Sleeping pad recommendation !!!

[spencerdella]

Hi guys,

I’ve been using the Thermarest Z-Lite Sol pad for a while, and I just don’t sleep well on it at all. I’m looking for something lighter and more suitable for side-sleeping. I loved not having to blow up a pad every night, but I can make sacrifices.

Interested:- Outdoorsman Lab Ultralight Sleeping Pad

Does anyone have any experience about Outdoorsman?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

[<-Pointer]

I haven't found a pad that is terribly comfortable in a hammock. Inflatable pads with baffles that run from top to bottom (like the Big Agnes) seem to work a little better for me but are a distant 2nd to an under quilt. I don't have any experience with the pad that you are asking about.

[Shug]

Pad intel......https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...PBkH55Ns90zkAu
Pad on and carry forth.
Shug

[hutzelbein]

What type of hammock are you using? A gathered end, bridge or 90° hammock?

[OlTrailDog]

I have experimented around with a number of pads and for me the Exped Synmat and Downmat have been my preference for warmth, vertical tubes for longitudinal rigidity, ability to insert into a pad pocket (HTs), ability to shift the pad into proper diagonal with GE hammocks, and comfort. Make sure the seams are not not seamed through, but have a baffle system. Make sure the ALL the tubes are insulated (say no to some of the Exped models). I prefer square models to the mummy shaped designs. Lastly, the Sea to Summit waffle looking pads are prone to nasty cold spots.

I like UQs too, but under certain conditions a pad can be a better option to take.

[TrailSlug]

Do yourself a favor and get an under quilt. Pads are a pain to keep in place, heavy, require way too much energy to blow up when your tired, keep condensation from escaping, and do not wrap you nor keep you near as warm as a quality under quilt. Other than the wider the better.

[cougarmeat]

spencerdella, I think you are missing the boat a little. The reason you blow up a pad is because you were putting it on hard ground and you want something softer to lie on. ALSO, your heat loss from the ground is conduction - contact with cold (the ground) objects. It is important to understand the characteristics of heat loss. BECAUSE your heat loss from a hammock is convection. Air currents are pulling the heat away from you. You do not need something thick (i.e. blown up) to stop that, you just need something wind proof. A non-inflated pad, or any other thin, but windproof substance would work almost as well.

Think of it like this. Imagine you are in a cylinder (sleeping bag, top quilt, etc.) - something that holds heat in and nothing taking it out. You could quickly become over heated because the is nothing taking the heat away. You get cold because the forces taking away your body heat are winning against the elements that are keeping that heat in. Imagine a tug-of-war with Conduction, Convection, Radiation, and Evaporation on one end of the rope and your insulation on the other. Various articles say most the heat loss is from radiation . You counter that with clothes and sleeping bag/top quilt just as you do when on the ground. But instead of a thick pad to stop heat loss by conduction, you need a wind barrier to stop heat loss by convection.

Your hammock is soft enough - unless you are lonesome for the ground and put pine cones in it to remember - so you don't so much need a "pad" as you do a "barrier" - something to block the wind; the convection heat loss.

If your hammock was double layer, putting your pad inside the layers would keep it from shifting a bit. If you have a single layer hammock, you could invest in an Under Quilt Protector (like 2QZQ makes) - called a UQP. You could put your pad in the UQP, under your hammock, and it would act as a barrier, inflated or not. Also, when you finally get tried of messing with the pad and decide to invest in an under quilt, you can use the UQP to keep it cleaner and give it a few more degrees comfort range. I like mine because I usually set up by myself and can't see how well I have the under quilt fit. The UQP covers the UQ ends so its fit isn't so critical.

If you don't want to invest in an UQ right away, get an UQP and put your pad (you don't have to inflate it) between it and the hammock and snug it up.

If you start looking around for UQ's and wonder if you should get a full length or ¾ length, note that if you are around 5'6" or shorter, a ¾ length will be almost a full length for you - saving money, weight, bulk.

[OlTrailDog]

If you do a quick google search on "sleeping pad insulation table" you will see that non-inflated insulated pads do not have near the R values of insulated inflatable pads. Secondly, the inflatable inflatable pads offer a whole different level of support than non-inflated pads, albeit I have found that the most comfort is from a pad that is not fully inflatedsd, i.e. firm yet soft. Thirdly, most inflatable pads come with a system, e.g. Exped snoozle bag, to inflate the pad. Blowing up pads is not really necessary, and in fact isn't recommended as it introduces warm moist air into the pad. Lastly, perhaps I am a tad confused, as apparently some of the folks who answered have been too, as it seems your question was "which pad" instead of should I get a pad or a UQ.

Entirely different subjects. UQs can be warmer at lower temperatures and provide a different lay. But pads also have their advantages depending on circumstances. Personally, I use both as it depends on the circumstances I expect to encounter. When UQPs are mentioned, it causes me to think that it is simply more gear to carry, more setup, and more complexity. Besides don't forget the UnderQuilt Protector Protector, i.e UQPP.

[cougarmeat]

I agree that a non-inflated pad doesn't have the R value of an inflated pad. But my point was the pad's design purpose is to reduce conduction heat loss from contact with the ground and in a hammock you are looking more for a wind barrier. It is true that most of the heat loss is from radiation and I suppose the pad/underquilt block that from below. I was speaking from my experience of using a pad - pre under quilt days - during the summer when I just had to put some barrier between the hammock bottom and UQP. Even Hennessy's "super shelter" is pretty much an UQP with a "Reflex" barrier (about ½ open cell foam and mylar). The thread didn't mention the season and what I was suggesting worked for me during the summer (before I bought an under quilt).

[BillyBob58]

If you do a quick google search on "sleeping pad insulation table" you will see that non-inflated insulated pads do not have near the R values of insulated inflatable pads. Secondly, the inflatable inflatable pads offer a whole different level of support than non-inflated pads, albeit I have found that the most comfort is from a pad that is not fully inflatedsd, i.e. firm yet soft. Thirdly, most inflatable pads come with a system, e.g. Exped snoozle bag, to inflate the pad. Blowing up pads is not really necessary, and in fact isn't recommended as it introduces warm moist air into the pad. Lastly, perhaps I am a tad confused, as apparently some of the folks who answered have been too, as it seems your question was "which pad" instead of should I get a pad or a UQ.

Entirely different subjects. UQs can be warmer at lower temperatures and provide a different lay. But pads also have their advantages depending on circumstances. Personally, I use both as it depends on the circumstances I expect to encounter. When UQPs are mentioned, it causes me to think that it is simply more gear to carry, more setup, and more complexity. Besides don't forget the UnderQuilt Protector Protector, i.e UQPP.

I agree that a non-inflated pad doesn't have the R value of an inflated pad. But my point was the pad's design purpose is to reduce conduction heat loss from contact with the ground and in a hammock you are looking more for a wind barrier. It is true that most of the heat loss is from radiation and I suppose the pad/underquilt block that from below. I was speaking from my experience of using a pad - pre under quilt days - during the summer when I just had to put some barrier between the hammock bottom and UQP. Even Hennessy's "super shelter" is pretty much an UQP with a "Reflex" barrier (about ½ open cell foam and mylar). The thread didn't mention the season and what I was suggesting worked for me during the summer (before I bought an under quilt).

Here I go, confused again. Sorry, guys.
But when you say "a non-inflated pad doesn't have the R value of an inflated pad", and "non-inflated insulated pads do not have near the R values of insulated inflatable pads.", are you talking about an inflatable pad that has not been inflated fully, or maybe even not inflated at all? Compared to if you inflated that inflatable pad?(I indeed think this is what you mean)

Or, are you saying that an inflatable(and inflated) pad always has more R value than a non-inflatable pad such as a CCF pad? If this latter, obviously it would depend on the thickness of the CCF pad, but for example a .75 in thick Thermarest Z lite SOL has a bit more R value (2.6) than the thicker
( 1") TR Prolite(2.4) and the way thicker(2.5") inflatable Neo air Trekker has barely more R value

But Cougarmeat, if you are correct, that is a very interesting point. If so, then that R value would be far more important on the ground. Pads are usually much warmer on the ground, but that is because the ground is normally much warmer than the air.

But, don't folks still find pads with higher R value warmer than pads with lower R values, even in a hammock?