Thermarest NeoAir

NeoAir Video[/url]

This looks great, but the medium size is £100!

I'm thinking about getting into backpacking lightweight camping.

I was in Go Outdoors last week checking out all the Thrmarest style mats, but unless you pay mega bucks, they are either heavy and/or large, or inadequate.

I then found a lightweigh inflatable matress, not too dissimilar in proportions to the NeoAir. It's lighter than a self inflating Thermarest (or any equivalent product) and has what seemed like a sturdy, but thin, easily folded fabric. It looks like it would withstand abrasion quite well and packs down to the same size as the NeoAir. It costs a mere £9.99. I'm tempted to buy one and try it out, here's the link, but the weblink just makes it looks like any standard cheopo tubular airbed.

I can't be doing with lying on foam mats. I'm too old for that!

What do you use for a comfortable night's sleep?

3/4 1" thermarest not too exp and lasts years.

Oh and your link is duff

cynic-al – Member

3/4 1" thermarest not too exp and lasts years. But I hate waking up at 4 am with cold legs! Is 1" thickness enough for a good night's sleep and isn't the pack size enormous?

Oh and your link is duff

Not on my PC it isn't!

your link works now but did not earlier. EDIT the video link does not work for me.

I don't know what you need to sleep on but that's what works for me. Why not try borrowing something?

my slim airic works for me and very light to boot

slim airic clicky

Aaah but… if you're going to get weight obsessed what else is there but the Neoair? 410g and tiny pack size for full length. There aren't many around at the mo cos they've had 'production problems'. Wait a few weeks and you might find some a bit cheaper. When they first came out in April, F&T were doing them for £70.

You could buy a Prolite. 460g and a bit bigger packed but you can get them for ~£60.

Personaly, I wouldn't bother with the wannabee stuff, it's usually heavier/bulkier and when I recently looked at the Alpkit site for a Fat Aric (car camping), they were all out of stock.

montylikesbeer – Member
my slim airic works for me and very light to boot

Oh and 750g is not 'very light' 😉 You're not trying hard enough, go to the bottom of the class 🙂

If your 9.99 mattress isn't 'self inflating', then it probably isn't insulated either. The self inflation is just a by-product of having the insulation inside the matt. The point of thermarests and the like is that they are thermal mats that you can squish down, rather than air bags that you can blow up.

You want light? http://www.balloonbed.com/

Try this one, they also do down filled one as well.

There dry bags are superb as well

exped airmat clicky

or the exped SIM light at 462 grams

Sim Light clicky

skidartist – Member

If your 9.99 mattress isn't 'self inflating', then it probably isn't insulated either. The self inflation is just a by-product of having the insulation inside the matt. The point of thermarests and the like is that they are thermal mats that you can squish down, rather than air bags that you can blow up.

Nope, it requires blowing up, but the air is the insulation isn't it? It lifts you off the ground. I haven't had any problems with being cold sleeping on an airbed in the past.

This Hi Gear inflatable looks very similar to the Exped airbeds shown in this thread.

I think I might take a punt on this thing as it's only going to cost me a tenner.

Spongebob – Member

Nope, it requires blowing up, but the air is the insulation isn't it? <snip>

I think I might take a punt on this thing as it's only going to cost me a tenner.

Errr, air only really insulates well when it's still, that's what the down/foam/hollowfibre is for – to keep it still. In the case of mats, they also reduce conductive heat by lifting you off the ground. If your £9.99 mat is just full of air, it'll be chilly in anything other than Summer + a little bit.

How on earth did you get from a Neoair to a £9.99 pool bed? Bit like the "what £3k full suss for abc place" and ending up with a £25 Gumtree special 🙂

In the case of mats, they also reduce conductive heat by lifting you off the ground. If your £9.99 mat is just full of air, it'll be chilly in anything other than Summer + a little bit.
From personal experience, I'd say it doesn't make much difference. Certainly balloon beds are fine in spring/autum. Bear in mind that if you've got a warm surface on the top and a cold one at the bottom, then air will naturally form a stable layer. It needs to be the other way round for air to become a useless insulator.