Flash Insulated Air Sleeping Pad

At Philmont, even in summer, you’re going to be dealing with elevation, cold ground and nights that can dip into the 30s. In those conditions, an R-value around 4.0 or higher is a safe target if you want consistent and comfortable sleep yk. A tent doesn’t provide insulation on its own so your pad is doing almost all the work underneath you. That’s why an insulated air pad makes a lot more sense than an uninsulated one for this use case…I’d recommend: - the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm (regular or MAX) OR - the Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Ultra If you’re on a tighter budget, the REI Flash Insulated would probably be better. There are these [ultralight sleeping pads](https://alaskanarrows.com/5-best-ultralight-sleeping-pads-for-backpacking/) that you can also look into

Pads with these types of thermal welds to make small "pillows" are notorious for peeling the welds apart causing leaks. An old example is REI Flash pads: [https://i.imgur.com/imj5JYy.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/imj5JYy.jpg)

I've been pretty excited about the Ultra 6.5R for a while, since at 12oz (340g) for a 6.5R sleeping pad is an excellent warmth to weight ratio. Unfortunately, I found it sleeps a bit cold **BUT** I still like this pad, see below. JustinOutdoors also mentioned that the 6.5R value isn't quite on par with expectations as a winter pad (see his video from 23Jan2026), so I went into this test with my expectations tempered. It's worth noting he found it comfortable below freezing, so it's a good reminder different bodies sleep differently. So I was thinking that 33F would be fine, which is why I was surprised when I woke up at 5am with a familiar chill below me. Let's get some foundational information written down about the test: 1. I was using an Enigma 20 quilt with the down properly distributed (which is a struggle with that thing), and I felt warm on the side with the quilt and cold on the pad. Even when turning sides, eventually the side that was cold would heat up and the side on the pad would cool down. 2. I had the quilt properly sealed against drafts, cinched around my neck, and was wearing 250 weight wool leggings, a sun hoodie, mid-weight fleece, and a well used (so not super fluffed) patagonia down sweater jacket. I was also wearing a warm hat. 3. I was on a wooded bluff in MN, night temp started around 54F and sank to 33F, I did not find ice in my water bottle in the morning. There was no wind, no clouds (it was a gorgeous night), and my weather app reported a "feels like" temp of 40F at 5am when real temp was lowest at 33F. It felt lightly humid, but I forgot to note the humidity level at the time. 4. I had a late dinner before going to bed so had a bit of digestion heat going for me. 5. I started my night in a warbonnet ridgerunner, got cold, and switched to sleeping in a Tarptent Mesospire 2 tent set up nearby (yes I had two shelters, I was testing both of them out and had planned to spend this night in the hammock). I kept my arms tucked in, the cold was not due to side heat loss, and the hammock does have a dedicated pad sleeve. 6. I do sleep a little colder than others in my experience, but not by enormous amounts. I'm 5'11 and 155lb. With all these conditions, in both the hammock and the tent, I felt cold from the pad. Which was weird to me, and why I stubbornly stayed in the hammock long after I was already cold. My previous go-to pad was the Xlite Womens (RIP) with an R value of 5.4, and that pad has kept me warm in similar situations with the same quilt. I've also used an XTherm many times, I know the feeling of having your warmth radiating back at you on a really warm pad, and yet in the hammock and tent I could feel that chill. **With all that said, I still like this pad.** I just need to temper my expectations and which is why I wanted to write this first impressions review so other people know what they might expect. This is not a below freezing pad (for me) but it's still one of the lightest 3 season pads out there and more importantly, this thing is **comfy**. I love the vertical baffles, I love how compact it gets, I love how quiet it is, the valves are good, it's super nice overall ... just not quite as warm as I hoped. So if you're thinking about using this as a winter pad, eh, maybe don't if you sleep a little cold. But if you're looking for light 3 season pad and won't see freezing temps often, I think it's hard to beat. EDIT: forgot to mention, I was using the mummy version of the pad, which is the one with the crazy 12oz weight

You're very welcome! Keep in mind that JustinOutdoors took his Ultra 6.5 down below freezing without issue so it's important to recognize my data point as just one. And even with the less than stellar performance at 33F, I'm still probably keeping the pad. I can't give a ton of data on other pads because the ones I've used (REI Flash, XTherm, Exped 3R Double, Switchback) I've only used sparingly in the past few years because my XLite Womens was just so so good. To my best guess, this pad is probably 5-10deg colder than my XLite Womens, warmer than the old REI Flash, and definitely warmer than a Switchback. Which means I'd expect it to perform well at 40F, but I haven't tested that. On my XLite women's I remember cowboy camping at a hostel in Wrightwood with the same quilt and the temp dropped to 34 that night and I woke up chilly, but not as cold, hence my 5-10deg guess range. It's worth noting that I only woke up at 5am when the temp dropped to 33F, and from 10pm-4am, the temp was dropping from 50 down to 33, so I assume my body was somewhat comfortable through that range.

Glad you made it and are camping now! I’m also a kayak camper, and I broke my back in a 30 foot fall while backpacking as a teenager. I am now able to use backpacking sleeping mats like the REI Flash, but this one looks interesting if you had big enough hatches (or were willing to put it in a dry bag bungeed to your deck): https://www.rei.com/product/233662/nrs-snooze-pad-3-sleeping-pad?color=BLUE

I went from an OK REI inflatable to a NEMO tensor and then a Sea to Summit Etherlite XT. The waffle-looking baffles on the two latter pads were a huge improvement in comfort. I think the Etherlite is slightly more comfortable but I switched mostly for durability reasons. 3+ inch thick pad with the waffle pattern is the way to go in my book. Back feels better in the morning and I wake up way less often because some body part fell asleep.

That’s what I use too but I put an inflatable sleep pad from REI on top. It’s due to fail as it’s at least 10 years old but the memory foam will save the day.