What is the most comfortable sleeping mat?
As I get older I feel the need for more comfort at night over the typical backpacking mat.
I have tried the cheap inflatable bed type and didn’t like it, felt too high and didn’t really support you just wobble around.
Size and weight is not an issue as it is for camping out the back of a car.
I was thinking of trying a memory foam mattress topper or is that just mental? Mattress topper

exped downmat sheer luxury

Best ive used was the thermarest neoair – far superior to the – cheap – ones !

My mate turned up at an event with a baloon bed – talk about comedy !

My other half loves the exped downmat I got her and I have previous reports of them being lovely (hence my purchase of it). Even their largest one is too narrow for me though, arms would not fit on it, which would annoy the hell out of me due to the height above ground.

Thermarest do a 3″ thick self inflating mat which I would have thought was pretty comfortable. I’ve a thermarest that goes to about 1.5″ thick and that is as comfortable a mat as I’ve ever used. Would imagine the thicker one would only be better at the expense of portability, which for you doesn’t sound like it would be a problem.

I got a £30 Pacific 600gm from amazon, similar to exped but synthetic insulation and no pump. Liking it so far.

alpkit – think it was called the “fat airic” but now seems to be called “the dozer” – £60 a pop (no pun intended).

That exped down matt looks good too – new to me that make.

alpkit – think it was called the “fat airic”

best I’ve tried.

exped is new to me too. I was chatting to the chap that supplied mine (he came out at christmas to meet me as he was closing up for christmas, nice chap, went WELL out of his way (about 15 miles)!). Said he’d just had an order of 15 of the expeds go out to an antarctic expedition group after an initial couple he sent out as a test. Assuming he’s telling the truth, that’s good enough for me. Considering I’d already paid for it he had no reason to lie.

The main reason i can think of for not using a mattress topper is that it’ll soak up moisture and get dirty/ manky when you’re out camping. Also, because you’ll be straight onto the the ground rather than ontop of a matress, you’ll poss get cold / damp / uncomfortable spots where the foam compresses. They don’t have any boing to them – where your weight is you’ll just sink through it to the ground below.

More votes for the Thermarests, what about adding a camp stretcher into the equation ????

I’ve got the Alpkit Fat Airic for car camping and very pleased with it. With the Thermarest/Alpkit etc foam air bed type mats (nothing like a cheap Argos airbed/lilo type thing), it’s best to let them self inflate rather than blowing them up. Either way, the trick is to have them soft so that your body moulds the mat, too much air will have you rolling around on top and uncomfortable.

Another vote for Thermarest here, wish I’d bought one years ago.

Thermarest Luxury Map. They also do a down duvet affair that can be snapped onto the mattress if you want to avoid the sleeping bag feel totally. 😆 Costs, though.

+1 for Alpkit. All the fun of the Thermarest at half the price, and a great company to deal with.

Thermarest Luxury Map. They also do a down duvet affair that can be snapped onto the mattress if you want to avoid the sleeping bag feel totally. Costs, though.

I just went off and had a look at that. It looks super comfy.

Thermarest mattress topper

Mrs cxi has the Decathlon version of the Fat Airic / Dozer – super comfy.

Alpkit Dozer – Fat Airic no longer made, new versions are better quality – or the Exped equivalent. Both are excellent. The Therm-a-Rest super luxury thing is supposed to be ace as well, but is ruinously expensive.