Therm-a-Rest - ProLite 3 Sleeping Pad

I've had great success with Thermarest, REI, and Exped self inflating mattresses. All have good customer support too. I wouldn't ever bother with an all air mattress. Poor insulation, rotten in cold. Get a FlexTail pump.

The therm-a-rest is the most popular and i have the blue one but depending on the conditions you camp in you could pick the lighter one (yellow). That being said this one and the nemo extreme conditions will have higher denier material underneath which makes them less prone to puncture. I don’t know about the other ones on top of my head. Nemo and thermarest both have good warranties and spare parts, so I’d be leaning towards that. It’s polarizing but both are known to make a lot og noise no matter what they claim.

Not foam but the Thermarest prolite + self inflating is tougher than the blow up kind and warm enough for our winters.

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.

My first winter camping trip is one I’ll never forget, my back was killing me after trying to sleep on a foam pad. The next trip, I brought a Therm-a-Rest Self-Inflating Pad and it literally changed everything. Suddenly, I was sleeping warm and supported, ready for morning hikes. I’d recommend [air mattresses](https://www.reddit.com/r/KeepThisInMind/comments/1ltzxk1/recommend_the_air_mattress_best_for_camping/) for camping to anyone, from lightweight backpacking pads to thick car-camping mats, especially for winter trips.

Have you considered a camping cot? There are a lot of ultralight options now which are about the same price as a good sleeping pad for side sleepers. The only difference being is the weight, you’re looking at around 1.5kg for a cot bed which would be double the weight of a sleeping pad. For me, the extra weight is worth it for the comfort. For context I’ve tried Therm-a-Rest, Big Agnes and Nemo mats. If I’m going for comfort, the cot bed wins every time.

Until my oldest aunts and uncles got too old for it our family usually had thanksgiving lunch/dinner at a provincial park, there was only one year we had to eat in the snow, but that was trailer camping. Good sleeping bags and self inflating insulated sleeping mats (like thermarest brand) you should be OK.

Throw a thermarest on top of a Walmart foam pad lol save yourself some money on the process. Otherwise I would just stick to Thermarest.

If you want more comfort than ccf but more durability than an inflatable, a self inflating is the way to go. Something like the thermarest prolight or similar. They aren’t the lightest, but if you avoid the super huge car camping style ones they aren’t too bad. They can still technically be popped but the outer material is much beefier than an inflatable. Often they’ll feel more like vinyl. I still have my original thermarest trail. It’s not as cushy as modern ones but it’s a tank and still hasn’t gotten a leak after 17 or 18 years. Got it sometime as a teenager. I think it was my first mat I had when I upgraded from a crappy blue Walmart ccf.

Our family recently went camping with cub scouts last month, it was my wife's first time camping. She had a horrible night's sleep on the thermarest inflatable pad I had, so bad it was more comfortable to sleep on the ground without it. I've been eying a megamat for a while now, and this was enough for me get ready to finally pull the trigger. Now I'm trying to figure out which one to get. We have another camping trips planned with cub scouts in May, but the REI deals seems like the best time to buy. Do I get the long x-wide for my wife for \~$155? or the duo since we'll always be camping with the kids for \~$251? then will the kids fight for the good pad, and I'll need to get a second duo (also I kinda want one for myself) but now that's over $500 in sleeping pads, which seems egregious. If anyone with a family who's navigated this could chime in it would be appreciated. Thanks!