I have been using my blue closed cell foam pad for its insulation. Closed cell foam has very good insulation, much greater than the open cell foam used in self inflating sleeping pads.
Not being overly comfortable means I bring my Thermarest ultra light and use it in conjunction with the blue pad. This makes for a very warm insulation layer between you and the cold hard ground.
Cheap, light.....and cheap. You can get these at Walmart for about five or six bucks. The best thing about them is the ability to cut them to whatever size you want. You can even trim the corners to a "mummy" shape to save even more weight. I cut the bottom off one, use the 3/4 as a light-weight summer pad, then use the cut-off bottom as a fire-side seat. As SB said, this is also very good as a pad under a Thermarest or other self-inflating pad.....especially in winter.
This is exactly what I use. There is no need to go and spend a bunch of hard earned cash on some stupid blow up pad that might pop as have two of mine that were issued to me as a solider in the U.S. Army. This is a great option beacuse not only do you not have to blow it up ,when your burnt out from your amazing trec to the top of the world, nor do you have to fret about getting a new one if you happen to loose it in a storm.You might suffer because of the cold but you would any way. The other grerat thing is as stated in the other comment's, you can modify it. I like taking 1/3 off because I am a minimalist. The other thing is that it look's cool to have it straped to you because every one you see know's your out there having the time of your life,you are living!
I love my blue pad. It is thin and not very comfortable, but it has gotten me through a lot. It is 8 years old and I've used it probably 50 nights in the last 2 years: snow, wet, glaciers, rock, sand, everything. I tore it a little with my crampons a few weeks ago-it didn't deflate. It is durable and cheap. Rolls up pretty small and I can just stick it outside of my bag. Mine is only 1cm thick, and so is not that warm.
I might switch to a Z-rest in the near future for the increased r-value.
If you are low on cash one of these will do in a pinch. Probably best value for money you can get-1/8th of a price of a thermarest.
Erik Beeler - Nov 30, 2004 10:29 am - Voted 3/5
Untitled ReviewI have been using my blue closed cell foam pad for its insulation. Closed cell foam has very good insulation, much greater than the open cell foam used in self inflating sleeping pads.
Not being overly comfortable means I bring my Thermarest ultra light and use it in conjunction with the blue pad. This makes for a very warm insulation layer between you and the cold hard ground.