Therm-a-Rest NeoLoft Sleeping Pad Review: Cushy Backcountry Comfort Leave a comment

My favourite place to get up is in a sleeping bag, which is sweet as a result of I are inclined to get up rather a lot when sleeping in a sleeping bag. It is not the bag, it is the pad beneath me. I’ve tried all of them (it is a part of my job), and whereas some are positively higher than others, I’ve by no means discovered one which fairly fulfilled each backpacker’s dream—a light-weight, packable sleeping pad that feels similar to the mattress you left at dwelling.

Till now, that’s. The Therm-a-Relaxation NeoLoft sleeping pad is not the lightest at 25 ounces—goodbye, ultralight readers—however the 4.6-inch cushion is a real luxurious, and it provides a fantastic evening’s relaxation, which could be extra helpful than shedding a couple of ounces.

The Nice Weight Debate

There are two issues with carrying a giant sleeping pad within the backcountry. First, there’s the burden you need to carry, after which there’s the quantity of room it takes up in your pack. The ultralight neighborhood on-line will attempt to persuade you that camp consolation—that’s, your shelter and your sleeping arrange—aren’t as vital as maintaining weight down, so you possibly can transfer quick.

Relying in your targets within the backcountry, that will certainly be true. However after attempting it for fairly a couple of journeys, I’ve discovered it isn’t the case for me. For me, carrying a bit of extra weight within the type of a heavier tent and sleeping pad affords me a greater evening’s sleep, which helps me (on common) to hike additional than I do with much less weight however poorer sleep.

Therm-a-Relaxation’s new NeoLoft pad steps into this weight/measurement/consolation debate by leaning closely on the facet of consolation. It’s undeniably huge, relative to one thing like Therm-a-Relaxation’s XLite pads or Sea to Summit’s Ether Gentle sequence (our two favourite ultralight sleeping pads). For all that, although, the Neoloft is not that huge when packed down, particularly contemplating how huge it’s if you inflate it.

The NeoLoft reliably packs right down to a measurement that is simply bigger than a Nalgene water bottle—about an inch greater round and an inch taller for the common huge measurement pad that I examined. It is a tight squeeze becoming the NeoLoft in my Hyperlite Junction 40 with the remainder of my gear, but it surely works for shorter journeys the place I am not carrying a ton of meals. For journeys longer than three or 4 nights, I would desire a 55L pack. (Naturally, this may rely rather a lot on the dimensions of the remainder of your gear. You’ll be able to see what I carry at LighterPack.)

I am going to confess that I used to be dreading testing this pad. I did not need to lug it with me, however after I really loaded it up … I did not actually discover the additional 8 ounces over the Nemo Tensor I often carry. Once more although, I’m not attempting to win any ultralight prizes. Fairly, I am in search of the suitable steadiness between weight and luxury.

Sleeping Pad Expertise

I check natural mattresses for WIRED, and I exploit roughly the identical standards to guage sleeping pads. Consolation whereas sleeping comes right down to how properly your pad retains you heat, how properly it relieves stress, how properly it supplies help, and the way steady it’s to sleep on.