Therm-a-Rest - Standard ¾

I'm a tall (and currently a little too wide) 6ft woman and I'd be sad if the current standard width went out of fashion. I do like a few luxury items (pillow, earbuds) but for some reason I can deal with my elbows on the floor. I put that down to sleeping on the floors of Scottish bothies full of drunk Aberdonians and not even using a mat until I was 20 XD I wish the short versions were actually shorter. The thermarest short is only 20cm and \~60g different to the regular size. The old small Exped which they don't seem to do anymore was really almost a torso pad. I'm wary of cutting and sealing my own airpad.

Very old versions of Thermarest seem in every garage sale. The two I purchased new around 1990 are still fine, but now I can supplement with others collected by wife from the many grandpas for a few dollars. One I mainly use is earliest "ultralight" version, weighs about 1pd and inflates to 1". Specs don't seem wildly different than "today," although mine are both non-full-length. My heavier old pad is "standard" for 1990ish thermarest & is slightly thicker than my ancient UL, and maybe 1/3rd more bulk. Seems similar (thicker?) to referenced mil vers. Neither is adequate without help on snow or in "severe" cold. Not so oriented to "perfect comfort" for mats. "Good enough," my motto!

Thermarest from 1984 is still fine. It was my dad's. It's one of the "backpacking" shorter orange ones. Used it my entire youth, through many weekend trips in my 20s and still use it when I'm solo camping. It's been patched and the opening resealed around the edges, but it holds air through the night everytime. I sometimes stack it with a zlite I've had for a while.

Thermarest. I still have the original made in the eighties

I have been using my original therm-a-rest for over 40 years now.

Light weight, durability, warranty coverage and customer service. I’ve got over 200 nights on my current ThermaRest Neo Air without a single leak or issue whatsoever. Heck, I still have 2 original self-inflating ThermaRests from the early 90s that still hold air just fine.

Depends how you sleep. I sleep on my side, with my knees curled up. I use a 3/4 length thermarest and I'm totally comfortable. I spend my nights battling with my pillow, though.

I’ve been rocking a 3/4 length thermarest from’93, another couple since the early 2000’s and a exped 9 down mat from 2009 and they are all going well. The ones I leave inflated in my cabin has lost some air but I think that’s from the valves freezing in the Arctic winter temperatures though.

When I hiked the Appalachian Trail back in '99 I started with a 3/4 length typical Therm-A-Rest inflatable mat, and I didn't sleep particularly well on it as a side and belly sleeper. They didn't have a ton of options for inflatable pads back then. As I got used to sleeping on it I eventually swapped it out for a roll-up ridgy foam mat, which weighed a lot less but was even less comfortable, but by that point I was pretty used to it. These days I carry a [Therm-A-Rest NeoAir SV](https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/sleeping-pad/therm-a-rest-neoair-all-season-sv) which they don't make any more, but it has extended my sleeping outdoors career by several decades. It's not super light, but the weight is so worth it to me for the amazing comfort. It's all about what you can tolerate in comfort vs weight vs cost.

I just switched from expensive Thermarests over to these crazy cheap Night Cat hand pump pads and I am never going back to thermarest/self inflation. My arm goes dead without fail sleeping on the Thermarests and they take up nearly twice the room in my gear. The only benefit of the Thermarests I can see is that they are really tough, which could be great for some hardy adventures maybe. But nothing a couple patches can't fix IMO... So Choo choo I'm on the air pad train. These newer cheap designs are legitimately very good, they roll out crazy long and then shrink up. I probably can't share amazon links but "Night Cat Inflatable Sleeping Pads". There's a bunch of brands making this style now too, I'm not trying to spruik any particular brand, this was just the one that was affordable where I live.

The Xtherm is reasonably durable, but not enough so that I've ever trusted my life to it in remote extreme conditions. Like most people, I pair it with a foam pad. The foam pad is great to have anyway. You can put it right on the ground or snow to sit or stand on at camp, and you can cut off a piece if you are building a splint. It also serves as an emergency backup if the Xtherm develops a leak that can't be patched. The classic self-inflating Thermarest pads that they have been making for 30+ years are less warm and less comfortable than the Xtherm, but far more durable. Those have some foam in them, so they don't roll up as small, but they will still provide a little warmth if they spring a leak (though they also have bomber construction and almost never fail). They are issued out to troops by the US Army (I take it from your photo that you are one of those types of people to whom that endorsement matters). However, for the temperatures you are talking about, you will still want to pair that pad with a foam pad. The best combination is a modern lightweight inflatable foamless pad with a high R value like the Xtherm, combined with a foam pad like a Z-rest or a RidgeRest. If you're very concerned about bulk, you can of course trim the foam pad down to a 3/4 length. I prefer the folding Z-rest style over any pad that needs to be rolled, but that's your preference.