Isle Royale Forums

I'm getting older and find it harder to get a good night's sleep. My Thermarest ultralight self-inflating pad just isn't cutting it any more. I'm considering springing for one of their Neo Air pads for both comfort and light weight. At ~$150, the price is just breathtaking. Has anyone tried any less expensive alternatives to the Neo Air?

Don,

I have a Exped mat that I purchased from Sunny Sports, but they no longer offer it.

Here is a similar one by Exped at REI

http://www.rei.com/product/797661/exped ... ic-air-pad

I have been pleased with mine.

I have the NeoAir and will vouch that it's worth every cent. I couldn't swallow $150 either, so that's what I used my REI dividend on. You can also check out Retailmenot.com for great coupons for buying online.

fonixmunkee wrote:I have the NeoAir and will vouch that it's worth every cent. I couldn't swallow $150 either, so that's what I used my REI dividend on. You can also check out Retailmenot.com for great coupons for buying online.

I checked my REI dividend. Only $11.49. It will take a little of the sting out but not much.

I've heard good things about the NeoAir, but even better things about the Exped. I guess the NeoAir sounds like a ruffled bag of potato chips when you move, but I've never slept on one before...

On the bright side, I haven't heard of any issues of people struggling to inflate them or that they leak. I intend on purchasing one down the road.

Have been using the Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Pad and would purchase again at half the price of Neo Air.

I have been carrying the Neo Air this season. I have the small size as I'm 5'6" and I fit just fine. The pad weighs 9oz so there is a lot to like about that. The crinkle noise is not a feature of mine. I heard about that on early sales but mine is rather quiet. Blowing it up is not difficult. After a few days on the trail my lungs can get'er done in a minute. It does elevate your body more than the self inflaters so I use my boots under my pillow pack (read clothes bag) to raise my head. It is a lot of money,but I had a gift cert to a local outfitter. I'm hoping my 30* bag will be adequate for early August on IR.

try the Therm-a-rest AirTap Pump Kit, it only weighs 3.2 oz. according to the manufacturer:

Turn any bag into a mattress inflation system. Choose the included lightweight plastic bags, or go with a more permanent option-simply pierce the bottom of any air-tight bag with the piercing tip and attach the valve coupler. Lof the bag, seal and roll, filling any NeoAir mattress with near zero effort or additional weight in your pack. An included cap maintains waterproof performance of lightweight stuffsacks with tap permanently in place.

On a resent self contained bike trip, I watched a lady pump up 2 Neo's in less than 5 minutes without a huff or puff.

Neat

My brother has a Warmlite cold-weather sleeping bag with an integrated air mattress. Warmlite is dead-set against you blowing any humid air into their mattress, so the stuff sack acts as an air pump. You couple it to the mattress, grab a bag full of air, close it off and squeeze.

Backpackers on other sites rave about the Instaflator. $4 and very light. Don't know if it adapts to all inflatable pad valves.

http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Floats- ... 76052.html

We were trying to add low $$ stuff for our trip to IR this summer, so we bought the Eureka Singlet (or something like that), which is a self-inflating air mattress. The regular size is small, but reasonably lightweight at 1 lb, 6 oz. We thought we died and went to heaven sleeping on these, especially in the shelters, where there isn't any "give" to the ground. We got them, I think, from Sunny Sports for $39. each. They roll up very small, take less than 2 minutes to inflate, and have a nifty carry pouch. We were looking for something we could use also for car camping, less strenuous backpacking, and canoe trips, like BWCA. So, shaving weight to the bare minimum wasn't an issue. THey have a Dual-something that is 2 and 1/2 pounds, which has a therma-rest thing on the bottom in addition to the airmattress, but it was $89, which was definitely out of our price range. Anyway, we were very happy with these. I noticed just about everyone else had the foam pads, but, frankly, we're older, and my husband has a bad back. We used to sleep on the ground happily, and not worry about any creature comforts, but those days are gone, gone, gone

I ordered a Big Agnes mummy air mattress from REI on sale and using my dividend. It was less than 1/3 the cost of the Neo Air and only a few ounces heavier.

I know I need one. The old blue foam just no longer does it for me at my age.

No matter how hard you dress the ground it looks like any inflatable will puncture sooner or later, especially the light weight ones. Looks like the Agnes comes with a repair kit and a stuff bag.

I'd be looking for some under pad that would protect from punctures. The old blue pad would work but kinda heavy for what it's doing. Maybe you can get a thin sheet of Kevlar to stop the puncture likelihood.

Midwest Ed wrote:...Maybe you can get a thin sheet of Kevlar to stop the puncture likelihood.

Quite a few people use Tyvek as a ground cloth to help prevent the puncture scenario. The air mattresses are tougher than they look.

jrwiesz wrote:Quite a few people use Tyvek as a ground cloth to help prevent the puncture scenario. The air mattresses are tougher than they look.

We buy a lot of bird food in bags of this woven coated plastic (no idea what you call th stuff). I use this plastic to make ground cloths to sit on. I'll bet it would make a good footprint for a sleeping pad. I guess the best thing would be Cuben but it runs something like $25/yd.