Therm-a-Rest branches out into ultra-lightweight sleep systems for next year.
Cascade, the name behind
Therm-a-Rest
concentrated on its fast and light kit last year, but for 2010, it's
all about comfort, mild camping in fact, though they also have an
integrated mat and sleeping bag sleep system that' claimed to save
significant chunks of weight over the equivalent conventional items.
The
'Dream Time'
mattess must be the polar opposite of last year's ridiculously light
Neo Air mat. It's the ultimate home and car camping mat and comprises
in one package, a Therm-a-rest mat, a thick one, topped with foam and
then finished off with a fleece top sheet for the ultimate luxury.
This year it's been upgraded with memory foam for the ultimate in
comfort. And it gets a serious price tag too, around
£180. The
next level down is more relevant to most of us, and here mats have been
zoned to match body shapes, so they're softer under hip and shoulders
where foam has been remove for improved comfort. You can see the zoning
in the picture above.
The Haven
Rather more interesting if you're looking at saving weight
is the new Haven sleep system. It's not a new idea, but seems very well
done with some neat touches. Basically there's no bottom to the bag, it
simply slips over a standard-sized mat.
To save more weight, you enter the bad from underneath, so there's no
zipped opening or baffles and you cannot get out of the hood orifice.
That sounds slightly claustrophobic, but it's s easy to slip the bag
off the mat and escape that it doesn't feel that way. It also seems to
avoid the cold spots common with this sort of design by being quite
contoured internally.
The benefits are a -6C comfort rated bag which weighs just 620 grammes
- it has goose down fill - and packs tiny. It will be available in
regular and large sizes and priced at £170 and £190
respectively.
Available in January 2010. It's aimed primarily at lightweight
obsessives and adventure and mountain marathon racers.
