Mats Ahoy From Vango...

New for 2005 from the lovely Scottish people at Vango is a comprehensive range of self-inflating sleeping mats in three grades - Ultralite, Standard, and Deluxe - and there are full and three-quarter lengths available in each of the three.

Surprisingly enough Ultralite is targeted at light weight freaks and packs down to a 32x10cm size and weighs 570gms, not the lightest out there, but pricing, as always with Vango, should be very competitive.

Standard mats are 3.8cm thick, which is actually pretty beefy, and should give a pretty luxurious night's sleep regardless of nastly lurking stones and dead beetles while the Deluxe is aimed squarely at car campers, or anyone with their own personal porter, with a 5cm cushioned mat guaranteeing camping nirvana, or something.

All the mats will come with a stuff sac and an emergency repair kit to avoid that sinking feeling with prices ranging from £35 for the basic Ultralite up to £65 for the full-length Deluxe.

The mats will be in the shops early next year but you can find information on the current Vango range of tents, packs and sleeping bags at www.vango.co.uk.