Honest, field-minded reviews of outdoor and safety gear.
The Exped MegaMat is a one-person self-inflating foam mattress, 4 inches (10 cm) thick with an R-value of 8.1. Too heavy to carry far and priced at a premium, it is the pad for car campers who want to sleep the way they do at home.
The Exped MegaMat Duo is a self-inflating foam mattress for two: 4 inches (10 cm) thick, flat to the edges and warm enough for winter. It is heavy, bulky and costly, and for car camping it is the most comfortable bed we know.
When you start backpacking in earnest, the weight and bulk of a budget synthetic bag begins to matter, and that is when most hikers make their first jump to down. The Kelty Cosmic 20 has been that first down bag for a generation of backpackers: warm, compressible, and priced so the upgrade does not hurt….
Once you start counting ounces and caring about a good night’s sleep, the sleeping pad becomes one of the most important, and most personal. Pieces of gear you carry. The Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT is the pad committed backpackers keep coming back to: three inches (7.6 cm) of insulated air that packs to the size…
