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

Do the kids really need such a sleeping pad? Why not just some closed cell foam mats (e.g. Nemo Switchback or cheap clone) for them? I also wouldn’t be too sure that the Megamat is a cure-all. The girlfriend and I once had to sleep on some big inflatable guestbed mat thing which was horrible (especially with two people). To this day the most comfortable mat I know for me is the Therm A Rest Trail Lite since it has a flat surface (no ridges), is firm, doesn’t bounce, has a nice textured surface and makes no noises. Even though it’s “only” 3.8cm in thickness.

Thermarest still makes them? I have also seen knockoffs even in non specialty stores.  I have an older Thermarest Trail Lite and Trail pro. The only difference to the classic mats is a few cutouts to make them pack smaller. I adore my Trail Pro. Very comfy, good R value, thicker than the traditional pads, packs reasonably small for it's comfort. 

Have never needed to use their warranty. My Trail Lite is 10+ years, and is now my loaner pad for random people, or I bring it for my dog, and still in excellent shape. Meanwhile a friend who is neurotic about gear care has gone through 2 of the air pads in that time.  I did buy both of mine as clearance items, but maybe take a look at the Trail Scout? It looks like their most classic -and cheapest - version. 

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.

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.

Thermarest trail is a great option. Has lasted me over 10 years now, no leaks. Only thing I’d change now is getting one slightly thicker.

Literally 5+ years on foam mats from Kmart. 2-3 years on a thermarest self inflating and finally in a “normal” bed after buying the firmest possible mattress.

The Thermarest self inflating is rubbish. Just some thin foam that helps to expand and suck air into the pad. But you still need to inflate it further. My exped mat is filled in a minute with the pump sack.

We use fold up carton type mats as our base. Then in our tent we have Sea to Summit self-inflating bed rolls. Our kids have the same base and use Therm-o-rest self-inflating ground mats. We find as long as we stay on the self-inflating mats, we’re pretty comfortable. The ther-o-rests are almost 20 years old and still in great shape. We upgraded to Sea to Summit because they fold up so small for backpacking

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.

I use Thermarest pads, have for years, I store them deflated and rolled up, the self inflating feature works fine for me but it takes a little time, just unroll them as soon as you get to the campsite and leave the valve open until you’re ready to sleep, it may need a little topping up by blowing but not much