My thanks to reader (Belle) for alerting me to the Exped Synmat HL Winter M (I had overlooked) which weighs 430 grams and has an R-rating of 5.0 at 183 cm long 52 wide (35 cm at the foot) and 9 thick. This weight includes a 60 gram bag to blow it up, but this also doubles as a pillow. There is also a lighter model (only 7 cm thick) with a lesser R-rating which weighs 365 grams (mat only).
This is an awesome pad. I only need a mat to be 5’6′ long, so I could cut this down to approx 394 grams (334 for the lighter version) .This is serious competition for the Thermarest X-Therm that’s for sure! (Roughly the same weight, slightly lower R-rating ie 5/5.7, but over 1″ thicker)
I bought mine online from Tom’s Outdoors in Tumut NSW for A259.95. Very good service.
Update: I have been using it for every expedition for a couple of years. It has even been nearly to Everest and back with me. It is the most comfortable and warmest mat I have ever owned. I admit I have been blowing it up by mouth (to save the 60 gram bag!) but I do thoroughly dry it out on a sunny verandah when I come home – with the valve open.
I suppose this may shorten its life but I have abused other mats (such as my old Big Agnes’ Insulated Air Cores) in the past in the same way for years without any seeming problems. I probably wouldn’t do this with a down filled mat though as there would be nothing you could do about down clumping inside it. I also own the Exped Down mats which are brilliant for winter (car) camping.
I have used it without any problems for several years with my Cyclone Chair and now with my Nano Chair. It gets me several inches off the cold hard ground with back support on a winter’s evening. I thoroughly recommend this sleeping mat. It is the best I have found so far, and as you will see from this post Mattresses I have Known I have tried a lot over the years.
On a recent expedition my dogs managed to get into a savage tussle on top of it and ripped a 3′ (75 cm) tear in it which I repaired with a single piece of cuben tape and immediately lay/sat on it. This is probably the best repair method for mats. My puppy spot extensively chewed my Neoair Women’s mat seven years ago. After a single cuben tape repair it has been going strong without trouble ever since.
Here is a photo of the repair against my Jelly 2 phone for comparison. :
Apparently this mat has a five years manufacturer’s warranty – outstanding!
It also comes in a wider configuration the SynMat HL Winter MW 65 cm at the chest and 42 at the foot and 545 grams. This would come down to approx 500 grams at 5’6″.
http://www.exped.com/australia/en/product-category/mats/synmat-hl-winter-m
http://www.exped.com/australia/en/product-category/mats/synmat-hl-winter-mw
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