Sleeping pad – tips and recommendations

Camping is one of the most exciting ways to spend time outdoors, at best even in the great outdoors. Here humans are exposed to environmental influences relatively unprotected and must adapt to them. Nevertheless, the modern technology offers ways to make the stay outdoors more pleasant. While most of the time weatherproof, warm clothing and at least a protective during the day tentsuffice, further precautions have to be taken at night so that the camping is fun and does not turn into an agony. Almost everywhere in the world, but certainly in Central Europe, temperatures drop mostly very sharply at night, while the humidity increases. As a result, a significantly better protection against the weather is essential, as these conditions lead to greater cooling of the body. To prevent this, the best protection against these climatic conditions is one sleeping pad to use as a base for sleeping.

The meaning of sleeping pad

In the open air, it depends on the best possible equipment that you can get to spend the time outdoors as pleasant as possible. Many people who want to camp therefore think of first-class clothes, a large, easy-to-build and high-quality tent, a good one Sleeping bagfor the night and some technical amenities of civilization. Most people are unaware that this is not enough equipment. Especially at night shows the biggest vulnerability of the entire equipment. While the tent maintains a relatively comfortable air temperature and protects clothing as well as sleeping bag in addition to the cold air, especially inexperienced campers must quickly see that they have a sleeping pad is missing. This has two functions that the rest of the equipment can not meet. Both the clothing and the sleeping bag are filled with down, or similar, very voluminous and soft materials that form a thick, insulating layer of air between the body and the environment. The disadvantage of these materials, however, is that they can be easily pushed together, thereby escaping the protective air cushion from their interstices. This happens especially at night, if you want to lie down to sleep. As a result, two problems arise. Firstly, there is no insulation against the cold ground and the body loses a lot of heat in this direction, as no warmer air from the tent can get under the body. On the other hand, the material thickness down to very low and you can feel ultimately the smallest unevenness of the hard floor. A sleeping pad It is made of solid material, which prevents these two problems by acting as a barrier to the bumps and low temperatures of the soil.

The right sleeping pad

So that the mattress can actually fulfill the desired purpose, the highest quality must be taken into account when looking for the right model. There are inflatable models, mattresses filled with artificial fibers or down, especially light foam mats and, as an alternative, air mattresses can also be used. Only a combination of inflatable mattresses with individual foam elements should be avoided, as they fulfill their tasks only inadequately. Important criteria in the selection are the strength of the mattress, the lying surface and, in some cases, their weight. Which model is the right one for you, depends in particular on your own sleep habits, the demands and the particular situation. Therefore, it is difficult to give a universal recommendation that fully meets every requirement. In an external test, the Therm-a-Rest – NeoAir Xtherm sleeping pad was declared the winner. It has a lying area of ​​191×61 cm in size L and has a weight of 570 g.