Therm-a-Rest - NeoAir XLite (Small)

Personally (I’m in my 40s and a side sleeper) an Xtherm or Xlite is one of my favorite purchases. But everyone has different needs. I’m a fan of not buying new things until you actually need them. Or you are sure that your goals will outgrow your gear. A cheap inflatable is definitely not worth it.

It depends on your conditions. I have a full length Xtherm for 40f nights but the half sized Xlite (now discontinued?) for 60f nights. It’s great, good weight savings. Sometimes put my backpack under my feet, but generally I’m not that fussy.

Have you looked at a Thermarest Xlite? Better warmth to weight than those options.

If you wanna make it even more lighter and packable, there’s a way to [shorten it](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=90Fx6TLNEJQ) down to three-quarter length and use your backpack for the lower body insulation. That’s what I do. Mine weighs 270 g after the modification.

That’s old news. They’ve altered the way they make them so they are nowhere near as noisy anymore. They used to sound like crinkly paper when you turn. No longer.

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite with an r-value of 4.5 weighs 370g. You don’t need a stuff sack.

They can be cut down to torso length, but from personal experience, let me warn you about that. Torso length doesn’t work great for thick pads like an XLite unless you can find some support for under the knees. Your legs will hyper-extend due to gravity, which is uncomfortable and not physiologically healthy. Adequate head elevation is difficult if not impossible with a torso cut inflatable . I cut mine to 3/4 length such that the knees and head can rest on the pad. That works much better. My cut-down Xlite weighs 9.6 oz. Torso-length CCF pads are actually more comfortable than a torso-length inflatable for the reasons given. They also solve the problem of arms falling off narrow pad and are also lighter and much more durable.

Spending $200 on one of the lightest pads on the market just to add weight in the form of a thinlight and seam grip is honestly a meme. You may as well just carry an XLite at that point, which is both warmer and more durable. This is why super light inflatables do not make sense to me. They require extra gear to protect them, while not even being that much warmer than just carrying an indestructible foam pad 

I use 6 panels of Switchback. It goes from my shoulders to upper thigh. It's all you need in the summer. For colder conditions, I bought the short (5'6") Xlite. I'm 5'10". Weight savings are worth it.

The (discontinued) Thermarest X-Lite torso length (125cm) is only slightly heavier at 250gr, but is more durable (30D) and warmer (R3.2).

I started out with a wide rectangular pad (Nemo Tensor Insulated at 540gr), before realizing I slept just as well on a regular mummy pad (Thermarest Neoair X-Lite at 380gr) or even a torso length pad (X-Lite at 205gr). Too often people (including myself initially) think they need a wide rectangular pad for whatever reason.

>For people that move when they sleep, I’ll take all the width I can get And yet, for what it’s worth, it’s this kind of statement that leads many to get a wide pad even if they don’t really need it 😉 I frequently switch sides and yet found I can do this just as well on a regular (short) mummy pad. If you wanna drop your pack weight, you’ve simply got to try things out.

You can try to source an old X-Lite NeoAir that originally came in a torso length version. Mine is just over 200gr. It’s less high than the NXT and I have no issues like some describe above - although I mostly sleep on my side so that helps.

I’m 6’1 and occasionally use my 47” xlite short pad for short weekend trips. It’s comfortable enough to get SOME sleep, but I would never bring it on a thru hike.

It’s discontinued since a year or something though. 

Had a few all of them had baffle explosions after just a few uses.  I am gentle and not a big guy. They always replaced it and I ended up selling the last new one that I received as a replacement. The fact that they discontinued it is a confirmation that it was not just an issue for a few people. 

I started on the old school thermarest shortie, then a full length, then switched to a big agnes inflatable--which i liked but went through two of them with bad valves. Switched to a nemo a couple of years ago, and love it. It's a little "crinkly" sounding, but otherwise well worth it. Good choice :-)

Do you sleep on your stomach? As a stomach sleeper I find the baffle construction of the Therm A Rest Neo Air Xlite very uncomfortable. I have to use it at a very low pressure for it to be somewhat bearable. It also feels too much like an air mattress and it’s noisy (which is especially bad as a stomach sleeper because your ear will be right on top of the mat).

I think with inflatable pads how much you inflate them makes a huge difference. I hate the baffle design of my Therm A Rest Neo Air XLite and have to use it at a fairly low pressure for comfort. Which makes the insulation way worse than its R-value would suggest. A CCF pad like the Z-Lite feels fairly firm and doesn’t seem to lose any insulation no matter how I’m lying on it. Does anyone know how R values are actually measured? Do they use a specific air pressure for inflatable pads and do they use some kind of weight to simulate compression?

Looks too thick and bouncy. Is it? My Therm-A-Rest Neo Air feels like an air mattress, sounds like a bag of crisps and doesn’t feel nice on the skin. I hate the thing and much prefer my girlfriend’s Trail Lite. If only it were not so heavy and big.

I would love to see a photo of the testing procedure and how much the plate actually sinks in. With my Therm A Rest Neo Air I have to use very low pressure and my knees (I sleep on my stomach) almost press through to the ground. Edit: This photo is the only one I can find and it looks barely compressed at all https://cascadedesigns.com/cdn/shop/articles/RValue_08.jpg?v=1728857941&width=3000

Interesting. My lightweight thermarest has been solid for 15+ years. I think you just have bad luck!

I sleep on a Exped Ultra 5r AT HOME every night. If I ain't worried over big miles, I take it backpacking. Cradles me just right with the outer "tubes" a little fatter than the midle ones. And I recommend a pillow that's tall enough for side sleeping. I usually take a thermarest x-lite on longer sections though, a little lighter and sleeps fine too.