NeoAir Venture Sleeping Pad

I loved my neoair venture on the PCT. It has a pretty terrible R value (wasn't a problem for me), but its light, conpact abd damn near bullet proof. And so comfortable. 

My last pad was a Neoair Venture, and that kinda has horizontal baffles but is fairly smooth overall. I wanted vertical baffles, because those work on a hammock. I don't think the baffle orientation matters much. At least I can't feel much of a difference. A much bigger comfort difference comes from the thickness and that's where the Versa wins big. Also a side sleeper.

With everyone recommending an Xped or Thermarest, I think you should check into renting one. Personally, I use a 2” thick Thermarest and can confirm it’s comfortable and very insulating. It has also lasted us 15+ years so far. As for sleeping bags versus blankets — hands down, I think a bag is warmer than blankets. Women’s bags are shaped to have lower volumes and more insulation where it’s needed. You can get polyester fill or down, with the latter being a longer term investment when stored properly between uses. My wife and I have 40F bags that zip together, and can be supplemented with a fleece liner when temps require it. We also have 20F mummy bags for when it’s cooler. At night, change into sleep specific wear. My wife and I use our Smartwool base layers used for skiing for this. A fresh layer of clothes have no moisture in them from daytime activities and will keep everyone warmer. Finally, the larger the tent, the more air that needs to be warmed. While we enjoy the space of our 6P tent, we also have smaller tents (one of my vices is buying tents) and one 4-season tent we use in the spring and fall cooler temps. Have fun. Bring layers. Plan for hats/gloves in the early morning while enjoying a hot cup of coffee.

I have functioning thermarests that date back to the mid 80s. Later ones are still good.

When I was younger I got a 3/4 length therma rest sleeping pad for a backpacking trip to save on weight. It worked it was fine for the trip, I'm really short anyway and didn't notice. 12 years later I used it again and let my bf use the full body one because he had never gone real camping before. Oh man, I can sleep through a lot and pretty easily. That was the most uncomfortable I've been in years sleeping on the ground. Get one. You'll regret it.

We have therma rest inflatable backpacking mattresses (neoair and my 10+ year old pre-neo pad) , that we take car camping aswell. I often lay out more blankets on top, especially if we have my 4yo stepson with us. 3 pads, 2-3 layers of comfy blankets and then we can basically use sleaping bags as top covers, or individually, or whatever we feel like.. It might help though that while we cuddle/snuggle a lot, we don't generally touch each other that much while actually sleeping due to overheating. I can tolerate it more though, so I get stuck with kiddo near me haha.