pburke
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gbohannon wrote:
Peter, I am really enjoying your shots. Were you solo or with a group? How do you like the sleeping pad that is shown in this shot? I need a thicker one than my very old Thermarest 
George
George,
I went solo this year, except for the last two days when I hooked up with a hiker I had already bumped into earlier in the hike when I was heading back north to buy new boots and sleeping pad in Mammoth.
The pad in the image is the one I bought in Mammoth as replacement: Termarest NeoAir Xlite Long. I find it not quite as comfortable as the Exped Synmat UL7 it replaced (smaller, thinner, but close), plus found it strange that a pad that expensive would still ask me to use my humid breath to inflate it, creating a great environment for fungus to grow. The Exped comes with a nylon stuff bag that can be used as a big pump (they call it a schnozzle bag  ), which is a genius concept. Just 4 blows with it and that big pad was inflated, at a full 3.5 inches thick.
The problem with the Exped pads has been catastrophic internal baffle separation. The baffles in those pads go length-wise and when once suddenly lets go end to end (that noise will wake you up!), doubling the size between remaining baffles, you find yourself sleeping with your butt on the ground, as the now large space between baffles becomes a huge bulge. Even if you re-inflate to get back off the ground, you now have a big old bulge under your back. I was lucky this happened one night from town.
The baffles in the Thermarest in the image go from side to side and are much closer together. If one should ever fail, it won't cause the problems seen with the other brand, nor have I found any reports of such failures (unlike the Expeds - very common issue, poor warranty).
The main drawback of this Thermarest is the noise. It makes crinkle sounds when you move, so in a shared tent it may be an issue. Gets better as the pad warms up, I think. Then there is the inflation, but I solved that by finding a $2.50 plastic pipe fitting in a hardware store in Mammoth. That fitting allows me to use the Exped schnozzle bag on the Thermarest valve, even though they are totally different designs. I should patent that thing and sell it for $20 a piece on ebay ;-)
The Thermarest packs up easier than the Exped did, but compared to rolling up a foam pad, this is still one of my main gripes with these pads. Yes, they are super comfortable, but you spend more time setting them up. And they are heavier. Even the expensive pads are a full pound in my size, plus I carry a 1/8" closed cell foam pad in addition to the inflatable, mainly as a layer of protection but over time I realized that it is essential to have that so I can sit comfortably in the tent without the inflated pad taking a beating, plus it's really a lot easier to cook and do stuff on the foam surface than a constantly moving and bulging inflatable. I just keep it deflated or outside the tent when I am not sleeping.
I've heard from a PCT hiker that he's used this Thermarest for 1000 nights already, which is amazing. My Expeds lasted about 30 nights each before failure rendered them into ballast I needed to carry out of the mountains. Either brand I have used is lightyears ahead of any foam pad in terms of comfort. Weight is close - a thick RidgeRest is 540 grams in my size, these ultra light inflatable pads are lighter at about 450 grams. Even with my 150 gram thin foam pad, it's barely the weight of a camera battery heavier than foam,
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