Fellow Bikepackers (and the odd Lady and Gentleman)

Long story short. Need new mat.
Narrowed it down to some Exped mats, roughly same price (Danish prices converted, without my discount at the shop)
Synmat 5 lite M 75 £
Downmat 5 lite 91 £
Synmat 7 M 100 £

All are within temperature range I look for, but I have no practical experiences with the Exped Mats.

In no prioritised order *im looking for pro and cons for:
Packability (Synmat 5 Lite packs the smallest. I know, But do you all pack it like it come. Fold to a 3rd and roll, or do any crampack?)
Ease of use (moist, inflation and so on)
Durability
Comfort (ie is the 5 comfy enough compared to the 7, does size matter )

if you have experiences in more than one, so a comparison from a normal user perspective could be given, it would be much appreciated (not a biased, endorsed web comparison),

Thats why I love BB the way. People don't mind saying I paid a loadfull of money on something that was supposed to be good, but turned out to not meet the expectations/ is utter sh1ite!

Lars from cold Denmark

PS I did a search on the BB, but my Google Fu "Still havent found what I'm looking for" (do your own singing)

I have a couple of Exped matts, both down and syn. Unfortunately the rest of the family use them and I just always use the Downmat so I can't compare anything. I think the Down one I use is an UL 7 (I recall it was closer to 0.5kg and had an R rating of about 7 ).

If I lost it I would buy another without hesitation. Not the lightest, smallest or cheapest option but I'm happy with the compromises in those areas for the comfort and warmth.

Packing - fold into 3, roll up into bag. Provided stuff sack works well (not like some where it's a wrestle to get the mat back in). Always use the schnozzle bag it came with which I've found to be brilliant. Have seen others complain it's weak / thin but not a problem IME.

I've the Synmat Winterlite 7 M which is the mummy shaped version of the Synmat.

Easy enough to use, but after my first test inflation at home I noticed a damp patch about 30cm from the valve where the moisture in my breath had condensed so it's worth getting and budgeting for the Schnozzle inflator bag. The Downmat comes with the Schnozzle bag.

The supplied stuff bag is more than big enough - usually you struggle to get an item back in its bag but I can easily get it back in along with the Schnozzle. I pack it as it came, fold in three length ways then roll up

Can't comment on the durability as I've only used it for a few nights (it's my winter mat), size wise the M is a bit narrow for me so possibly should have gone for the MW but I haven't rolled off it yet! Definitely comfy, don't inflate it so that it's rock hard as there are instances where people have reported the welds between the cells fails and over inflating seems to be at least part of the cause.

I think there are several threads here about mats but they might not have "sleeping mat" in their title.

I have a couple. Most used is Synmat UL7.

I roll mine without folding, then roll the resulting sausage into a 'ball' and stuff it straight into my dry bag. They're actually comfier when slightly under-inflated which would push me towards a 7 rather than a 5.

Without doubt, add a Schnozzle bag to your order no matter which mat you get, they make life so much easier.

I just bought a UL7 and I have to say that I'm quite impressed with it. I definitely need to order a pump bag for it though (this'll be useful as I hate getting air trapped in my dry bags too).

Richard G wrote: (this'll be useful as I hate getting air trapped in my dry bags too).

Have you tried stuff sacs with an Event panel? I find them handy for down bags if I want to really drive the air out and minimise volume. However, I often do what Stu mentions, ram it "loose" into the bigger sack with other stuff, lets it conform to smaller voids, corners etc.

just got a ul7 from millets on line only not instores £70 for a medium best bit of kit iv,e bought for a while comfortable and easy to inflate with the schnozzle bag but I had to buy that elsewhere.

has anyone had any experience with these mats??? http://www.windcatchergear.com/

has anyone had any experience with these mats??? http://www.windcatchergear.com/

No ... looks very clever, although it appears not to contain any insulation or baffles, so is basically a 4" thick lilo.

Aye, and an Expensive lilo too

For the same price you can probably find a thermarest Neoair xtherm. I waited and got one on ebay for £100. It is comfy, really warm and has no down inside to risk getting damp (which is mainly why I chose it over the exped ones). It packs very small for a full sized mat and is one of the lightest I think.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:

has anyone had any experience with these mats??? http://www.windcatchergear.com/

No ... looks very clever, although it appears not to contain any insulation or baffles, so is basically a 4" thick lilo.

which weighs 840g!

[quote="ianfitz]
which weighs 840g![/quote]

still lighter than me Alpkit dirtbag

Lawmanmx wrote:[quote="ianfitz]
which weighs 840g!

still lighter than me Alpkit dirtbag [/quote][/quote]

They are really comfy though

Has anyone used the Alpkit Numo? I'm looking for a new mat but I was made redundant recently so I'm on a tight budget.

Some further thoughts.

As I said above, I've the Synmat Winterlite M. This is fine for me as I turn in my sleep rather than roll - I think this is as a result of sleeping on Alpine ledges The MW might be better if you need a bit more "wiggle room". The 'W' versions are about 13cm wider and add about 10% weight and pack volume. There's not much price difference between the rectangular Synmat and the mummy shaped Winterlite version but the Winterlite is nearly half the weight of the rectangular version.

I got mine from here http://www.downsleepingbag.co.uk/sleepi ... -Mats.html if you add £20 - £25 for the Schnozzle pumpbag you'll bet a better comparison between the Synmat and the Downmat. It seems that that seller is out of stock of most models.

I did consider the Neoair xlite but was wary because of the tales of its noise. On a pre-xmas shopping trip in Leeds last December I fondled one (ooh-err missus!) in the shop and got deafened So it seems as if the tales are true.

Unless you have need for another dry bag (or money is no object) I wouldn't bother with the snozzle pump bag as you can make one for a few pence with a standard pedal bin bag and use a drilled out wine Cork (foam or plastic variety). This was a handy tip I got from BPL forums a few years back (I think someone has since posted the same thing in the diy forum here)

Bearbonesnorm wrote:
Without doubt, add a Schnozzle bag to your order no matter which mat you get, they make life so much easier.

I don't spend £25 on tyre pump!