Sleeping Pads

Description

I go over different types of Sleeping Pads & what works best for me on different types of trails.

Music By: Thunder/Dreamer

facebook.com/thunderdreamerband

Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,Thru Hike,Backpacking,Sleeping Pads,Hiking,ThermaRest,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT,Backpacking Gear

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here today to do another video talking about different types of sleeping pads on the different types of trails and what's worked best for me

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alright guys so there's a lot of different types of sleeping pads out there I just kind of wanted to make a video today talking about the different types on different types of trails and what I've used throughout my hiking career and what I'm currently using so in 2015 when snuggles and I set out to do the 80 for the first time the pad that I started with was a big agnes q core SL it was a great pad it was about three and a half inches thick it was a fully inflatable pad which means that you have to blow it up at the end of the day but I got great sleep on it the problem that I had with it is it had a super leaky valve so I would pump it up whenever I got to camp and throughout the night while I was sleeping it would slowly lose air and I'd wake up on the ground after switching that pad out a couple times in getting replacements for it finally I decided to ditch it and go with the pad that I'm currently using and what I used in 2016 on the Appalachian Trail and that is the therm-a-rest NeoAir x-lite super popular pad you'll see these a lot on the trail this pad weighs in at 16 ounces for a large and is a three-inch thick pad I really really love this thing it packs down really tiny and it's super comfortable throughout the night especially if you're a side sleeper so I am a side sleeper and like I said it gives you about three inches thick of pad as you can see it packs down pretty small gets pretty slender the reason some people don't want to go with the pad like this is at the end of a long day of hiking they don't want to have to sit there and blow it up I never really had that big of a problem sometimes it was kind of a pain but most of the time I was willing to do it to get that extra comfort at night the other thing that people don't really like about this pad and what you should keep in mind if you do decide to go with a pad like this is it's very loud especially when it's fully blown up it kind of sounds crinkly and crunchy so if you're sleeping in a shelter at night and you're on a wood floor and you toss and turn a lot it's going to make a lot of noise some people get kind of annoyed with that so definitely keep that in mind now another type of pad that you can go with is something like a closed cell foam pad this is the pad that snuggles used for her 2015

in 2016 9 this is the therm-a-rest Z light Sol pad this guy weighs in it 15 ounces is about an inch thick and is super easy to roll out when you get to camp so the good thing about a pad like this you can just kind of throw it out some of the downfalls of a pad like this are number one you can see it's kind of big and it doesn't break down any smaller than that snuggles actually had to kind of fold hers out like this and then strap it to the back of her pack some people carry it on the bottom of their pack some people carry it on the top of their pack but it doesn't get down and pack down as small as something like a thermo rest so definitely keep that in mind the other thing is if you are a side sleeper like I am it's only about an inch thick so it's definitely a pad that's better for people that lay on their side the other good thing about a pad like this and it's actually well I'll be using it for about 700 miles on my PCT through hike is whenever you're hiking in the desert there's a lot of thorns from cactuses there's also something called a goat head if you don't know what a goat head is definitely look that up they are the devil especially when it comes to riding a bike or camping in the backcountry in the desert so inflatable pads like my thermo rest definitely get popped easy because of thorns and stuff so using something like a closed cell foam pad is definitely a better option so in 2018 when I hike the PCT I'll be using one of these for the first seven hundred miles and then when I get to Kennedy Meadows I'll be switching over to my fully inflatable pad to get better sleep throughout the rest of the trail now the third type of pad that you can use and what I started using when I first started backpacking is what's called a self inflating pad it's very similar to a fully inflatable pad however inside of it it actually has foam so the whole idea is whenever you open the valve to it it sucks air in and lets that foam blow it up now this is a nemo or a 25 liter ultralight

it comes in at thirty three point four ounces and again is a self inflating now usually any time I've ever had one of these even if you let it sit for a couple hours and suck all the air in you still need to blow in the valve a little bit to get it a little bit thicker this guy is only one and a half inch thick so not much thicker than the closed cell foam pad and definitely not as thick as the fully inflatable pad and as you can see it is a little bit bigger a little bit bulkier which is kind of why I switched off of these they are great because if you're hiking in the desert you don't have to worry about something puncturing it and it deflating it's also not loud and crunchy like the therm-a-rest NeoAir but again it is bigger it's bulkier it's heavier and one thing that I did see people using one of these on a trail like the Appalachian Trail is if they had it on the outside of the pack and it rained that foam actually collects water and it becomes much heavier and it's super hard to dry out so something to think about if you're hiking on the East Coast or something a pad like this that if it does get wet it will absorb a lot of water it will take a lot of dry out so definitely keep that in mind alright guys so hopefully this video helps you kind of see the different types of pads for the different types of trails and what you can use what are you currently using leave me a comment in the comment box below and tell me where you're currently rocking on the trail maybe there's something out there that I don't know about yet that I should definitely check out if you haven't got to change it go over and check me out on Instagram I post a lot of new photos throughout the week of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on and previews of videos that I'll be releasing every Thursday go ahead and light or dislike this video subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music]

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