After a couple of bad nights’ sleep on my alpkit base mat, I’m looking for something more comfortable. I like to sleep on my side and I found that my shoulders started to hurt through the night after not very long on my side, enough to wake me up.

So I’ve been looking for a while and was coming round to an exped synmat but now I see that Sp**tPursuit are flogging these for £30

Pacific Outdoor Equipment Adventurer Air Core

Quick Overview

The next evolution of an insulated air-loft tube pad that focuses on versatility, comfort and packability. Stuff sack, repair kit and wrap strap included. Features light, durable anodized recycled aluminium valves, soft touch 75D polyester top fabric, insulated tubes for maximum warmth and a DWR finish to help protect your pad from stains and wetting out.

Features:

75 denier brushed polyester “Soft Touch” fabric on top for comfort with a 75 denier ripstop polyester on the bottom for strength.
A DWR finish to the fabric helps protect against stains and improves water resistance.
The relaxed mummy shape provides great comfort and helps cut weight and pack size.
Thick central air core channels for ultimate comfort.
Three inch outer tubes are larger than the core channels keeping you sleeping comfortably on the pad through the night.
Compression strap, repair kit, and stuff sack included.
Size (cm): 51x 198 x 6.3
Pack Size (cm): 10 x 30.5
Weight: 680g
R rating: 3.0 – 4.0

Anything not to like about them?? A generous inflated size, a good pack size (smaller than my current base 120) and weighs less than the 180 version of what I currently have.[This is NOT a sly way of trying to get a referral fee out of any of you].

Or any other similarly priced recommendations? Please don’t say Neo Airs, I don’t want to spend that much!

Sounds like the one I have, which I got on pretty well with, though the narrow bottom isn’t great as you can’t move your legs around.

Fancy a neo air though, I think a good night’s sleep is worth paying for.

sleep mats are all driven by packed weight first and comfort second it seems(understandable if you are lugging all your kit across a long distance – irrelevant for a weekend in the country). I have a thermarest which is light and just about ok on comfort. If I am in a field for the weekend on beer duty though – I have an old foam mattress from an Ikea fold out sofa bed thing. way more comfy!
The alpkit fat eric is the business if you do want a luxury heavy self inflating mat though.

Yeah al, no doubt in six months’ time (Xmas?) I’ll be after a Neo Air…but for the mean time £30 might fix my problem…and I can’t move my legs much due to the sleeping bag anyway.

you could do a lot worse than the £39 Peak Elite currently available on that website. Although I prefer the Neoair 😉

quarryman, it’s for bike-touring and light-weight camping duties, so heavy is no good!

Ignoring the stupid comments about spam, seeing as like, people are interested in buying sleep mats – http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-bargain-good-quality-sleeping-mats-at-sports-pursuit
Might be worth a look.
I gain nothing from posting this except a warm fuzzy feeling

Good spot there pedalhead, I presume you have personal experience of it? It’s lighter and the

bermed side rails

are the killer selling point!

V close to purchasing…let’s see how this thread develops for a little while yet though

DezB: my forum thread rule no.1: if it’s not on the first page it doesn’t exist!! 😉 😳

Er, right ok. Not a clue what that means.

It means I didn’t search the forum/ check the topic list to see if there wasn’t already a similar thread, which makes me a very naughty boy in some peoples’ eyes.

I used an Exped Synmat on the TransAm last year. 70 back to back days use. I liked it a lot, the internal pump is a bonus. My only criticism is its bulk. I just bought a Thermarest neoair to try for my next tour. It packs up to about half the Expeds size.

Try an exped ul7, packs very small and it had baffles (?) running the same ditection as your body, helps stay on the mat.

Cheers for suggestions, I’ve gone with pedalhead’s.

If that fails me then I’ll have to decide between the expeds or a neoair…

Good spot there pedalhead, I presume you have personal experience of it?

Yup, had a 2/3 length Peak Elite, and also a short and regular Neoair. For that price, the full length Peak Elite is a bargain and I’m sure you could sell it on without loss if you don’t like it.