A review for you

I wandered into Backwoods the other day, and it happened again. I came home with backpacking gear that I had to justify to Philoboy. It just keeps happening. He's threatened to send me to Backpacker's Gear Anonymous meetings, but changed his mind when he saw how I lit up at the suggestion...

This time, the folks at Backwoods, (Jim, specifically. Let's place the blame where it's appropriately due) convinced me I needed  this Therm-a-rest sleeping pad. Needed, mind you, not wanted.

I bought it in size small, and I've used it twice now. Here's how it stacks up against my scrap piece of foam rubber that I used for years.

Therm-a-rest: air mattress. Inflates by lung power. Easy to inflate and deflate. Rolls up nice and tiny for my backpack (8x3). Pretty comfy. Holds its air, so far. Patch kit available if it doesn't. It's waterproof plastic-y material. Great when the tent's leaking. Foam rubber tends to soak up water like, well, a sponge.

I would suggest go straight for the regular, or even the large size. Even at a petite 5', I kept feeling like I was falling off the pad. You'll pay for it in weight though; the regular weighs half again as much, and the large twice as much as the small size. Sleeping pads aren't necessarily supposed  to be the same size as your sleeping bag. They should support and cushion you from shoulders to hips, so this should have been big enough. Lengthwise, it was. The width seemed a little scant, though.

Here's the downside, and in my book, it was a biggie. It's noisy. Every time I moved, turned, wiggled, or stretched, the pad crinkled, swished, and crackled. I am an extremely light sleeper, so I woke up every time I moved. It also scared away the wildlife that ventured near the tent.

Final scores:
                                        Therm-a-rest air mattress                 Foam eggcrate

Ease of set up                         4                                                  5
Weight                                   5    (9 oz)                                     3    (15 oz)
Pack size                                5   (8x3)                                      3  (10x6)
Waterproof                            5                                                  1
Cush for my tush factor          5                                                  5
Damage proof                        3                                                  4
Quiet factor                            2                                                  5
Price                                      2 ($129)                                       5  ($10)
Warmth factor                       5                                                   5

The foam beats the Therm-a-rest in 4 categories. The air mattress wins out in 3. They tie in cush and warmth. Bottom line is this: car camping, the foam pad wins every time. Kayak camping: depends on the weather. Backpacking, I'll bite the bullet, pay the price, suck up the sleeplessness, and take the Therm-a-rest. People will just have to deal with my tired grumpiness, because on the trail, weight and pack size win out every time.