Flex Air Mattress

I’m on the heavier side (220 lbs) and a side sleeper. I opted for the flex air Zenbivy pad and love it. Most comfortable pad I’ve ever personally used. I don’t have experience with the UL pad but the core design should be similar. What I found is that the pad needed to be inflated very firm which keeps my hips and shoulders from bottoming out on the ground. With a normal pad this would be too firm and lack comfort but, with the dimpled design, the increased inflation was very comfortable. That being said, having the 4-way stretch top fabric could be very different from the UL pad and not work as well so YMMV. I think it’s worth a shot. It’s always difficult to balance comfort with weight savings. Other contributors may have better insight on the UL pad but I hope this piece of information helps somewhat.

Zenbivy Flex Air mattress. Fully inflated allows full warmth but give in the top material allows shoulders to sink enough for max comfort. Highly recommend.

The Ultralight is certainly lighter, and a comfy pad compared to a lot on the market, but the Flex Air is on par with Thermarest Neoloft and Exped Megamat Ultra, except lighter and less balloon-like compared to the Neoloft.

I’ve gone all-out on sleep comfort for when I’m using my framed pack vs when I go SUL frameless: Zenbivy Flex Air Long Wide on top of BA Rapide SL Long Wide, all held together by a Zenbivy Long Light sheet. Zenbivy 25° UL Quilt, a Big Sky Dreamsleeper wrapped in a buff between my knees when I’m on my side, and a Goosefeet Gear Down Pillow with another Dreamsleeper inside all inside of a toddler pillow case. All of this while wearing Alpha 60 top, camp pants, and socks. It’s a heavy setup (really just the extra pad), but it all packs down super small.

I just got this pad as well and got two nights on it this week in Yosemite. I agree on almost all your observations - including comfort, which is really impressive and IMO much more comfortable than the Tensor. I think Rab is really on to something with the offset baffling. But man, I had a completely different experience with the warmth and I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong. It got down to about 40 degrees, and I was using my 30° Katabatic quilt with an octa fleece layer. On paper, a 5.5 pad should've kept me totally warm, but by 4 a.m. I was freezing and couldn't sleep. Reading your post, I think there were maybe two factors at play: First, I’m a big side sleeper. Since all my weight was digging right into my hip, I felt the cold radiating exactly right there. It felt like my hip bone was squeezing the air out of the way and basically touching the cold mylar layer - an experience that I dont have with my ZenBivy pad. Second, I didn't have a thin foam pad underneath like you did. I think that Thinlight pad you mentioned might be the trick to stopping that hip chill, which is a bit of a bummer bc I dont love carrying one.

Hello, I was hoping to get some advice given I have a concern for air leaks on some brand new pads. I tried almost all the pads at REI and ended up really liking the REI helix. Given I liked that dimple pattern decided to try the Zembivy Flex air and currently it’s my ideal sleeping pad as a stomach sleeper. My concern is both the REI helix and zenbivy flex air leaked enough air overnight for my hips to touch the floor during turns and be cold with the rei helix being more pronounced. This was while I was testing them indoors at 65 F. Is this expected from this kind of pad? Did I really get two “defective” pads? It’s not a deal breaker but I really liked both of these pads and trying to figure out if this is normal?

Like others mentioned I would look into the eclipse cheaper than the tensor and warmer than the rapide, it’s pretty much a copy of the rapide by nemo but warmer. I have tried all of these except the tensor although did try it at REI, rapide wins of these but the zenbivy flex air it’s the absolute best

I recently bought both the neoloft and the Zenbivy Flex Air. Both have 4-way stretch fabrics on the sleeping side which help reduce pressure points. I think the neoloft is slightly more comfortable but honestly they’re pretty similar, and the zenbivy is ~1/2lb lighter. The zenbivy is a little louder when you move around but it’s not crazy or super crinkley. Before these I was sleeping on the Zenbivy UL mattress and I think the stretch fabric definitely improves the comfort at the cost of a few ounces.

Seems to be a lot of reports of the Neoloft sleeping extremely cold for its claimed R-Value. If you are looking for comfort and warmth. The Zenbivy Flex Air is a little lighter, comparably as comfortable and seems to be true to its R-5 rating. Therm-a-Rest warranty is better and uses thicker materials, but I have hard time justifying the weight of the pad and having to worry about being cold when temps drop below 40f.

I can't speak to the Exped, but I've used both the Nemo and the Rapide. The Rapide is noticeably more comfortable, heavier, bulkier. It's a lower R-value, and doesn't seem to live up to it's rating even. I'm not saying it's a bad buy. Nemo Tensor seems to be the best combo of comfort and weight I can find if I emphasize weight. If I'm emphasizing comfort, the Zen Bivy Flex Air is maybe 6 oz heavier, and is the most comfortable backpacking pad I've ever tried. It's absolutely superb. That said, I don't use it because of the weight, but I'll sure as hell slide over on to my girlfriend's mat when she gets up.

The x-therm is quite a bit of overkill for 30° F, even for a cold sleeper. I think the Ether Light would run pretty cold for me at 30°. Are you finding those particular ones on sale? Cuz I think you should be looking at something like NeoAir XLite NXT or Nemo Tensor All Seasons. The Tensor is about the same weight, but a half inch thicker and somewhat warmer. Either would be fine in those temps, but the Tensor would give you a bit more cushion. The Exped Ultra 6.5R is a little bit cheaper than those two very popular ones, and compares very well in specs. My comfort favorite is the Zen Bivy Flex Air. The stretch top is super nice. It's about 4-6 oz heavier than the others.

I think the Nemo Tensor All Seasons (19oz) is the best all around pad on the market right now, and a lot of people seem to agree. You don't mention location or conditions, but if the R-value is suitable, the Trail version is lighter but built pretty much identically. All 3 Tensors are the right combo of weight, comfort and R-Value, in my opinion. Leaning slightly towards comfort over weight, the Zen Bivy Flex Air (24oz) is really comfy. If you lean farther to the comfort spectrum than that, people seem to love the Thermarest Neoloft (30oz).