Therm-a-Rest - Trail Lite Self-Inflating Foam Sleeping Pad

I have a Thermarest Pro trail Lite that seems to work well. I have probably 2000 miles on it. I use a close foam mat under it too. I have a Nemo Tensor that I am going to try this season. I got it out of the discount / return bin at REI for like half price.

The suggestion of a rental is a good idea if you currently aren’t interested in making this a hobby! If you are looking to buy, however, the foam Therm-o-Rest pads are the classic camping pad that everyone owns one of. They z-fold up into a rectangular stack and are relatively light and cheap. I’m 40 and need a little extra cushion on the trail these days, so I use an air mattress. Therm-o-rest has some decent priced air mattresses, but they are a little spartan compared to some of the more expensive air mattresses.

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.

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.