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I'm sure that this has been discussed before but I'm thinking about buying a second sleeping pad. I've got a big self inflating Therm-a-Rest that's great but it's big and heavy and my wife has a tendency to steal it when we go camping. So I'm looking for something lighter that I could use for backpacking trips or just when my other pad gets appropriated. The two I've been looking at are the Z-Lite and the Ridge Rest. The Z-lite's a little more expensive and has a slightly lower R-value (2.2 vs. 2.6) but I'm interested in the way it folds up. It seems like it might be more versatile. The Ridge Rest seems to be the old war horse that works no matter what. So what should I get? Enlighten me.

I have the z-lite, but only for use with a prolite 4 for winter/cold climbing. I've never used the ridgerest, so I don't know how good they are. The z-lite/prolite have worked well for me down to 15 or 20 F, and that's a guess on temp but it should be close.

I think it depends on how cold you are/feel when you sleep and what you have been using. You may have an issue with going light at first since you've been using a heavy inflatable.

I have both and like the versatility of the z-lite. I usually will use it in conjunction with a self inflating pad also. The folding aspect of it makes it great for so many other little uses. Just my two cents.

I have used both and I prefer a simple Evazote pad without the texture. MEC sells them: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_deta ... 6218572268

Zlite has a problem with winter use. The little "egg holder" cups trap snow and get brought in, which then melts from the heat of your body. The cups also make it hard to whisk the snow away. I used it for the bottom layer of two pads when I climbed Denali, but I wouldn't take it as my only pad.