NeoAir UberLite

There was a recent discussion about this type of pad and it’s R values here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CampingGear/s/AcsRlx09DN I use those olive green military surplus Thermarest ultralite pads for car camping with achesp closed cell foam pad underneath for my kids. I usually use something beefier for me. The pads can be found online and budget prices (~$15 new old stock), but shipping $$ will get you. It’s a good budget combo For backpacking, I prefer the lighter weight closed cell foam pads in conjunction with a newer version of inflatable pad like the Xtherm or in summer the Neo air Uber light.

Sometimes reports of bad durability are reports of people’s *fears* about bad durability, which are largely based on others expressed fears. I’ve been using the same Uberlite (156g) for the last two years without incident. I don’t expect it to have the durability of an Xlite, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far.

Plenty of brands use 20D, the few times they've ventured lower has massively impacted durability; see the thermarest uberlite and the current Nemo tensor elite, which Nemo even admitted developed pin holes during testing. You will be fine with 20D with or without CCF underneath. I use an X-lite which is 30D I believe but previous mats I've used were 20D all fine and I'm don't exactly baby my gear lol.

The Uberlite was designed to be as light as possible and they pushed the coating thickness to the limit. That's why they don't make it anymore. It was too hard and too expensive to get reliable seams with that thin of coating. Probably 1/3 of the pads made were scrapped.

Two cents. I’ve had multiple Nemo tensors and they all leaked and tore beyond repair. Same with Uber lite which is quite low R value. Now I use Neoair Xlite NXT. It seems to strike balance between durability, r value, and weight savings. https://www.rei.com/product/241034/therm-a-rest-neoair-xlite-nxt-sleeping-pad

Yeah, but no.... I bought the Thermarest Uberlite some time ago, quite expensive. I cried the first time I used it because it was slowly leaking air and was on the ground before morning. It took me a few months to find the leak and patch it. I was very frustrated with this. Love my thermarest X-Therm though.

I was on a big thru hike when I got it so I could not return. It had a tiny hole that was very difficult to find. Tried a couple of times in the bathtub until I finally managed to find it.

I submerged it on a lake and also a couple of instances I stayed at a hotel and used a bathtub to try and find it. My friend tried to find it a few times also on the hike. It must have been super tiny and did not produce any bubbles and I was so frustrated because when I was inflating it to sleep I was on the ground in a couple of hours. I found the hole a couple of months ago after a last try. I really squeezed it in the tub to be able to find the bubbles. Haven’t used it since then 😅

I think further reductions in weight of inflatable sleeping pads will require new materials. The Uberlite shows that we already reached beyond the limits of current materials and need to step back.