Sleeping pad ideas

[HappyHiker]

The most comfortable type of pad I have found is made of minicel foam, and I believe evazote is very similar (but I have no experience with it personally). It is a very light/soft foam, prone to damage easily but conforms well and minimizes the buckling issues I have found with stiffer foams. The REI blue pads used to be made out of this material, not sure if they still are.

[Catavarie]

Anyone tried that "Insulbrite" stuff? It's some sort of reflective yet breathable batting i think. Its seems to be used to insulate lunch bags and the like. I don't know much about it. I wonder how it does if compressed. But the breath-ability is intriguing.

Insulbrite is a fleece with a reflective mylar layer in the middle. I've tried it as a layer inside of my fleece UQ and it added maybe 10 degrees itself. It is quite breathable though, even the lightest breeze will flow straight through it robbing it of all it's heat. I wouldn't recommend as a pad, but a few people have had some measure of success with it when used with a PLUQ, either between the layers of the PLUQ or between the PLUQ and the hammock.

Wallyworld also sells a waffle patterned blue pad that is 24" wide and sells for about $12. Weights 15 oz

Not all Wal-Marts carry these. I've yet to find one at a Wal-Mart in my area and I've been to at least a dozen different stores.


Another option is to cut a yoga mat to make wings to use with a CCF pad. Wal-mart sells yoga mats for around $15.

[nothermark]

i checked their web site, It looks like the foam pads are no longer listed. i hope this is a seasonal thing!

[nothermark]

I believe the blue foam is Volara foam. It's used by the flooring industry as sound deadening and packaging industry as padding. It comes in 60 in rolls and several thicknesses and 2 weights. It might be worth checking with folks in your area to see if anybody can sell you a chunk. A 3 ft roll end might be scrap.

[PoundTown]

I am an avid winter camper from NC but the temperatures still get down to 0 with wind chill and I have never woken up from being "chilly". I was at a garage sale about 2 yrs ago and picked up this old "egg crate" sleeping pad with thin rubbery back. Its a little wider than most sleeping pads but works great in a hammock. The egg crate holds me in place all night and the rubbery bottom holds to the nylon of the hammock. And because its wider than a normal pad it comes up around my shoulders when i sleep. I'm 6' 3".