Exped - MegaMat Lite 12

How much air did you have in it? I put about 70% air in and find it comfier than most mattresses with a good pillow. I was in between the two but saw the exped on offer and saw it was thicker with a higher r value. Glad I went for it now - not that I’ve used the neoloft but very comfy on this. What do you go for out of interest and how do you find it? As will look at getting my partner one at some point but would be a good excuse for both….

Hey, let me start out with a confession, i LOVE being outdoors, but i sleep absolutely horrible on darn near everything. 210 lb 180 cm and a not very forgiving back and neck. I have tried almost every pad, the last investment was teh Exped MegaMat Lite 12 LW, which was quite expensive. Even on that bad boy i can not find good rest. Soo i look for every improvement and gear development and now i did see the Thermarest Neoloft…. The skeptic in me thinks this cant be any different than the exped, they are basically the same in specs and philosophy. The naive version of me WANT to believe that Thermarest truly created something special, i suck up all the marketing hype and want to pull the trigger.. BUT its shit expensive as well. So what i really want is to hear from persons with high comfort demands who have tried both and can give me some impressions of the neoloft compared to the exped. And i know i know, its propably the same and there is no such thing as a magical sleeping pad, but i do hope so :0)

First let me say this, your reply is what makes me absolutely love reddit :0). Thx for taking so much time and giving me so much detail :0) I am kind of happy that i am not the only one not being comfortable on the exped, i felt like an idiot having that thickness and pricey pad, and still not being satisfied and enjoying the experience. I am very very tempted to go for the neoloft with what you write, and what others write. I am puzzled by the magic of the dimpled pads. I have a couple of pressure points on my ribcage that actually is the biggest comfort issue for me i think. I am worried that i am to heavy for the rei helix though, i dont like a firm matress and for that reason i am leaning towards the neoloft with that room to spare in the thickness. Very interested in the Sea to Summit, maybe i can find those locally, i am in europe and i can not find the Thermarest anywhere , now i know why, strange strategy Thermarest that i dont get. But thx again, thinking hat on :0)

I all ready got Thermarest Xtherme NXT and Exped MegaMat Lite 12 but want also a self inflating one.

For camping, we use exped megamats (extra long/wide)--and I find them super comfortable even though I have back issues.

I don't think any of them have real memory foam. It doesn't compact as much, etc. I have used Thermarest and REIs. But the best IMHO is the Exped Mega Mat. Not cheap but well worth it since you want non backpacking size.

Exped Mega Mats. I bristled at all the hype about them until I got one. I liked it so much I got one to replace a mattress in the apartment, since it works especially well when my back issues flare up. Cots alone are not that comfortable, and are considerably cold. So most use a mat on top of one much of the time.

If you have an rei near buy you could buy it and simply return it no issues if you don’t like it. But I have one and love it as well

Exped mega mat. Mine is 10cm of orthopedic hedonism.

when I’m at home I like a thin wool pad on the ground, I love an extra firm sleeping surface. the exped mega mat is nice. You can inflate it quite hard. Unfortunately it deflates through the night so it doesn’t stay as firm

We bite the bullet and bought two MegaMats. They have a Duo pad for couples, but we sometimes camp separately.

Been sleeping on an Exped Mega Mat and a cot for 3+ months, and an Exped on top of an overly soft mattress for a year before that. I have lower back issues, and this has been one of the best mattresses I have slept on in years.

I find the cot/Exped combo more comfortable/supportive than the Exped/mattress, so it seems to help in that regard. Possibly just better firmness match for me. I have used the Exped on the floor or in back of a car a handful of times, but didn’t notice a big difference between that or the cot (as far as I remember).

If you want something that’s still somewhat portable and packs down a bit exped mega mats are genuinely great. We went through 3 air mattresses in as many years. Got these and never had a leak in 3 years now and I sleep through the night. If your strictly car camping and don’t mind more bulk I’ve heard the Hest systems are unbelievably comfortable like taking a nice comfy hotel bed camping with you. Good luck!

I do like to sleep comfortably when backpacking, and have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what works best for me. I've tried many pads over the past decades, including these two, along with similar Exped sleeping pads like the Ultra, Versa, and Dura. I am primarily a side sleeper, so that informs some of my sleeping experience on these, and am 190cm and 95kg. Personally I was not able to sleep comfortably on the Exped MegaMat Lite, or its siblings (Dura/Versa/Ultra). A through-line in my testing of these is the vertical baffling: I regularly wake up and find my arm is numb. I think these might work better for me if I was primarily a back or chest sleeper; lots of people like them and recommend them. But in my adulthood I've probably maximum only got about two hours of sleep at a time on a design like these. I have only had to contact Exped for warranty once, and they ended up shipping me a new unit before I even had to send the old one back: top marks here in support. I just picked up the Therm-a-rest NeoLoft before the holidays and took it on two trips in Mt Hood National Forest. Maybe the most comfortable backpacking pad I've personally used recently, even if the large (long wide, 78x26) weighs 2lbs! When fully inflated it is 4.6" thick. One of the few pads I've slept more than six straight hours on, which is kind of how I prioritize pads. Not only comfortable, but has a soft-touch stretchy fabric which feels good against the skin (I tend to sleep with quilts rather than bags). The first night I did wake up to find my arm was numb, so curious if that was a one-off with a weird sleeping position... R-value is 4.7, so I haven't used it at all in the past 45 days because of the cold where I am. It looks like the REI exclusivity is now over in early 2025, and this can be picked up lots of different places. Honestly the thing I dislike the most is the valves; I just don't care for the old-style Therm-a-rest valves. Realizing your question was specifically about those two, I also wanted to recommend what I have found to be my most comfortable pads in recent years: 1. Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Extreme Insulated. This specific pad and its sibling, Ether Light XT Insulated, have been my primary pads the past four-ish years. They are 4" thick and the most comfortable pads I've used, probably tied with the NeoLoft. Never woken with my arm numb, and the only pad I've ever slept seven-plus hours straight-through. In the PNW I use the non-Extreme-variant in the warmer half of the year, and the Extreme-variant in the colder half. The stuff sack with the inflation aid built-in is the smartest I've seen. Extreme version has an r-value of 6.2, and the non-Extreme version r-value is 3.2. The Extreme has that spider-web looking Thermolite insulation, which in my mind is the most reliable winter/cold insulation; it doesn't crinkle and potentially fail like newer thin reflective films in other lighter pads (NEMO Tensor, Big Agnes Rapide, etc). On the flip side that makes the Extreme very heavy, more than 2lbs, and also packs down the biggest of any backpacking pad I've owned. 2. REI Helix. Been using this on-and-off for the past few seasons. One of the few pads that has me sleeping through the night. It is only 3" thick, but I have found the trick is to fully inflate: the dimples do a good jump of evening out my weight and not experiencing any arm numbness. The long wide is 1lb 13oz, and seems pretty sturdy compared to other REI-brand pads I've used in the past; no leaks yet... R-value of 4.9. I always wake up refreshed and feeling good on those mats, baring any environmental issues outside of the pad. I cannot recommend the NeoLoft in that way yet, but will continue to use and test it out in the near future with an additional foam pad underneath to make it safe for snow conditions (as the r-value stacks). And I don't think I will ever recommend an Exped pad for backpacking. Exped does make fantastic foam inflating car-camping pads though!

I (64M) love an Exped air mattress or a cot for sleeping. I always used a cot for many years but got talked into an Exped, not cheap, and I have to say it is awesome. It stays firm and fills up in minutes with the supplied pump and takes up minimum space when empty and it is light.

Have you ever spent the night in a crash pad? It's pretty awful... REI will let you lay on pads. If you have one near by, go try the Megamat out. You'll understand.

Own and tried several other sleeping pads, megamat is the best (unless you backpacking)

XPed mega mat makes a solid mattress for cold car camping.

Yes. Air mattresseds suck. The megamat is 10000% worth it's price.

If you aren’t needing to carry it long distances go with the exped megamat. Comfiest sleeping pad you can get.

Expend Megamat is the best. I put it over the EO mattress and it’s like home. Stay away from the iKamper one.

The MegaMat is just a self-inflating mattress. It’s filled with foam, so when you release the compression straps and open the “in” valve, the foam expands which draws in air. Most camping self-inflating mattress are cored out, they have channels or holes cut through the foam to reduce bulk and so they pack down smaller. If you puncture one, it’s not a disaster like an air bed. Your body weight pushes air out but the foam is constantly trying to draw air back in. Any decent camping shop will sell self- inflating mattresses. I have a Zempire one.

Another vote for Megamat. Wife and I share the biggest one they make and we're both more than happy with it.

We bought the Exped air mattress that really fits well in the back and made our own mosquito net window covers. Love it!

I also love my megamat! It's more comfortable than my bed.

I have limited experience since we only started camping last year but I cannot recommend enough the Exped Megamat camping mattress. We used the Exped Megamat Auto mattress since we were sleeping in the car and it’s got the tapered sides for the wheel arches but the normal Megamat would be ideal for your situation. Great for side and back sleeping. It can be super firm or you can let out some air and adjust it to your preference. Definitely worth considering if funds allow 👍 Will be taking our dog on a car camping road trip this year so will soon find out how dog proof they are! We’ve got a couple videos showing the mattress set up and in use. Edit - don’t listen to me, others have provided much better solutions 🫡

Just splurged on a megamat for car/tent camping and had the best sleep in a long time while camping.

Might still be worthwhile for grip but realistically, putting an 1/8" pad underneath you air mattress will not protect it from anything that would otherwise cause a puncture. Anything sharp enough to actually puncture an air mattress (sharp rock points, stick ends/etc) will poke right through that 1/8" foam without any trouble. This has happened to me once in \~50 Sierra nights from a small sharp rock end stick out that was embedded into the ground (impossible to see beforehand), it went right through both my tyvek groundsheet and DCF tent floor. I think the only true ground protection would be a thicker CCF like z-lite or megamat (which is what I use now), and I also prefer this since they double as camp sit pad/yoga mat/nap mat/etc.