Mountaineering, Coleman, and various other random companies – I included any I found that had sufficient data for comparison. Oware is another cottage company that, while less well known than Gossamer Gear, offers a 3/8” pad and a 1/2″ pad in several sizes that are often recommended on ultralight forums.Įxped, Therm-a-Rest’s main competitor in the mainstream US sleeping pad market (although Big Agnes, NEMO, and Sea-to-Summit have big presences as well), makes a few ccf pads that I rarely hear any talk about. These pads are both descendants of the popular but long-gone Mt. Nunatak, a leader in high-end sleeping bags, once made an egg-crate Lunapad, similar to the NightLight, but they have since discontinued its production. They also sell a 1/8” ThinLight pad, that is commonly used paired with an inflatable pad or by itself by the most extreme super-ultralight hikers, and a 1/4” ThinLight pad marketed to hammock-users but perfectly fine for ground-sleeping as well. It is also egg-crate shaped, but it is smooth and flat on the other side the bumps are not hollow underneath like in the Z-Lite. Many ultralight backpackers are fans of Gossamer Gear’s NightLight pad, which serves double-duty as a back pad to give structure to their very popular frameless packs. It is very common to see someone on the trail with the rectangular folded Z-Lite pad (or one of its cheaper knock-offs) strapped to the outside of their pack. The most popular ccf pads in the US seem to be Therm-a-Rest’s pads, which include their classic RidgeRest with the ribbed imprints, their foldable Z-Lite with egg-crate countering, and their newer aluminized “SOL” versions of both. ![]()
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