If you appreciate a good night’s sleep when you’re out camping, then you’ll see the value of a good sleeping pad! A sleeping pad serves two important functions in your camping kit.
First of all, it provides an extra layer of cushioning between your sleeping bag and the ground and in that sense, it can really improve your comfort. Though how much so depends on a lot on the type of pad you use: foam pads provide a minimal boost, but inflatable pads are essentially inflatable mattresses and can greatly improve comfort.
The second purpose of a sleeping pad is to provide extra insulation between your sleeping bag and the ground. On a cold night, and if paired with an appropriate sleeping bag, a sleeping pad can make a big difference to your warmth and can be the difference between lying awake shivering and having a restorative night’s sleep.
In extremely cold conditions such as you’d experience in the Arctic or at very high altitude, the extra insulation provided by a sleeping pad can even be fundamental to survival. Not to mention adding additional comfort in general.
A sleeping pad is not an essential piece of kit, and many do camp without them, but we believe that what they bring to the table makes them well worth their place in your kit bag and we certainly would not camp without one!
This article is part of our series on the best sleeping pads for camping, view all articles below:
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Types of Sleeping Pads
Sleeping pads can be divided into three main types – all of which have their strengths and weakness, with some types of pad being better suited to different types of camping or backpacking than others. Below, we’ll explore the differences between the three types: closed cell foam, inflatable and self-inflating.
Closed Cell Foam
Closed cell foam sleeping pads are the most basic type of sleeping pad or mat. At their most basic, these are just sheets of foam material, though some more advanced models feature layers of different material such as metalized film to help improve insulation.
Very basic models are just rolled up for storage and transport – a bit like a yoga mat (and indeed, you could use a yoga mat as a very basic sleeping pad in a pinch). Though more advanced designs will typically fold up in a repeating ‘Z’ pattern to minimize their closed volume.
More advanced models typically feature shaped surfaces. Often with a dimple pattern that resembles an egg box to further help boost insulation by capturing pockets of air or allowing your sleeping bag to expand or ‘loft’ into the spaces.
Closed Cell Foam sleeping pads are the thinnest type of pad, and they are generally considered to be the least comfortably type as they are typically under 2.5cm/1in thick when deployed. We’d agree with this, but it’s also well worth saying that they do improve comfort – especially so if you’ve pitched your tent on hard on bumpy ground.
Closed cell foam pads have three key advantages. First, they are very quick to setup and pack back down again. We’re talking seconds here and, when compared to the minutes it takes to setup and pack down an inflatable pad, that’s a tangible difference!
Second, they are tough, can stand a lot of abuse and will keep working even if they are damaged or torn! Essentially, these pads are just sheets of foam, so there isn’t much that can go wrong with them.
For this reason, they are a popular choice for those who undertake long distance routes such as the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or Continental Divide Trail, where you might be hiking for weeks or months at a time with limited resupply options. The third advantage of this type of pad is that they are often cheaper than the other kinds.
The disadvantages of closed cell foam pads are that they generally do not pack down as small as inflatable pads – and there’s often a huge difference here. They are almost always not as comfortable as inflatable pads, and they generally only offer limited insulation. So they are not the optimum choice (or at least shouldn’t be used on their own) if you’re camping somewhere it will get very cold.
Inflatable Camping Mat
Inflatable camping mats or sleeping pads are our favorite option for backpacking. These pads are essentially thin inflatable mattresses. We often also here them compared to inflatable swimming pool floats or loungers.
Different manufacturers have brought a lot of innovation to the design and manufacture of inflatable pads. In our best sleeping pads guide, you’ll see a lot of clever features intended to improve comfort and warmth, such as multi-chamber and multi-layer pads and pads that feature internal layers of metalized film and/or insulating material to help improve warmth.
Compared to closed cell foam pads, inflatable pads have three key advantages. First, they pack down a lot smaller and you can typically stash an inflatable pad inside your backpack, whereas a folding pad will likely need to be lashed onto the outside where it can easily snag on vegetation etc.
Second, they can be way more comfortable than a folding foam pad – and the difference here can truly be enormous! If you value comfort while you sleep, then the consensus (which we would absolutely agree with!), is that an inflatable pad is the way to go.
Third, if you need a well-insulated pad for camping out on cold nights, then inflatable pads do much better than basic closed cell foam pads. There isn’t really any comparison between them when it comes to protecting you from the cold.
Of course, inflatable pads also have their disadvantages. They do take a while to setup and to pack down again. With practice, this can be done quickly, but it’s another thing to learn and another thing you have to do at the end of a long, tiring hike.
Whilst many inflatable pads come with inflation tools, some basic ones do not (and others may choose not to pack the inflation tool to save on weight). Inflating a pad with your breath alone when you’re already tired or if you are at altitude is not a job we’d look forward to! Inflatable pads are also more prone to damage.
They are not fragile things at all, but the fact that every inflatable pad we have ever seen has come with a repair kit shows that this is a risk. Finally, inflatable pads tend to be more expensive than foam pads – and in some cases by several orders of magnitude.
To be fair, you can’t really directly compare a basic foam pad to some of the more specialized and expensive inflatable pads out there. As the inflatable pads will likely offer features such as very high insulation that the foam pad simply cannot match.
Self Inflating Sleeping Pad
Self inflating sleeping pads are a variant on inflatable sleeping pads. Outwardly, these pads look a lot like inflatable pads, but they are filled with memory foam that will naturally expand when exposed to air.
To setup a self inflating pad, you simply unroll it and open the air valve. If the pad has bene packed for a while, it might take some time for the pad to fully expand, but you can also use your breath to manually inflate the pad or to help along the self-inflation progress.
When packing down a self inflating pad, it’s critical that you squeeze as much air out of the pad as possible rolling it tightly and then, just as important, close the inflation valve. If you don’t do this, the pad will start inflating again whilst packed, which could lead to it getting stuck in its stuff bag.
Self inflating pads have three key advantages: First, their foam filling means they offer excellent comfort, and some manufacturers even offer hybrid self inflating/inflatable pads that offer even more comfort. Second, unlike an inflatable pad, they don’t need manual inflation, or, if they do, it is minimal. Third, they can offer higher insulation than closed cell foam pads.
The key downside of self inflating pads is that they are heavier and larger when packed down relative to an inflatable pad. This difference can be quite considerable and for this reason, they are often not the first choice for those looking to build a lightweight camping kit.
They are also more expensive than closed cell foam pads and still prone to damage like inflatable pads. Finally, and this is subjective, then needs to be packed away more carefully than inflatable pads – specifically, the air valve must be closed to prevent them from re-inflating and getting stuck in their stuff bag.
Shapes of Sleeping Pads
Sleeping pads come in a variety of different shapes and these shapes have a direct influence not just on how you sleep on the pad, but also on their packed size and weight. It’s worth noting that the shape variants are usually only offered for inflatable or self-inflating pads. Closed cell foam pads are typically only offered in a rectangular shape. Below, we’ll run through the main shapes and why you might want to choose one over another.
Mummy
Mummy sleeping pads are named after the stereotypical shape of Ancient Egyptian Mummies. These pads are wider at the head end then they are at the foot end. There’re no fixed proportions here, and some Mummy pads taper more abruptly than others.
Mummy sleeping pads may also have more rounded corners than rectangular pads. It’s worth noting that we’ve only ever seen Mummy shaped inflatable or self-inflating pads, though in theory there’s no reason why you couldn’t have a Mummy shaped closed cell foam pad.
The big advantage of Mummy shaped pads is that they require less material than a rectangular pad. That can equate to less weight, a lower packed size and less time to inflate (though not always all of these).
To illustrate this, we can look at the Nemo Tensor All Season – an inflatable pad that’s offered in both Regular Rectangular and Regular Mummy versions. The Mummy version is approximately 10% lighter than the rectangular version, but still has the same packed size.
The weight difference here is small – less than 50g/1.8oz – and you’re unlikely to notice this if it’s the only weight saving you make but for hikers who look to accumulate marginal gains to build the lightest kit possible, that’s a difference worth considering.
As mentioned, some pads have a more pronounced Mummy shape than others, so the weight saving can be more pronounced than this. The down-side of Mummy pads are evident if you move around in your sleep a lot. If that’s you, you can expect to wake up with your lower body off the pad.
Rectangular
Most sleeping pads are rectangular. There isn’t a huge amount to say about this shape. As you’d expect, these pads are typically a little heavier are usually pack down a little larger than Mummy shaped pads (though any differences here are small and will only be consequential to hikers who have to have the lightest possible kit).
Rectangular pads can also sometimes require a bit of a squeeze to fit into very small tents – especially if you’re trying to fit in more than one pad. As far as we are concerned, rectangular pads are a preferred option if you tend to roll around in your sleep a lot – simply because you’re less likely to wake up off the pad.
If you move around a lot – or if you have a larger body size – rectangular pads are often offered in ‘Wide’, ‘Long’ and even ‘Wide and Long’ versions beyond the ‘Regular’ size. Even if you don’t need one of these larger sized pads, they can feel very luxurious relative to a smaller pad and if you value your comfort and don’t mind carrying the extra weight, then these larger pads are well worth considering.
Double
If you and your partner hike and camp as a couple, then you might be interested in double sleeping pads. Generally only inflatable and self-inflating pads are offered in double size and, whilst there’s no reason why a double foam pad couldn’t exist, we think its necessarily large folded or rolled size would make it very awkward to transport.
It’s worth noting that not all pads are offered as doubles. That’s especially the case as they become more specialized (eg. as the insulation goes up), but a substantial enough number are to make them a valid option.
Double sleeping pads can be a great option, but you should research them carefully before making a purchasing decision. Double pads do not always offer any cost or weight saving over two ‘regular’ pads of the same model. We’ve even seen double pads that are more than twice the weight of two regular singles of the same type.
If you only own a double pad and camp on your own, you are suddenly carrying a lot of extra weight and bulk. You should also consider if a double pad will fit in your tent – that’s easier to achieve with two singles that can be overlapped. Also, unless you are sleeping in a double sleeping bag or double sleeping blanket, there’s little advantage to a double pad.
Women’s
Sleeping pads are generally considered unisex and whilst some manufacturers have offered Women’s specific sleeping pads in the past, the difference between these and the men’s or unisex version of the pads were mainly down to size and color. We’ve noticed that many of these gendered pads have been phased out.
Now manufacturers will add a ‘small’ or ‘petite’ option to their unisex pad range so that those with smaller physical frames don’t have to carry a larger pad than is necessary. We say that you don’t need a gendered pad at all and that your purchasing decision should be based on identifying a pad with features, specification and price that meet your requirements and then buying the size option that works for your body size and shape and sleeping habits.
Best Camping Mats for How You Sleep
Your purchasing decision for a sleeping pad should – at least in part – be informed by how you sleep. The most appropriate pad for, say, a side sleeper, will not necessarily also be the most appropriate choice if you mostly sleep on your back. Below, we’ll explore some of the considerations you should make depending on your own sleeping style.
Back Sleepers
We think that inflatable pads are the top option for backpackers as they offer the optimum combination of comfort, low weight and low packed size. If you sleep on your back, you’ll see a big difference in comfort between a close-cell foam pad and an inflatable pad, with the inflatable pad doing a much better job of softening the feel of the ground beneath you.
The thickness of your sleeping pad makes a big difference here with thicker pads providing better cushioning. You should also consider how much you inflate your sleeping pad.
Generally, a pad that’s more firmly inflated will provide better cushioning, though you may choose to compromise some of this if you prefer to sleep on a slightly softer pad. How thick a pad you choose to go for will depend on many factors.
If you are prioritizing light weight, then thinner pads are generally lighter. Your budget may also limit your choices. However, if you want a more comfortable sleeping experience (and, whilst you might find this hard to believe, may hikers do not prioritize this as highly as you might think!) then it’s fair to say that choosing a thicker pad will help!
Side Sleepers
Everything we’ve said about choosing the right pad for back sleeping is also relevant to side sleepers. But side sleepers will certainly benefit from choosing a thicker pad as their body weight will be concentrated over a smaller area causing them to naturally sink down further into the pad.
Inflatable pads are generally between 5cm/2in and 9cm/3.5in thick with a few being as much as 10cm/4in. If you primarily sleep on your side, then we’d strongly recommend you consider a pad at the thicker end of this scale provided it falls within your budget and also meets any other specification requirements you might have.
For instance, if you plan to camp out in very cold conditions, then getting a slightly thinner pad with a high R-Value will do more for your comfort than getting a thicker pad with a lower R-Value. However, this of course depends on your needs.
Couples
If you always camp with your partner, then it’s well worth considering a double sleeping pad – and indeed many of the pads in our round up are offered in double size. However, there are a few important caveats with double sleeping pads.
First, they seldom offer a substantial weight or cost savings over two regular pads. Plus, if you ever go camping on your own and don’t have another pad to use, then you’re essentially going to be carrying double weight for your pad.
We’d say that the real advantage of a double pad comes into play if you use a full couple sleeping system: that means pairing a double pad with either double sleeping bag or sleeping blanket. Whilst double-sleeping is a great option, we know plenty of hiking couples (including the founders of this site) whose sleeping styles are different enough that they prefer to camp in two single bags on two single pads.
Ways to Inflate Sleeping Pads
How you inflate your sleeping pad – or whether you even need to at all – depends on the type of pad you have and the accessories that came with it. Closed-cell foam sleeping pads don’t need to be inflated at all, but for the other two types – inflatable and self-inflating – there are a few different options which we’ll explore below:
Blow Up
Blowing up a pad with your breath is the simplest way to inflate a sleeping pad, and you can do this with every inflatable, or self-inflating pad. The big advantage of using your breath is that you don’t need any extra equipment.
That means less to carry and less stuff to have to keep track of or worry about misplacing or getting damaged. Blowing up a sleeping pad with your breath alone is not that difficult and some of the budget-focused models we’ve assessed save on costs by not providing a separate inflation tool.
However, we think that a lightweight inflation tool is well worth carrying. They are not heavy, and they make the job of inflating your sleeping pad way (way!) easier. If you’ve come to the end of a long day hiking, or if you are hiking at altitude, the few minutes it takes to blow up your sleeping pad can genuinely be exhausting or, at the very least, psychologically daunting.
What’s more, if you use your breath to inflate your sleeping pad, you’ll be blowing warm, damp air into your pad. This can encourage mold to grow inside the pad (and is surely the reason why several manufacturers apply an antimicrobial treatment to the inside of their pads).
Also, using your breath alone, you generally won’t be able to inflate the pad to the same level of firmness as you can using an inflation tool. If, as most of our reviewers do, you prefer a firmer sleeping pad, then this is another disadvantage. Ultimately, this is a personal choice but having blown up pads with both our breath and by using a tool, we’d always favor using the tool!
Stuff Sack
With the exception of the most budget-focused models, the inflatable pads we’ve assessed have all come with an inflation tool and in all cases, this is an inflation bag. These tools can seem a little confusing at first – especially if you’ve never used one before – but with a little bit of practice, you’ll quickly realize that they are both easy to use and make fully inflating your pad a much more straight-forward job.
Bag-type inflation tools are very light weight and given how much easier they make it to inflate your sleeping pad, we would say they are well-worth carrying. If your pad does not come with an inflation tool, you can buy them separately but be sure to check the tool will be compatible with the valve on your pump. Some inflation tools can also be used as pillows – a useful feature!
Inflation tools also minimize the amount of warm, damp air going into your pad relative to using your breath, thus reducing the chance of mold growing inside your pad. These inflation tools typically look a little bit like a roll-top dry bag. They’ll have a wide, open end and a valve at the other end.
To use the tool, you first attach the valve on the inflation tool to the valve on your inflatable sleeping pad. Next, you open the wide end of the inflation bag, and, optionally, gently blow into it to expand it (you often don’t even need to do this – they key thing is that you are just aiming to loosely expand the bag, not to pressurize it).
Then, once the bag is extended, you start rolling the top. As you do so, the air in the bag will rapidly pressurize and be forced into the pad, thus inflating it. This process might sound complicated and, but once you’re used to it, it’s very easy. If you’ve never done it before, it’s well worth practicing at home so that you’re not trying to get your head around it whilst setting up camp after a long hike.
We should give a notable mention to Sea to Sumit in this category. Their inflation tool is combined with their pad’s storage bag – meaning one less item to keep track of in your kit – and, as the storage bag forms another chamber to the inflation tool, it means it hold a very high volume of air making it super-quick to inflate your pad.
We should also mention that there are other types of inflation tool available including electric pumps and rigid-bodied plastic pumps. These types of pumps can be useful if you are car camping, but we would not recommend them for backpacking as they are generally very large, bulky and heavy.
Self Inflating
In theory, self-inflating pads just need to have their valve opened in order to inflate. However, if the pad has been in storage for some time, you might find it inflates very slowly – and that can be an issue if you just want to get into bed!
The good news is that self-inflating pads can also be inflated by blowing into the valve. Whilst this does defeat the purpose of buying a self-inflating pad, it’s worth remembering in case your pad is slow to fill up or does not inflate to the desired level of firmness.
Warmth and Comfort of Camping Mats
Warmth and comfort are surely two key factors in any decision to buy a sleeping pad. Both are vital characteristics, but the type of pad you buy, along with the type of camping you intend to do with it are both big factors here. Below are some of the key factors to keep in mind in this area.
Sleeping Pad Materials
Sleeping pads are made from a wide variety of materials, but Nylon and Polyester are the two key fabrics we see used in inflatable pads. These materials are a popular choice for making tough but lightweight outdoors gear and we’ve seen a variety of different weights used.
Increasingly, manufacturers are integrating recycled materials into their pads and, at the same time, eliminating toxic waterproofing treatments that we widely used int he past. Sleeping pads may also integrate a range of other materials to help with insulation, which we’ll explore more in the next paragraph.
Insulation
Most hikers buying a sleeping pad are doing so to improve the comfort of their sleep. Whist this is a very valid reason to get one, they also serve another vital role: keeping you warm! In older conditions, a sleeping pad can make the difference between sleeping soundly and shivering all night and in extreme cold, they can be vital for survival.
Different pads insulate in different ways, but all of them, to some extent, put air space between the sleeper and the ground – whether that’s air pockets in a closed cell foam pad, or a large, inflated chamber in an inflatable pad, the basic idea is the same: Air space equals insulation!
But creating air space isn’t the only way pads insulate: many pads – and not just those that are marketed as ‘insulated’ – will come with additional insulating measures. This could include insulating material such as duck or goose down or a hollow-fiber synthetic alternative inside the pad, or a construction that incorporates flexible, metalized film layers intended to reflect radiated heat back towards your body.
As we’ll see in the paragraph below on ‘Baffle Shape and Layout’, these materials can be combined with clever internal design to produce exceptionally well insulated pads. Suitable for use in even the most extreme cold conditions.
R Value
Almost every sleeping pad on the market will come with an R-Value. In our round up, only the most budget-focused pads did not have this. The R-Value is a way of measuring the insulating qualities of a sleeping pad.
Whilst in the past different manufacturers had different ways of measuring this, the great news for consumers is that following an effort by the US outdoors retailing giant REI in 2020, the way R-Vales are measured has been standardized. The standard is called ASTM FF3340, so that you can now directly compare the R-Value of pads from different manufacturers, making choosing between pads easier than ever!
The R-Value designates how well a pad insulates. Higher values equal better insulation and a pad with an R-Value of 2 will insulate twice as well as a pad with a value of 1. You can also combine pads – so, if you have, say, an inflatable pad with a R-Value of 4 (which would be a three-season pad) you can combine it with a closed-cell foam pad with an R-Value of 2 (a two season pad) to get a total value of 6 which would be suited for year-round use.
As a general guide, pad with R-Values up to around 1.5 can be considered summer only. R-Values between 1.5 and 2.5 are good for two season use (e.g. Summer and ‘shoulder season). R-Values between 2.5 up to around 3.5 to 4 can be considered three-season pads and anything above 4.5 is good for four-season use. For extreme cold, pads with very high R-Values are available.
It’s important to note that a well-insulated sleeping pad won’t keep you warm on its own. You need to consider it as part of a ‘sleep system’ comprising a sleeping bag with an appropriate rating for the temperatures you’ll be sleeping out in. The flip side of this is that a well insulated pad won’t make you overheat on a warm night, so, if you camp out in mixed weather conditions and only want to buy a single sleeping pad, then getting one with a higher R-Value makes sense.
Baffle Shape and Layout
Outdoor brands love to innovate, and manufacturers are locked into a perpetual arms race of development and improvement. Sleeping pads – and especially so inflatable ones – are certainly not immune to this!
Outwardly, an inflatable sleeping pad might seem like a fairly basic product – and most of them look fairly similar when inflated. You might be forgiven for thinking that they are just one big bag of air.
However, this is very far from the truth and internally, different pads can have strikingly different structures and design logics at play. The only way to see this different structure would be to cut into the pads, certainly rendering them beyond use – so this important structural factor is essentially invisible to the user!
Internal baffles divide the inside of an inflatable sleeping pad into chambers. When you lie on the pad, your body weight compresses the air in the pad and the positioning of the internal baffles will then dictate where in the pad the air compresses and therefore dictate the comfort and support offered by the pad.
Chambers created by baffles can also contain insulating material (natural goose or duck down is used in some pads, whilst others use synthetic hollow-fiber insulation), and the baffle walls can also be made from heat-reflecting metalized film (often this is found as a horizontal layer inside the pad). So, the baffle structure can have a big impact on how well a pad insulates.
There are as many different baffle designs as there are products on the market, and it’s good not to get too bogged down by the differences between them, as manufacturers use a lot of marketing terms to describe this. When you see two similar pads with very different R-Values, the key thing to keep in mind is that the internal baffle structure, plus insulation is the key reason for the difference.
Sleeping Mat Thickness
Broadly speaking, the thickness of your sleeping pad correlates directly with its comfort – with thicker pads offering better cushioning and therefore comfort. We say ‘broadly’ here because outdoors manufacturers are constantly innovating with design and technology and this has led to some very interesting inflatable pads that make use of multiple air chambers and even multiple inflatable layers, giving pads that are much more comfortable than their thickness would suggest.
So, whilst a thicker pad can generally be said to be more comfortable than a thinner one, this needs to be weighed up alongside the other design features of the pad. Sadly, these features usually come with brand-proprietary names, so it can be difficult to assess how one brand’s products compare to another’s without directly comparing them – which is where our product reviews come in!
Of course, an inflatable pad needs to be appropriately inflated to realize its full comfort. A thick but under-inflated pad will not be as comfortable as a thinner pad inflated to an appropriate pressure.
Camping Pad Width
Width is an important consideration when choosing a sleeping pad and, as with all things in outdoor gear, it is a compromise. A wider sleeping pad will offer a more comfortable sleeping experience, not just if it’s more appropriate to your body shape and size but also if you roll around a lot in your sleep.
However, on the flipside, it will be heavier, bulkier when packed down, more expensive and take longer to set up and pack down if it’s an inflatable pad. So, the choice really comes down to what you prioritize when camping.
Building the lightest possible kit is certainly desirable to many hikers, but this always comes with compromise and we’ve found that there are certain concessions we are more than happy to make to improve our comfort in camp. Carrying an oversized sleeping pad can certainly help and for less intense hikes, or for trips where you’ll be based close to your car, it’s well worth considering.
Noise
It’s worth considering the material the pad is made of. Some pads are made of shiny, lightweight nylon which can prove to be a slippery surface and, if you move around a lot in your sleep, you can find yourself waking up off your pad.
This same material can also be quite noisy, ‘crackling’ and ‘rustling’ as you move. If you (or your camping buddy) is a light sleeper, then this can be a real problem, but the good news is that the latest crop of inflatable pads have made great strides towards eliminating this problem and we’re pleased to say it is not as big an issue as it once was.
Packability of Sleeping Mats
Ultimately, your sleeping pad will be part of your camping kit so, by its nature, it needs to be portable and ideally quick and easy to both set up and also pack away again when it comes time to break camp. Let’s look at some of the key factors to consider in this area.
Storage Options
How you store your sleeping pad really depends on the type. Closed cell foam pads either roll up – like a yoga mat – whilst some of the more high tech options will fold into a block shape.
Inflatable and self-inflating pads both generally pack down into stuff bags – and look a bit like little sleeping bags when stowed. With self-inflating pads, it’s vital that the inflation valve is closed when the pad is stored otherwise they will start inflating and can get stuck in their stuff bags and, at worst, you might need to cut them free, ruining the stuff bag.
Weight
Your sleeping pad is very unlikely to be the heaviest piece of kit you carry, but that isn’t to say that their weight is trivial. The regular sized variants of most of the pads we’ve assessed in our round up come it at around the 500g/1lb mark.
As with all outdoor gear, it’s possible to get super-light products, whilst other products that prioritize comfort or high insulation are generally heavier. It also makes sense that when a product is offered in different sizes, the smaller ones are typically the lightest.
It’s possible to buy very inexpensive and light pads. Whilst these may sound like a very attractive option, be sure to check out the other specs of these pads as they often have a very low R-Value making them unsuitable for use in cold weather.
Packed Size
When assembling any overnight camping kit, the size of your kit is a vital consideration. Inflatable sleeping pads have a clear advantage here as they pack down into a small cylinder.
You’ll often see packed pads compared in size to a 1l/32oz Nalgene water bottle – that can easily fit into most backpacks. Obviously larger sized pads pack down into a larger size.
Closed cell foam and self-inflating pads can’t be packed down as small as inflatable pads. Whilst you’ll probably be able to fit a self-inflating pad into all but the smallest of backpacks, you generally see hikers lashing closed cell foam pads to the outside of their packs. If you are hiking in areas with dense foliage, closed cell foam pads on the outside of a pack can easily get snagged.
Ease of Deflating
This category is only relevant to inflatable and self-inflating pads. Closed cell foam pads can simply be folded or rolled away in a matter of seconds.
Correctly deflating and packing away an inflatable or self-inflating pad takes a bit of time to master. If you haven’t done it before, you’ll likely roll the pad too loosely or not fully deflate it (or both!) the first few times you try to pack it away.
The resulting roll will then be too large to fir back into the stuff bag. However, with a little practice, you can soon get your head around what needs to be done – and the good news is that it’s more or less the same process as rolling and packing a sleeping bag.
The general recommendation for deflating and stowing a sleeping pad is to open the deflation valve on the pad. First you roll the pad, starting at the end away from the valve to squeeze out as much air as possible.
Next, you’ll unroll the pad again, fold it in thirds length-ways and then roll it again (also starting from the end away from the valve), but this time more tightly. As you reach the valve you squeeze out the last of the air, close the valve and then return the pad to its stuff bag. If the pad is supplied with an inflation tool, you can roll it with the pad.
The good news is that this process is similar for all inflatable or self-inflating sleeping pads and for inflatable pads, you can usually even skip the first rolling step to make deflation and packing even quicker.
Ease of Packing
Closed cell foam pads are the easiest type of sleeping pad to pack. They roll or fold away in seconds with no real skill or co-ordination required. It’s a bit more involved with inflatable or self-inflating pads.
Once the pad has been deflated and rolled, you need to get it back into its stuff bag. These are often a very tight fit – even if you’ve rolled the pad up extremely tightly – and it can require some force to get the pad back in.
If you have very cold hands or if you lack strength or dexterity in your hands or fingers for medical reasons, this task can become much more difficult. Or even impossible!
Whilst packing away an inflatable or self-inflating pad is not difficult, we’d say it does require some practice, especially if you are new to using sleeping pads. It’s well worth practicing a few times at home, so you are not having to contend with it for the first time on the trail.
Value
Value is difficult to quantify as it will mean different things to different people. Many will certainly balk at the high cost of some of the sleeping pads we’ve assessed.
But for those who need a piece of equipment to do a specific job, the cost may be very easy to justify. Beyond this, there are other factors like durability, sustainability and any extra features the pad may offer that are all well worth considering.
Durability
Durability is a very valid concern with inflatable and self-inflating sleeping pads. And a very understandable one especially given the cost of some of the higher-end models!
All inflatable pads are vulnerable to punctures and, given that every single inflatable pad we’ve seen has come with a repair kit of some sort, then it’s also clear that the manufacturers see this as a vulnerability too!
However, this is not to say that inflatable pads are delicate things that need very careful handling. The thin nylon material used in some models might feel very insubstantial, but, if you are used to lightweight hiking kit, you’ll know that these thin tech fabrics can also be exceptionally durable.
We wouldn’t recommend setting up an inflatable pad directly on sharp stones or on theory vegetation. We also wouldn’t recommend walking over one with crampons on your boots.
But, in most cases, these pads will be used inside a tent which may well be sat on a footprint below the base sheet. In these circumstances, it’s likely that any punctures will be rare and, if they do happen, you’ll have the repair patches that came with the pad to hand. Besides this, many manufacturers offer either lifetime warranties or free puncture repair services on their pads.
Closed cell foam pads are still the king when it comes to durability. There basically isn’t much that can go wrong with them and, if they do get ripped or torn, they’ll still work.
Sustainability
Sustainability has been a buzz word in the outdoors industry for some time now and it’s understandable that companies are keen to promote their environmental credentials. However, the fact is that the outdoors industry also relies on synthetic materials in many products that are often far from good for the environment.
Change is coming, though, and aside from brand-wide initiatives to reduce carbon and water usage, we’re glad to see that manufacturers are starting to make their sleeping pads either from wholly or partially recycled materials.
It’s also great to see that the materials used in many pads should also be easily recycled at the end of the product’s life. Some more specialized pads which integrate layers of metalized film and insulating material may prove trickier to recycle, but it’s still, theoretically possible.
We’re also pleased to see that most manufacturers have greatly reduced or eliminated the use of PFA/PFCs in their waterproof treatments. These are also known as ‘forever chemicals’ due to the very long time – in some cases over 1000 years – these toxic chemicals can persist in the environment.
Finally, it’s good to see that many manufacturers are signing up to independently audited sustainability credentials – so you can see that their claims are more than just greenwash. These are all good steps, but as with all things related to sustainability, we look forward to seeing more progress in the future.
Extra Features
Ultimately, a sleeping pad has one main job. But none the less, manufacturers find ways to add in extra features and we’ve encountered a whole range of these in our testing for this round up.
We’ve seen features like attachment points for pillows; Ergonomically shaped sleeping surfaces; Single pads that can be joined together to form doubles and a whole range of innovative valve designs and inflation tools.
Beyond this, material technology comes into play again and some manufacturers have added antimicrobial coatings to the inside of their pads to help prevent mold from forming. This is always a risk if you are using the pads in a damp camp environment.
All of these features are nice to have, but we haven’t seen a single one beyond the key specifications that would sway our purchasing decision. So, extra features are nice, and can sometimes be useful, but for us, they just sweeten the deal and not make it.
Conclusion
Sleeping pads are a valuable part of your camping kit. In one sense, they are far from essential and there are surely many of you out there who’ve gone camping without one, but, once you’ve used one, we’re sure you’ll agree with us that it’s difficult to go back.
Sleeping pads can greatly improve your comfort at night – and we think that’s especially true for inflatable pads – and they can also help boost your warmth, further improving your comfort. A good sleeping pad won’t weigh too much and will add relatively little volume to your kit and, as such, we think they are a well-worthwhile addition.
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