I'm doing a section of the PCT this year. Over the years I have worked out my week trips and have come to a 13 pound base weight and an equal amount of consumables. I like my system and it has worked well over the years except now that I am getting old (very old) I want something more comfortable than my 9 ounce (20x 48 i think) closed cell foam
Ridgerest pad. Is there a pad or mattress near 9 ounces that is more comfortable? I have an older Thermorest self inflating pad, but at 24 ounces I find it unreasonably heavy.

You've seen the Neoair right? Kooka Bay pads. X inertia or whatever that thing is called

I'm a big Neo Air fan. Relatively warm and very light. Extremely comfortable for this side sleeper (I also toss & turn).

A GG Thinlight underneath helps keep some of our mids at ease for enhanced durabiliity, but I haven't had an issue w/durability.

Kooka Bay certainly has some options...

60x20x2.5 Mummy 10.2oz
46x20x2.5" Rectangular 9.6oz

For synthetic insulation of an R value of 4, add 2 oz to those values. Otherwise, R value is around 1, which won't likely cut it if it's chilly.

I second the NeoAir. I sleep relatively cold, and found this to be quite comfortable. I'm a side/stomach sleeper, with some thrashing thrown in, and the only thing I found a little awkward was that it was more narrow than I was expecting. Otherwise, it is worth it, and your basic ultralighter won't have any issue with durability--most folks with ultralight stuff are more careful about thrashing their stuff, I think.

Jim,

I hear you about it getting harder to sleep on the ground as you get older. It got so I felt like I'd been beaten all over with a baseball bat when I got up in the morning. I used to use a closed cell pad, then I went to 1/2 length Therma-rest ultralight. Now I have a Big Agnes insulated mummy pad -- I got it with my free points when I bought a bag at Moontrail. It is not ultralight, but it is super-comfortable. It handles cold weather very well (it's insulated). Most importantly, it allows me to camp comfortably without paying too high a price in weight. By geting a much lighter sleeping bag, I came still out ahead weight-wise with this pad.

Another vote for the NEO Air! I'm mid-forties and suffer from a bad lower back. I switched from a regular old ThermaRest to an air matress a few years back--my first one was an Exped Down Mat, but I hate the filling process which requires using the stuff sack for an air pump--you cannot mix the moisture of you breath with the down filling. Just purchased a NEO Air a few weeks back and took it on a five day trip--WONDERFUL! Easy to inflate, incredibly light, and plenty warm for me on nights that dipped below freezing and put a skim of ice in the water bottles! My maion concern with it is how rugged it is--seems awfuklly thin and potentiually prone to easy puncture...

For slightly insulated pads, there's the POE Peak Elite AC and the Nemo Zor. Both are new, about 14 ounces, $90 and difficult to buy.

Edited by leaftye on 03/24/2011 14:03:25 MDT.

The neoair is great, but the issue with the small one that would get you around the 9oz you mentioned is that I find the 2.5 inch thickness is uncomfortable for my legs as they hang off the end....and to a lesser extent my arms hanging off the sides. For me, it's the large (with the extra 5" of width) or no neoair. For lighter trips when the 19oz large neoair is too much, I recently bought a small Prolite. It's about 11oz, still pretty comfortable and is only an inch thick so the hanging arms and legs issue isn't too bad, making it more comfortable for me overall. It also seems like it is a little more durable, but I haven't had any issues with the durability of the neoair. Cheaper as well.

Edited by csteutterman on 03/24/2011 14:29:30 MDT.

I had not seen the Kooka Bay pads. at 9.63 ounces that sounds like just what I was looking for. The Kooka Bay is weighs only 60% of the 16 ounce NeoAir. the KB also costs less....best of both worlds! Thanks for putting me on to that. I think I may be a convert to air mattresses. They seem to have evolved since I first looked at them decades ago: Lighter, and more dependable.

@ Jim - Old? I thought you were dead.

As for a pad for your bones, I would heartily recommend a Kooka Bay Down Air Mattress. You will be happy to have the insulation on cool ground and your sleep system works more efficiently with uncompressed down underneath you. So, pick a pad size and then ask Bender to put enough down in for at least R4, depending on your pursuits.

Re: Kooka Bay - For anything R4 or less, I'd consider going synthetic. R4 synthetic for a standardish sized pad only adds 2.0 oz, is cheaper, and less sensitive to moisture than down. Down would pack smaller, though. Not sure what down adds, but considering relative warmth it would still have to add 1-2 oz over an uninsulated pad.