How to choose a camping mat for a hike

A sleeping mat is an essential part of hiking gear. Sleeping bag insulation crumples under our backs and doesn’t keep us warm (unless you use reindeer skin). Hiking mats are used to protect our bodies from heat loss from the ground.How to choose a good hiking mat that is comfortable to use, lightweight and still provide insulation?

The perfect mat, of course, does not exist, and the choice depends on:

• your budget;
• personal preferences;
•  hiking conditions.

Temperature mode of the tourist mat

You need different mats for different temperatures. To compare them to each other, there is an R-value. Of course, everyone has different thermoregulatory needs, and where one person gets cold, another will sleep comfortably. But the R-value allows you to compare different mats one to the other, and there you can adjust for your own peculiarities. For example, I tolerate the cold well, and on mats designed for +5…+10, I sleep down to zero and even lower.

Important: Before 2020, each manufacturer measured R-value as they saw fit. Since 2020 there is an American ASTM F3340 test, and many mats have changed their R-value up or down. So it’s better to be guided by ASTM F3340 when buying.

Approximate R-value and lower temperature of comfortable use:

The R-value of a comfort mat can vary greatly from person to person and even from person to person in different states: fatigue, moisture trapped on the mat, hunger, stress all affect comfort.

It is because of the R-value that thin fitness mats or inflatable mattresses like Intex should not be used for hiking. Even if you travel by car and the weight does not matter to you, the temperature of their use is limited to +15…+20 and above.

Types of hikings mats

There are three kinds of mats: foam mats (“carimats”), inflatable mats and self-inflatable mats.

Foam mats

Most often they are called “karemat” or “karimat”, sometimes “izhevka”, “foam”. There are thin one-layer fitness mats (not suitable for hiking!), two-layer and three-layer. Sometimes one side has a reflective aluminum coating for extra thermal insulation.

Curious fact that the Karimat – a proper name from the name of the British company Karrimor. They back in 1968 released their famous rug Karrimat. It spread so widely among tourists that the word “karrimat” stuck in many countries as a synonym for a sleeping mat. The name “izhevka” also came from the name of the Izhevsk Plastics Factory.

The benefits of carimats, or foam mats:

• Inexpensive – even the best companies like Term-a-rest have foam mats several times cheaper than inflatable and self-inflatable mats.
• Unpretentious in use. Minimum elements – maximum reliability. You can not worry, that in the middle of a campaign you`ll have a puncture in your mat, and you won`t have anything to sleep on. You can take it out during lunch and put it on the sharp rocks. Curl around a burner as a windbreak. They can only be lost or burned. It also happens that they are carried away by wind during halt (we lost our rug during 3 km/hike, four of us slept thereafter on three mats). They are convenient to cut to the width or length to suit your height. Inflatable, by the way, also cut, but it is much more difficult.

Disadvantages of carimats:

• They take up a lot of space. Because of this, many people attach them outside the backpack, which entails additional problems: they can be torn by sharp rocks or branches, a large sail of the backpack, the mat gets wet in the rain or clogged with snow. Some manufacturers have solved this problem by releasing mats in the form of an accordion with “pimples”. This shape is really more compact and much more convenient to roll up. To fold it, you do not need to apply force, and the carpet does not tend to turn back at any time. But they are still far from compactness of inflatable and self-inflatable mats.
• Stiffer. On the one hand you can lay a foam mat anywhere, but on the other hand – not everywhere will be comfortable to sleep. The thinner the foam layer, the more you’ll feel every pebble and stub.

Foam is most often used to make “seat mat“: a small piece of karimat with an elastic band and a clasp to make it easier to walk with it. It is interesting that the design with a clasp is popular among our tourists, in Western Europe you will rarely meet a tourist with a seat on the strap. If they do wear a seat, it’s mostly just a rectangle, without clasps and straps to wear on the hips.

Self-inflating mats

Inside them is a soft foam, something like foam rubber, which is surrounded on all sides by airtight fabric, most often TPU. When you open the valve, the foam flattens out and gathers air; when you close the valve, the mat is ready. But it is only in theory. In practice you have to inflate the mats yourself, to be more exact, to inflate a little bit to make them harder. Uninflated mat easily kinks, and it will be colder to sleep on it.

In short, “self-inflating” mats are a strange intermediate category between foam carimats and inflatable mats. They have lost most of the advantages of rigid foam, but have gained the disadvantages of inflatables. At the same time, they lose in weight and compactness to inflatables of the same class.

Oh yes, a specific disadvantage of self-inflatable mats – they are even more difficult to roll up than foam carimats. The foam inside just tends to straighten out and gain air, unrolling it back. This problem is solved, for example, by special back valve and some skills of folding, but the inflatable mats do not have it at all. In addition, thick self-inflating mats should not be folded in half, but rolled. And you really want to fold it lengthwise to take up less space, but because of this the foam inside can deform and split.

Inflatable mats

These are the lightest, most compact and at the same time expensive and fastidious mats.

They are available with and without insulation.

Without insulation are designed only for summer. No matter how the manufacturer thought through the design, limiting air convection inside, for cold weather you need a heater. Nevertheless, such mats are cheaper and lighter, which is why they are mass-produced and purchased. For example, the Sea To Summit Ultralight weighs only 250 grams and is very compact. Unfortunately, the comfortable temperature of its use barely reaches +10. The exception to this category is the Therm-a-rest NeoAir Xtherm mat, which has an R-Value of 6.9. This value is achieved by the honeycomb structure of the mat and the aluminization of the inner surfaces (about +25% to the R-Value). At the same time, there is no down, synthetic filler or wool in it. And the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite weighs only 340 grams, but the temperature of use is down to -12 degrees! Sure, these are some of the most expensive and lightest rugs in their class, but others are not so much inferior.

Inflatable mats with insulation are the best type for most campers. They are a little bigger and a little heavier than similar models without insulation, but still much more compact than “self-inflating” and even more so carimats. And much warmer than mats without insulation. For example, if you take the same Sea To Summit Ultralight in Insulated version (with insulator) its weight will be 230 grams more, but the temperature of usage will be down to -5…-8.

Softness. This is probably the main advantage of inflatable mats. Unlike rigid foam, their thickness starts from 5-6 cm. They better hide the unevenness of the ground, sleeping on them is much more pleasant and comfortable.

For all its undeniable advantages, inflatable mats have disadvantages:

• Price. If you’re going on your first hike, buying an ultralight “inflatable” is definitely not worth it, their price reaches $200 and up. But if you often go on difficult hikes, you care about weight and compactness of the backpack, this investment will definitely pay off. That includes sleeping comfortably on a soft and warm rug.
• Chances of puncturing the fabric or damaging the flap. A deflated mat doesn’t keep you warm at all. But with judicious use, this is unlikely. It’s enough to inspect your sleeping spot before setting up your tent and not to stack on broken glass or briar branches. And modern repair kits allow you to glue a puncture in a few minutes (choose mats, where it is already included). By the way, pay attention to the location of the valve. It’s better that it protrudes as little as possible and is in a corner, not on the plane of the mat. Then there’s less chance that you’ll be clawing at it unnecessarily. Sometimes for difficult and cold hiking use a combination of karimat and inflatable mat, so warmer and more reliable.
• Another difficulty is the process of inflating. Many people inflate mats by mouth, to do so is undesirable. The moisture in the exhaled air condenses inside the mat and can provoke the development of mold. One time we even had condensation freeze up inside and it caused the valve to not work properly. Someone inflates and deflates the rug several times after camping at home to dry it out. Some people don’t care and inflate by mouth (then it’s interesting to see the mold stains inside the carpet). But the most correct way is to inflate with a pump. Yes, it’s another extra item that takes up space and weight, and it’s harder to inflate with a pump. But it will make the rug last longer. Some manufacturers, like Sea To Summit, for example, make a cover from the rug with a pump to inflate it. It works out two-in-one, saving weight and convenience, less chance of losing or forgetting it at home. Sometimes they make them in the form of hermetic bags for things, such as EXPED Schnozzel Pumpbag or SEA TO SUMMIT Air Stream Pump Sack, which is also convenient.

Remember that air expands and contracts, depending on the temperature. There are two important consequences of this. At night the air is likely to cool down, and the mat will “sag” a little, so you should inflate it with a small margin. A padded mat in no case can be left in the bright sun with a closed valve: the expanded air can deform the mat, and the stratification, it appears “bubbles.

Another feature of inflatable mats – some of them are strongly rustling. Most often this is found if it has a “metallized” layer, which should, according to the manufacturers’ idea, reflect thermal radiation. If you are a light sleeper, it is not superfluous to read reviews before buying, whether the carpet you choose rustles.

By the way, if you think that inflatable mats are only a product of modern technology, they are not. The first mention of “inflatables” dates back to 1824. They were not used for beach recreation, but in the polar expedition of John Franklin, who was looking for the Northwest Sea Route. And in mass production for tourists brand Therm-a-rest launched them in 1972. That is, only four years later than the Karimat.

How to choose a camping mat for a hike

1. Foam mats are good for first hikes, or if you hike infrequently and are not ready to pay extra money for equipment. They are also used in difficult hikes, where you can not always choose a place to sleep overnight and a great risk of sleeping on sharp rocks or thorns without a footprint (bedding). In other cases, the advantages of inflatable mats completely outweigh their disadvantages.
2. What brands to look for? The best mats available in our stores are Term-a-Rest, Exped, Sea To Summit. If you decide to buy a good inflatable mat, we recommend that you still pay attention to them. Chinese copies, like Naturehike, have not yet caught up with their quality.
3. The size of the mat for sleeping is a matter of your personal preferences. The most convenient is to use a mat 10 cm longer than your height. Someone is enough size “in height,” especially if you use a pillow, an inflatable, or from things. And sometimes to save weight they even use mats for 2/3 of their height, with their feet placed on the backpack. Comfortable width you can also understand only after sleeping a few nights in a hike. As a rule, it ranges from 51 to 60 cm.

In short, to understand what suits you, you can only in hiking, and so do not be afraid to go to the mountains, because the equipment only helps you to walk comfortably, and most importantly – it’s your experience.

And Kuluar – your life-changing mountain experience!

Author of the article: Аndrr Piven, FB Andrii Piven