Down Air Mattress

Being a 9cm air mattress, this is far more comfortable than any other sleeping pad I have tried. It weighs somewhat more than a light self-inflatable, but promises much more insulation in cold camps. Compared to a double matt system, it is in fact light and compact when packed.

Found mine on sale for $125, which is still a lot, but I am skinny and sleeping cold can ruin a trip. Brought it to Kilimanjaro and slept like a baby at -10 C. One night my partner was cold on her slightly thicker than standard foam mattress, swapping to the exped he got warm in 15 minutes. (With my -21C bag I was warm every night regardless of pad).

One caveat is that using the stuff sack to inflate is tedious, but a minute or two of work are well spent for a full night of good sleep. Yet, as the inflation sack attaches at the end, it does require some room in the tent. Will try to inflate it inside my ultra-light one-person tent one day and let you know.

Update Jan 2005. Slept in -20C=-5F on the pad with a -21C=-5F marmot down bag and clothes. Pad kept me nicely warm. Inflation takes less time than melting a pot os snow.

In looking for the comfort of a thick pad I opted for this one due to its lightweight compared to other thick pads. I have used it on Rainier and Shasta without another pad and found it to be warm and comfortable. It's small enough to fit inside my pack every time I've used it. Just a bit of a pain to inflate/ deflate thus four stars.

But this mattress is very warm and comfortable.

I have a 7 cm version of this sleeping pad, so far I've felt no need to upgrade it to 9 cm. Inflation can be indeed a bit tricky in the beginning and requires some practice (and patience), but this is only a minor issue. It is also possible to buy an accessory tube (only a few grams extra) which makes inflating under 90 degrees possible (can pump while inside a tent).

Update (February, 2008):
For me, the major problem are the possible unexplained leaks...I bought the mat in spring 2006, everything was fine, at least I thought it was - the mat required one or two extra pumps after a night sleeping on it. But it was the same for the Thermarest pad I own, so I didn't suspect anything. Now, after 1 week outing, the mat deflates half during the night. I submerged the mat in a bath twice, and discovered at least 3 microscopic leaks in the fabric on the sleep side! I say "at least" because these leak spots were extremely difficult to discover - after several trial and error baths I found out that the mat has to be dry, pumped up as hard as possible and submerged not too deep in the water. If doing two subsequent submerges, the second try reveals no leaks. Moreover, the fact that the leaks were on the sleep side, seems pretty odd (well, the first check on the floor side revealed nothing). Fabric fault? I don't know. It's all very strange...