Hi,
Just starting backpacking.Bought the tent (saunders) bought the sleeping bag (alpkit)I now need a sleeping mat.What is reccomended Thermarest or Airic.Is there any good deals going at the moment.

Bob. Check ebay for thermarests going cheap, and alpkit wee or slim airic would also be great value. www.winwood-outdoor.com (keswick) sell AntiGravityGear closed cell if you want to go mega light.insulated but not so much for comfort. basic trade off really, less weight = less comfort mostly. Sleep is my biggest thing so I've got the daddy, Exped Downmat 7 DLX. about a kilo, half kilo of weight saved elsewhere. if you just want to be warm and sleep ok on a harder service, go for the alpkit or closed cell from winwood, can't go wrong

I have a Highlander Comfort and a Thermarest Prolite 3 Regular. The prolite is.....well.....light but I don't find it that comfortable and I wake up with all manner of aches. The Comfort is heavier but nicer to kip on. I weigh twelve and a half stone so it could be I'm too heavy for the Prolite. It also doesn't self inflate too well and I wonder about blowing into it starting mould growing which in a sleep mat costing almost £70 is something to avoid. But it is proper light and takes up so little space in the old rucksack it saves space and weight which can be taken up with falling down water to help you get to sleep, thus no need to worry about the discomfort. Don't know if this is any use to you but just something to consider.

Hi Dave and Tim,
I never considered my weight as a factor.I am 15 1/2 stone so maybe I need something more substantial.

id highly recomend the alpkit one im a big bloke and it does the job!

just taken delivery today (ordered late saturday night) of a Multimat inflatable mat from Wiggle. RRP £25. I got it for a bit less with discounts. Just tried it on the floor and is seem comfy as bits. Only weighs 440g and packsto size of a 1 litre sigg bottle.Exped do a similar one for about £30. (can't rember the site I saw it on)I may be wrong but I think this will give a little more comfort while camping as I have back problems from time to time and sometimes wake up a bit stiff and sore

Hi Muzza & Moogi,
Moggi which Alpkit one do you recommend.

Hmmm, i forgot to put my weight. 102kg ex rugby player. thats about 16stone. love the downmat DLX though. much better, if a little heavier than my thermarest pro lite.

ive got the slim airic which i think is great but if you want to save some weight get the wee one.

i am 17 stone and use the thermarest prolite 4 and sleep well when wildcamping.

I use 4 old, bent and rusty 6" nails to do the job...ooops wrong thred.

Thermarest lite-long for me can't be doing with these 3/4 length jobbies they seem to be more like 2/3 on a guy of my hieght!!

I didn't mean to start a discussion on our weight.

Ray is a Prolite 4 thicker than a three? I wonder why I find it so uncomfortable? Maybe just need to keep trying until I get used to it.

on the subject of weight, i'm a strapping 16 stoner!! Does anyone else here have a wry chuckle at ourselves when we spend a small fortune shaving a few grams off the weight of our kit when all we really need is a bit of will power and a bit less grub and we could knock kilos off...

You're right Muzza I managed to shave 11 seconds off my previous three peaks time by.. well.. shaving. Cutting my toe nails would have saved a few more but I wanted to keep it competative.

Bob, don't bother with the sleeping mat.
Simply replace that 500 or so grams with half a litre of Whisky.
I guarantee that you will have the best night sleep ever and be completely impervious to lumps in the ground, noisy mountain goats, tent fire and of passing out in a stream! ;-)

I went from a karrimat to a thermarest and now I'm using an Exped AirMat.
It's not that light, but packs down to the size of a magazine and will do me well into autumn when I'll go back to the thermarest.
Weight and cost are as nothing when you get a good nights sleep.

OR scap a sleeping mat and put on some more weight for a sort of cushioning effect. :)

Being 18 stone, that was my other suggestion!! Both work for me. ;-)

lol muzza you are right.if only i could lose the weight off me belly then the rucksack weight would not be a problem.
tim the prolite 4 is thicker by about 1cm.

Ray, think of the belly as a counter weight to the rucksack - a kind of yin & yan. We're not fat, just in tune spiritually!!!

Carrying on with the thread though - I use a thin inflatable torso pad (sorry mines a no-name affair, but there are others on the market) and then I use a very thin, stupidly low weight, full length Gossamer Gear Insulation pad underneath the whole thing.
Your feet will be warm. Inflatables are not as good at stopping cold as closed cell, so effectivly you are increasing the rating of your sleeping bag by doing this. If the inflatable pops, you still have something underneath.
Personally, during summer I can get away with very little as the grass is quite thick. Try rolling off your mat during the night and see how cold / uncomfortable you are, you can always roll back on. Better still try it in the back garden before you buy anything, you will then learn what you can get away with.