I just got a reply from CampSaver saying they expect to have the Xtherm in stock "within a month or two". A bit later than I was hoping for but still not too far away.

The original neo air without the taper gets quite crowded in the toe box or most bivy's resulting in crushing the insulation decreasing its thermal protection. The tapered design should allow a better fit and warmer toes!

Yeah i asked a rei staff when they think they will get the new neoairs in and he said maybe around March as well...I guess I will wait...

Given the timing, it sounds like a good thing to spent an REI dividend on.

FYI REI does have the Xlite's in stock now

"FYI REI does have the Xlite's in stock now"

It's not on their website, did you see one in a store somewhere?

Our local REI store (SF Bay area) had today the Xlite in regular and large in store.

You can get the Xlite from the Cascade Designs website:

Xlite at Cascade Designs

I checked out a large one at my local REI and it was $180.00 WOW! I need to sell some of my gear first to justify a new purchase.

I have been excitedly awaiting this seemingly amazing piece of gear. Google searches yield little results, and hardly any reviews.

Until I finally have it and go out and use it...who's got it, who's used it, what's the story?!

EDIT: The Xlite I mean. I'd be interested in hearing about the Xtherm too.

Edited by PrimeZombie on 01/30/2012 15:40:27 MST.

I owned the Neoair All-Seasons and it was noticeably warm, warm to touch, the feeling of your own heat radiating back was very clear.
I'm sure a little tweak for the Xtherm is real.

Roughly, relatively packed volume follows relative weight. The All-Seasons was quite a packed size, I expect the Xtherm to be about 15% smaller to match the weight savings.

I came home yesterday happy to find a package waiting for me with my reg. Neoair Xlite. On my scale with stuff sack (which I plan on using) it's 375g (13.23oz).

I blew it up and laid on it for about 15 min and very comfy. I don't know what all the fuss is about the noise it makes. This is my first Neoair (and boy am I glad I was patient and waited for the Xlite), so I don't know of the old Neoair is louder, but it's really not that bad.

I could feel the warmth under me big time. I tested it in my un-heated storage room to try and mimic what it would feel like in the field (it's about 10C in there). Every part of me that touched the pad was warm. And very comfy too. I have never tried horizontal baffles before, and must say I think I might just prefer them.

Also had lots of room for my head/feet. I am 6ft tall (183cm). On my POE Peak Oyl Lite, my feet hang off the edge slightly, and that is a size reg.

I left it inflated overnight and no leaks. Not sure when I will test it out yet. I have an overnight trip planned for next weekend, but the temperatures have been around -6 to -10C at night. If on the night I go out it is under -5C, I will take my winter pad (Big Agnes IAC) to play it safe. Looking forward to the spring and fall, where I plan to put it to lots of use.

double post

Edited by PrimeZombie on 02/01/2012 03:42:11 MST.

"I don't know of the old Neoair is louder"

Theramrest revised the original NeoAir so it was less noisy. Some of the early ones (i.e. first couple months production) were pretty noisy and then they revised it and the crinkling when way down. Not too many people know this, which is why there are arguments over whether a NeoAir is noisy or not, but it's true. I recently had 3 NeoAir's here and the one was far louder than the other two. Still not a huge deal, but way louder.

What's the weight without the stuff sack ? Does it come close to the published specs ?

I was searching for the X-Therm and Cabelas has it in stock but the price is listed as the X-Lite price. I thought the X-Therm was gonna cost more than the X-Lite, do you think they have it listed wrong, I think I am going to call them tomorrow and see whats up. Here is the link for cabelas:

http://www.cabelas.com/sleeping-pads-therm-a-rest-neoair-8482-xtherm-1.shtml

That Cabela's link has the picture of the Xtherm. I think I would order first, ask questions later. If they send you an Xlite, then return it for a refund.

The Xtherm, ahead of these entering the stores, I'm going to challenge the relative packed size compared to the Xlite.

I bought and used the Xtherm's predecessor the All Seasons. It certainly was warm, and I could tell the fabric underneath quite robust, and I am sold on the method used by Therm-a-rest of the reflective material, it does radiate heat back, feels warm to touch and makes more viable to not use a bag in warmer conditions.

I was not sold on the packed size. I found it huge, much larger than the Neoair than Therm-a-rest state on the product literature. So roll forward to the successors, the Xlite and Xtherm. You'd think Xtherm is only 430g/350g 23% heavier and 9"x4" / 9"x4" so the same packed size, the relative weights might be true but I'm not so sure about the relative size. The thicker base material and the extra reflective layers is only 80g on a regular? No thicker rolled size?

We'll see when it all hits the shops in more stock and for it to enter the field.

Ordered an X-lite small paid $103, with free returns in 60days. I'm going to try the tricks of others, place my backpack under my feet and I'm going to use a rollmat under the groundsheet of the tent to protect groundsheet and add about R=2 to Xlite's R=3.2 above to get roughly R=5.2

So from my ownership and use of the All Seasons, relative to the Prolite I used before, the thickness of the mat creates a problem which is any pillow you make FALLS OFF easily. The answer is EITHER to go up a size so the mat is right up to the edge of your tent so the pillow can't fall off, or do a little DIY glue on some velcro patches to hold a pillow in place, or (what I'm doing) is doing the opposite, going for a shorter pad and place pillow on the tent floor where it can't fall off. When I laid all that out (pillow from neck upwards, pack from end of pad downwards) it ends up my full body, and the small mat is 8oz/230g.

FYI I did see the 50% discount on the older Neoairs, but I decided worth paying $40 more for the Xlite because of slightly more insulation but also of an undocumented problem with the Neoair (and All seasons) which is the valve is digging into you, its facing upwards, the Xlite/Xtherm its pointing horizontal, if you imagine a short pad that valve is in your neck/shoulder.

I was looking around and I see Xtherms on backorder and due in the next few days. I'm interested in comparing lite-size (e.g. small and small) Xlite vs Xtherm and see if the weights and packed sizes stated are correct.

Edited by nigelhealy on 02/02/2012 22:51:54 MST.

Online manufacturer's figures. So the Xlite has small 20x47 230g ,reg 20x66 350g, large 25x77 460g. The Xtherm has small 20x47 310g,med 20x66 410g, reg 20x72 430g,large 25x77 640g.

These figures must be rounded up/down to whole numbers, as they don't make any sense as stated. Comparing these where they have the same size, the weight ratio varies between 1.29x to 1.39x.
Surely adding 6" from med to reg adding 10% more length should add roughly 10% more weight so a 40g difference and not a 20g difference?

link?