Well my Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad finally developed a leak so it was time to start looking for a replacement.  I like this pad because it’s very comfortable, although a little heavy.  I don’t recall ever feeling the warmth being pulled from me even when the temperature got down in the teens so I’m really disappointed in this development.  Now, I’m a side sleeper so on occasion I do bottom out when I first roll onto my side but it’s only for a second.

So I tested it by way of the easy water test which involves blowing it up at home and then wiping it with a wet cloth and hoping bubbles would be visible where the hole was located.  Either that or maybe I could hear it whistling through the water.  No-go so I went to the full-on serious water test which involves filling the bath tub with water and dunking different sections of the pad in and looking for the bubbles.  Well, I found it after the first dunk, located on the top down by where my feet would be located.  Let the patching begin!  I didn’t find any other holes yet so hopefully that’s the only one.

The only good thing about this development is that it gives me an excuse to try out some new gear because god forbid I get caught out in the bush with a sleeping pad that doesn’t hold air, haha!  Which is funny because growing up I would scoff at someone who used an air mattress.  It was always just me, the sleeping bag and the either the ground or a tent.  But, I guess I’m getting older and my age tells my body I must get more comfortable so I have to listen or be sore the next day.

 

I’ve been eyeballing some of the Exped sleeping pads and they look pretty nice.  In fact, I was camping in Grayson Highlands State Park on the weekend of 1/4/15 through 1/6/15 and two of my camp mates happened to have Exped mats.  The one even had the built-in hand pump which I thought was very cool.  Normally I would have never known this but we were all staying in a shelter so I got to see their mats firsthand.  I haven’t had much experience with Exped gear so this gave me the chance to check it out.  It appeared to be really nice gear that was very well made and I was really digging the whole hand pump thing.  Low and behold it’s like it was fate because not a week later I was looking for a replacement for the air core.  I considered getting another Big Agnes sleeping pad but I also wanted to explore another brand and see what else was out there.  Plus, I read some reviews on my air core and they mentioned that the valve leaks and all of that jazz which I never had an issue with but that’s all I needed to start seriously looking at the Exped line of pads.

 

I started doing my research this past week and took a look at the Big Agnes sleeping pads and the Thermarest sleeping pads but kept coming back to the Exped line of sleeping pads.   I liked the price and weight plus I really want to try out this hand pump thing.  If you backpack enough with sleeping pads you welcome any sort of innovation that actually blows up the pad for you.  Once I got to looking at the them though I realized the models I wanted would be ultra-light and so wouldn’t be equipped with the hand pump because the material isn’t robust enough.  This was a slight bummer until I discovered that you could purchase the Exped small foot/hand pump that was fairly inexpensive and very light.  Although it isn’t integrated into the pad, it would still eliminate having to blow the thing up by mouth.  So I narrowed it down between the Exped Downmat Lite 5 and the Exped Synmat UL 9 sleeping pads.

I went with the Exped Synmat UL 9 sleeping pad for the additional R value and extra cushion because I’m a fairly big person (about 230 pounds) and I’m not sure if the Downmat Lite 5 would give me enough cushion to keep me from bottoming out when I turn on my side.  It took a lot of back-and-forth to come to this decision but I think I made the right one because I really like the fact that it’s very thick and light to boot.

 

The only concern I have is that I’ll need to be a little more careful with this pad than any of my other pads because the material in the UL 9 is ultra light and therefore, must be handled with care.  I take good care of my gear so I think I’ll be okay.  I try to always keep my sleeping pads off the ground and if I’m sleeping in a shelter or cabin I will put a ground cloth of some sort under it to protect it.  I’m willing to give this Synmat UL 9 a shot because if it works out it will be a great thing.

 

I received the pad on 1/15/15 and blew it up so I could see how well it would hold air overnight.  Upon first removing it from the package I can definitely notice the material and how thin it is compared to my Big Agnes Air Core and Thermarest Trekker.  The material felt a little crinkly when I first unrolled it from the stuff sack but totally transformed into a super thick cushion of goodness once it was fully inflated. This thing is simply amazing!  One thing I was totally impressed with is the fact that the inflation valve has a built in flap that acts like a check valve.  This is great because I don’t have to worry about the air evacuating between breaths and I could actually take my time while blowing it up.  I laid it next to my Air Core once I had them both inflated and I was amazed.  This UL 9 made the Air Core look like a pancake when I set them next to each other.  And when I laid down on it to test it I couldn’t believe it.  Not that my air core is some super sleeping pad but it has a pretty good size to weight ratio compared to a lot of pads.  But this UL 9 is going to be like taking a pillow top to the backcountry.

 

I tested my Exped Mini Pump out with this mattress at home on 1/16/15 and it worked pretty well.  It folds up very small into it’s own stuff sack which is about the size of a large egg so it’s very compact.  Due to it being compressed to a very small size in the stuff sack it takes around a minute for it to expand to where it could be used to inflate.  Using it as a hand pump was okay, but a bit awkward.  However, using it as a foot pump was quite impressive because although it starts out slowly, once it starts to inflate a little it isn’t long until you’re at full inflation.  And, if you have a good music beat it goes perfectly because all you do is tap your foot, haha!  Now, I’m not sure how durable this little pump is but I can’t wait to put it to the test and find out.  Exped also makes two other types of pump to inflate these UL air mattresses which are the Exped Schnozzel Pumpbag and the Exped Pillow Pump.  The pillow pump looks nice but from what I understand the Schnozzel pumpbag pumps the air mattresses up in like no-time!  I have a feeling that will be my next purchase.

 

IN-FIELD FIRST TIME USE WITH EXPED SYNMAT UL9 GRAYSON HIGHLANDS….

On 1/23/15 I Hiked from Max Patch to Hot Springs on the AT and was able to test out my new Exped Synmat UL9.  The first night was spent in a tent and it worked flawlessly from beginning to end.

When we got to our campsite the winds were cranking and blowing freezing rain so we were all in a bit of a hurry.  We had to put our tents up in the rain and anyone who has done this knows that it’s hard to keep everything dry.  Well, my Synmat ended up getting a little wet but it didn’t soak up to much moisture and even when it did get wet in a few different spots it wasn’t too bad because of the material being ultra-light.

The inflation process went very fast and impressed me in the time it took to go from deflated to totally inflated.  I blew it up by lungs because I was stuck inside the tent and didn’t feel like I had ample room to properly operate with the mini pump.  It was much quicker than my Air Core pad.

Both nights the temperature got down in the low 20’s and it actually may have dipped just below 20 on Saturday night but the Synmat kept me toasty all night long.  And not one time did I bottom out during the entire weekend with my Synmat.  This pad is nothing but ultra-light pure luxury and I almost feel guilty when I take it but I think I’ll get over it.

Second use of Synmat UL9…Max Patch to Hot Springs along the Appalachian Trail..1/23/15 – 1/25/15

Okay so I got another opportunity to utilize my Synmat UL9 on another backpack trip and it performed flawlessly.  The first night I camped in my tent next to the Walnut Mountain Shelter which happened to be fairly full on that evening.  We had to set our tents up in the dark on a gap where the wind was relentless and literally blowing freezing rain sideways.  My Synmat UL9 inadvertently got wet because everything was wet.  But it didn’t matter too much because the instant I laid down on it the insulation started doing its job and my back immediately warmed up.  That was probably one of the toughest nights I’ve spent in the woods because I was cold and wet but I’m thankful for the equipment I had.  And my Synmat UL9 was a key component in keeping me warm and comfortable all night.

Needless to say I awoke the next morning to about five inches of snow on the ground and it was very cold.  I didn’t want to get out of my tent because it was so comfortable but in the end I did and we hiked all day in the snow.  The next night was dry but cold and the Synmat UL9 did a fantastic job again.  Great stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

Anything beats blowing these air mattresses up by lungs and getting light-headed because when I get done hiking ten or so miles I want to relax and not get winded again.

 

I’ll get a chance to try this pad out on the weekend of 1/23/15 because some friends and I are going to start at Max Patch and hike the Appalachian Trail to Hot Springs.  This will all take place in North Carolina so it will be a lot of fun because just about any hiking in North Carolina is awesome.