Well, everything runs in cycles of acquisition, use, replacement…

Much of my camping kit dates from the days when I did a fair bit of hiking / expeditons etc. A few replacements are now reqd…

Sleeping mats? I know that Thermarests were all the rage. I never got one as I had a good exped grade Karrimat

Are Thermarests still the starting place for looking at new kit?

Alpkit

Alpkit do excellent Thermarest-a-like mats for a fraction of the price.

youre just in time – alpkit have just taken delivery of their latest batch.

Look at Vango mats too – from my experience they are often cheaper and more reliable than Alpkit (i’ve had 3 alpkits fail).

keep your exp karrimat tho, as fantastic as thermarest type mats are, they don’t have the insulation of a good closed cell foam. sometimes I use both (winter camping) and still use an exp karrimat when biviing.

Just spent 3 weeks on an Alpkit dozer with no complaints. Alpkit is good.

Looks like an Alpkit Dozer might be worth a try for car camping and keep hold of the Karrimat for any self propelled adventures.

12 YO son was very taken with his up Llanberis / down Snowdon Ranger walk at w/e. Wants to try wild camping now – who am I to discourage… 😉

Depends what you want to do with it… Horses for courses, you probably won’t see Alpkit high on a serious expedition where you will see Thermarest’s.

I use an Alpkit Fat Airic for valley/car camping as it’s hefty and have had 2 fail. Both replaced under excellent warranty though inconvenient if using them in anger somewhere…

When using ‘in anger’, I have a collection of genuine Thermarest’s. The Neoairs are light and comfy, the Pro’s etc bulkier, a little heavier but a bit more robust.

I’ve been using one of these since some time last winter. It’s full length, extra thick, extra comfy and packs down reasonably compact. It dosen’t quite compete with a Neo-Air when it comes to weight but costs significantly less.

The one bit of trouble I’ve had with it is a small leak caused by the valve base pressing against the fabric when rolled up too tightly, but I’ve mended that and no longer try to cram it into a tiny dry bag.

Karrimor X-Lite Comfort

I’ve also had three alpkit mats fail (de-laminated) Like above alpkit are excellent with customer service and replaced the mats each time no question and then refunded me so I could buy a more reliable product elsewhere. I have other alpkit stuff and its been great (hunka bivvy has given a few years really good service now for example) but I’m afraid I won’t be buying any more mats from them.

You might want to have a look at some of the new ‘airbed’ mats that are out at the moment – lighter than self inflating mats and incredibly comfy for the weight.

Alpkit, Thermarest, Exped and Hyalite all do versions which contain synthetic insulation in the air cells – I use a Hyalite Peak AC with a karrimat underneath to beef it up when it’s cold. I find it a lot comfier than my old Thermarest self inflating, as it’s considerably thicker. I find the combo of airbed and karrimat means I can use my summer weight down bag for much more of the year, which reduces the overall weight of my pack, and takes up less room so I can carry on using a smaller, lighter sack for longer.

I bought the Hyalite cheap to see how I found sleeping on an airbed, but I’m now contemplating getting one of the Exped down lite mats as it’s a bigger sleeping surface for not much more weight. I’m also reassured that it will survive camping with 2 collies and their claws!