Sleeping Pads

When planning for a comfortable night’s sleep, selecting the right sleeping pad is going to make a big difference. While sleeping pads provide a softer surface than the hard ground, the most important thing they do is provide insulation between you and the earth below. Sleeping pads are assigned an insulation rating called the R-value, where the higher the R-value the more the insulation.
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There are two main types of sleeping pads - ones that need to be inflated and ones that do not.  A general rule of thumb is that the inflated pads have a higher R-Value but you have a greater risk of product failure due to puncture.

Recommended Sleeping Pads

Them-a-Rest NeoAir XLite - Womens (3.9 R-Value / $160 / 12oz)

A great R-value at an outstanding weight, the NeoAir XLite is hands down our top recommendation for any backpacker, of any gender.  Because women tend to sleep colder, the women’s version has a higher R-Value than the men’s while weighing only slightly more.  We will take that tradeoff any day. At 66in. long, the women’s is shorter the the men’s regular size.  For tall people the men’s size does come in 72 and 77 in, or also consider just sleeping with your feet on top of your backpack, a common lightweight strategy to purposely use just a torso length pad.

Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol (2.6 R-Value / $45 / 14oz)

Perfect for the beginning backpacker and the experienced alike, the Z Lite Sol does not let you down (until you try snow camping and any part of your body in contact with the ground becomes numb with cold).  But seriously, this pad is awesome!  A great price and weight, it fits best on the outside of your pack and is very convenient to have around a campsite to double as a seat.  We suggest buying the regular size and then cutting off extra length to reduce the weight even more.