Exped Ultra 7R Review

This is a great quality pad that really impressed me. It is comfortable, packs down to a reasonable size, has some great sustainability credentials and, of course, it offers a very high R-Value making it one of the few pads in our round up that are suited for four-season use – including extreme winter conditions. I can see this pad appealing to high altitude mountaineers and those who embark on demanding expeditions. Whilst it’s a fantastic piece of kit, the fact is, though, that it is probably overkill for a lot of hikers and if you only camp out in better weather (and I’ll include milder winter nights in that!) then you may well be better served by a lighter, cheaper, less insulated pad.   

Performance Comparison

Type and Shape

The Exped Ultra 7R is an inflatable sleeping pad. Exped offer the pad in a six different size and shape options. In both its rectangular and Mummy (i.e. tapered) versions, the pad is offered in Medium, Medium Wide and Long Wide variants. I’m focusing on the Rectangular Medium version for this review, which, size wise, is about the same size as most other manufacturer’s ‘regular’ or ‘standard’ sized pads. 

The Ultra series of pads is also offered with a range of different R Values. As the name suggests, the 7R has a high R value of 7, but if you only hike and camp in warmer conditions then the cheaper and lighter Ultra 1R, 3R or 5R may be a better option for you.

Comfort

This is an inflatable sleeping pad, so it’s basically an inflatable mattress. Straight away, an inflatable pad will be more comfortable than a basic closed-cell foam pad like the Nemo Switchback. 

This pad is 9cm/3.5in thick when fully inflated – which puts it at the thicker end of the inflatable pads I’ve tested (though the Big Agnes Rapide SL Insulated is still the thickest pad in our round up at 11cm/4.25in). Extra-thick pads equate to better comfort as they provide a deeper air cushion which in turn means you’re less likely to feel the ground through the pad – this is especially relevant if you are a side sleeper. 

The side tubes on this pad are also slightly thicker than the tubes in the middle – this, Exped claim, helps cradle the sleeper during the night and will help prevent you from rolling off the pa din the night. I think it’s difficult to assess how well a feature like this works (the size difference between the tube sis subtle enough that I didn’t notice it at first!), but, several other manufacturers use this feature and I didn’t roll off the Exped pad during testing, so there’s got to be something in it!

All in all, I found the Exped Ultra 7R to be a very comfortable pad and, combined with its high insulation, it could provide a very good night’s sleep in very cold conditions. For transparency, I haven’t been able to test this pad in full on winter conditions yet.

Warmth

Warmth is one area where the Exped Ultra 7R really stands out. This pad has a high R-Value of 7 and Exped market this as a four-season sleeping pad. The R-Value is an industry standard way of measuring a sleeping pad’s insulation. A higher value means more insulation. A well-insulated pad won’t keep you warm on its own – you need to pair it with an appropriate sleeping bag, but on the other hand, a highly insulated pad is unlikely to make you overheat on a warm night provided the rest of your sleeping system is right. The takeaway here is that if you hike through the year and only want to own one pad, then getting one with a higher R-Value makes sense. This pad features down in its air chambers to help improve insulation.

As I mentioned at the top of this section, the Exped Ultra 7R has an R Value of 7, and there aren’t many other pads in our round up that can match this: The Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm NXT has a slightly higher R-Value of 7.3 and, as it sname suggests, the Nemo Tensor All-Season is marketed as a four season pad, but has a lower R-Value of 5.4. 

Exped claim this pad is suitable for use down to -20C/-4F. I haven’t tested it in anything near these low temperatures, but if I were to use it at such low temperatures, I’d be absolutely sure to pair it with a down-filled four-season sleeping bag and use it inside an expedition grade four-season tent.

Ease of Use

Inflatable sleeping pads are not as easy to use as folding foam pads such as the Nemo Switchback, which can be setup and packed back down in a matter of seconds. However, the pad is also not particularly difficult to setup. It needs to be unrolled from its stuff-bag and inflated using the included inflation tool.

The inflation tool is the same pump-sack type that I’ve seen with all but the most budget-focused inflatable pads in this round up. Excellently, Exped call this the ‘Schnozzel’, probably because of its nose-like shape (I’m spotting a common theme: Rab did something similar with their elephant themed pump bag that comes with the Stratosphere 4).  

The inflation tools takes a little bit of getting use to at first, but once you’re familiar with how it works, it’s very easy to use: you attach one end to a valve on the pad, open and gently breath into the other end of the bag (which looks a bit like a roll-top drybag), then roll it up to force air into the pad.

This pad features two separate valves: one for inflation and one for deflation and you can also inflate the pad with your breath alone if needed. Though I would personally always use the inflation tool if it’s available.

Weight

Packed down, this sleeping pad has a weight of 650g/1lb 7oz for the Medium Rectangular version I’m assessing. Whilst in absolute terms, this is not a particularly light pad, I think the weight needs to be considered alongside the high R-Value. Though, of note, the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm NXT, which actually has a higher R-Value than this Exped pad, is also noticeably lighter at 453g/1lb, though it is also more expensive at the time of writing.

Different versions of this pad obviously also have different weights as shown in the table.