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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Pads and Air Mattresses > POE Hyper High Mountain Sleeping Pad > Test Report by Edward Ripley-DugganPACIFIC OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT HYPER
HIGH MTN SLEEPING PAD CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE INITIAL REPORT TESTER INFORMATION
I enjoy walking in all its forms, from a simple stroll in the woods to multi-day backpack excursions. Though by no means an extreme ultra-light enthusiast, from spring to fall my preference is to carry a pack weight (before food and water) of 12 lb (5.5 kg), more or less. In recent years, I've rapidly moved to a philosophy of "lighter is better," within the constraints of budget and common sense. PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS Manufacturer: Pacific Outdoor Equipment (henceforth P.O.E.) Year of Manufacture: 2007 Manufacturer's Website: http://www.pacoutdoor.com/ MSRP: $165 US Size: Regular Color: Mandarin Listed Weight: 24.7 oz (700 g) Measured Weight: 25 oz (709 g) [weighed on Homs professional postal scale, analog] Weight with storage sack (including repair kit): 26.5 oz (751 g) Dimensions (from website and carry-sack): 20" x 72" x 1.5" (51 x 183 x 3.8 cm) Dimensions confirmed: 20" x 72" (51 x 183 cm). Thickness is variable over the mat, especially the inflatable section, and I did not attempt to confirm this measurement. Dimensions rolled in storage sack (my measurements): cylinder, 20" (53 cm) length, 7.5" (19 cm) diameter Storage sack: black nylon mesh, with compartment in base containing two patches for the inflatable portion (black and red) together with adhesive. These are contained in a plastic bag. Instructions for repair (simple, and easily accomplished in the field) are included on an enclosed card. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS Packaging notes
The pad arrived safely, in the mesh storage sack, protected with a plain plastic wrapper. There was no hang tag present, nor other literature. I called P.O.E. to inquire about this. It seems that this was part of a batch reserved as samples for testers, and no hang tags had been attached. The commercially distributed product does have one. An example of the tag is en route to me. My understanding is that there is no difference between what I received and what is generally available, other than the hang tag. Update, April 12 2007: Pacific Outdoor Equipment kindly sent me the original retail wrapping materials. The mat comes in a printed plastic sleeve, with text in French and English. The description of the product on the sleeve includes the fact that the valve is made of hard anodized aluminum, that the foams are treated to prevent fungus and bacteria, and that the mat has a DWR finish. It also discusses the aerogel core of the pad, and the stuff-sack and repair kit. It appears there is no hang tag. Warranty "All Insulmat and WXtex products are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for the lifetime of the product. Should at any time you find one of these rare defects, we will repair or replace the product at our option. We'd much rather keep our gear out of the landfill and in service. If a product should develop a problem as a result of normal wear and tear, misuse, alterations, or a random act of Murphy, we would be happy to provide an estimate and help you repair your gear at a reasonable cost. If an issue should arise with one of our products, please contact our warranty department at (406)-586 5258 support@pacoutdoor.com for further assistance and shipping instructions." Features, Design and Impressions Little information is given on the P.O.E. site regarding the materials and construction of the Hyper High Mtn pad. What is provided indicates that there is an Aspen Aerogel insulation layer under the torso and feet, and that the pad is otherwise constructed of "light and warm PE + 13mm EVA foam." Also stated is that the pad is trimmed to a mummy shape for weight savings. A little elucidation is probably in order here. The exciting feature of this P.O.E. product is that it is, to the best of my knowledge, the first application of aerogel technology to a sleeping pad. Indeed, I'm not aware of the application of aerogels to any other recreational outdoor products but insoles, as of this time. Since a technical treatise isn't called for here, it's enough to say that aerogels are a material initially developed in the aerospace industry, primarily as an insulator. Despite the "gel" in the name, they are in fact solids, albeit incredibly light ones. Indeed, aerogels are considered to be the single most effective solid-phase material for thermal insulation. Unlike most such materials used in outdoor pursuits, their insulating ability is not dependent on loft. The downside is that they are not easy to work with, and that their fine fibrous nature makes inhalation inadvisablefor safe use, the aerogel must be carefully encapsulated. Here, it is in some manner sandwiched between the layers of EVA (the plastic ethyl vinyl acetate). Therefore, home modification of this pad would be a very poor idea! The base of the pad is a red EVA layer, imprinted with the P.O.E. and Aspen Aerogel names, writ large. The upper (sleeping) surface is of black PE (polyethylene), with a pattern of diamond-shaped cut-outs (the firm calls this their "Diamondback" surface), presumably for weight reduction and perhaps also to act as reservoirs of warm, trapped air. This surface also bears proprietary logos. The aerogel is bonded in strategic locations (torso and feet) between these two layers. Also sandwiched between the two EVA sheets is an inflatable section (material unknown), clearly designed for comfort (and intended to provide further insulation). This is located under the neck, shoulders and hips, in an approximately hourglass configuration (see image below), and it's inflated via a valve at the center of the upper edge of the pad. Inflation is easy, as the volume is small. Pressure in the inflated compartment is easily adjusted for optimum comfort by gently releasing air from the valve control, which screws in to shut, out to open.
The quality of manufacture appears high, and this even extends to the neatly designed storage or carrying sack. I would imagine a great deal of thought and research went into the design and construction of this pad, and it shows. My first impression was of lightness. To elaborate, my usual winter arrangement of pads is a full length closed cell foam pad, R-value 2.2, used with a three-quarters length inflatable pad with an R-value of 4.7. (R-value is a commonly used unit of thermal resistance. Although customarily used of housing insulation, it's also the unit commonly quoted by manufacturers of sleeping pads for purposes of comparison.) In theory, then, the insulation from these two pads, under my torso at least, is around R 6.9. The weight of this setup is 35 oz (992 g), i.e. 10 oz (283 g) heavier than the Hyper High Mtn pad. The bulk of the P.O.E. pad is less also, and should be far more easily carried, either attached externally to my pack or arranged as an internal wall (standard procedure when packs with no framesheet are used, as this assists weight transfer from shoulder to hip). I will report on the ease of both carrying configurations from the field. The P.O.E. site does not discuss the R-values of the Hyper High Mtn, but I inquired about this when I called the company. An R-value of 20 was given for those sections of the pad that utilize aerogel, and a value of R 8 elsewhere on the pad. This is very substantial indeed, and if it performs as billed, the pad should be exceptionally effective. Since the down beneath a sleeper lying in a sleeping-bag is compressed, it has very little insulating ability, and without a pad, much body heat would be lost to the ground, regardless of the rating of the bag. Of course, I usually use a sleeping pad, but the thermal resistance of most is quite low. This can be a major source of discomfort and one important cause of "sleeping cold." Anyone who customarily camps on snow will have had the experience of having to peel their groundsheet or tent from a layer of ice underneath when breaking camp, even though they were lying on powder snow when the tent was set up the night before. That ice is caused by melt from escaped body heat. This highlights the extent of heat loss, and underlines the fact that any improvement in ground insulation is likely to add substantially to sleeping comfort and warmth. In fact, in winter, I consider the pad equally as important as the rating of the sleeping bag. I will be heading out for my first backpack with this pad in another week. I have tried simply lying on the frozen ground outside on the pad, and it seems to radiate warmth. This is, of course, physically impossibleit is merely preventing my body heat from escaping to the cold-soaked ground. Still, as a preliminary indication, this is encouraging. The pad was also very comfortable, provided that my hips and shoulder were where they were supposed to be, on the inflatable pads. The only negative aspects I've noted so far are very minor indeed. The pad does tend to keep its curl when initially laid out on the ground. Once the sleeping bag is loaded on top of the pad, it conforms to the surface it's lying on. Gentle manipulation by hand by bending in the opposite direction seems to be a fairly effective corrective if the curvature proves awkward. There is a tendency for hair, bits of leaf, dust etc. to cling to the surface of the pad. It may best be kept clean with a gentle application of tape, or perhaps a clothes brush lightly applied. I expect (based on what I was told) that some cleaning instructions will be on the missing hang-tag, and I will include this information in the field report. The website has some care information, but given the special nature of this pad, I prefer to see if there are any specific instructions. It will be interesting to see if this "clinginess" indicates that the pad will not easily slip on tent floors, something that can be an issue with inflatable pads. SUMMARY My initial reaction to the mat is very positive, though tempered by the fact that, for now, my enthusiasm is based on theory, not practice! I'm always excited to see new technologies appear in outdoor gear (or, indeed, in any aspect of daily life). I would be the first to admit that only a small percentage of the backpacking population enjoys winter camping, but for those of us that do, any product that actually reduces the weight that I carry while increasing my comfort can't be anything but good. I very much hope this performs well. I will test the pad under very cold conditions in what remains of February, on through March (often bitter in the mountains), and then in the milder but still occasionally cool months of April and May. Please check back in approximately two months for my Field Report. FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS I used the Pacific Outdoor Equipment Hyper High Mtn pad three times during the test period, all in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, to elevations of about 3000 ft (914 m). In each case I was camped on snow, at temperatures between 15 F (-9 C) and 35 F (2 C). I was using a four-season tent with a small footprint (the Sierra Designs Divine Lightning, specifically). The Hyper High Mtn mat was an excellent fit in this small, rather narrow tent (a bit bigger than a bivy). I used a silnylon poncho as a groundsheet, to protect the floor of the tent against snow abrasion. My sleeping bag was a Valandre Shocking Blue bag or (on one milder temperature trip) the Valandre Mirage bag. I experienced some light snow on one trip, but otherwise had no precipitation. PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
Carrying the pad Testing the pad Some while ago I purchased a pair of iButton temperature data loggers (Thermochrons). These ingenious little electronic devices can be programmed in advance to measure temperatures repeatedly at a previously specified interval. They are incredibly handy for gear testing (and a wide range of other purposes). The temperature record is stored digitally in internal memory, and can be retrieved by placing the button in a special reader attached to the USB port of a computer. An earlier version of this gizmo was reviewed on BackpackGearTest, and can be found by searching on "iButton." I was rather startled by these results and a little bit dismayed. I was hoping to see that the Hyper High Mtn pad provided an exceptional level of insulation. Instead, my pair of "other brand" pads provided the best results, followed by the P.O.E. Hyper High Mtn pad. The separate pads performed relatively poorly, as expected. The experiment was repeated several times (one repeat for the P.O.E. pad is shown on the chart), with very good agreement between runs. With the Hyper High Mtn pad, I chose to put the Thermochron at what should be a "sweet spot," directly under the inflatable torso section. Based on the results above, the insulating value of the P.O.E. pad under the torso appears closer to R-7 than R-20. This procedure was repeated twice, with good agreement. SUMMARY My observations and testing to date indicate that the POE Hyper High Mtn mat is a serviceable winter sleeping pad of good design. I am satisfied by its field performance. It does not have the extraordinarily high level of insulation that I had anticipated, based on the R-value claimed by the manufacturer. I still expect to use it as my winter mat of choice, despite this. It is reasonably compact, sufficiently warm, and much lighter than (for example) a down air mattress, or my previous pair of pads. LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
I have further tested the POE Hyper High Mtn sleeping pad over the months of April and May. Unfortunately, with the exception of a severe April high-elevation snowstorm, the weather here has now rapidly moved from spring-like to summery, with nighttime low temperatures at elevation generally above 50 F (10 C). I was able to use the pad, at elevations to 3500 ft (1067 m), for three more days of backpacking, before temperatures reached these levels, where summer gear is more appropriate. All trips were overnighters in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. On one occasion I was camped on bare rock (at a nighttime low of about 45 F, 7 C), on another in slushy snow (with a nighttime low of perhaps 32 F, 0 C), and on a third trip on duff (with a low temperature approaching 50 F, 10 C). PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD Although the Hyper High Mtn pad is theoretically usable over four seasons, and is so rated by the manufacturer, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to me to carry it in conditions where the issue is likely to be staying sufficiently cool, rather than keeping warm. Unfortunately, with the end of winter and the onset of a rather humid May, this was exactly the situation with which I was faced during this long-term test period. Fortunately, I had three backpacks where the overnight temperatures, while hardly bitter, were at least not totally inappropriate to the use of a cold-weather pad. SUMMARY
The testing in this long-term period has been limited by the rapid disappearance of winter. Based on my field experience, I do think the pad is overkill for early to mid-spring in my region, but it does offer a high level of padding, especially useful on rocky terrain, that may make it tempting for some locations where I might not normally carry a pad of this heft. It seems durable and well made, and I expect to use it for some years to come. CONTINUED USE
I anticipate that I will continue to use the Hyper High Mtn pad for cold-weather use primarily, but I do expect that it will become my standard pad under those conditions. Despite the fact that it is not as effective as insulation as I had anticipated from the manufacturer's literature, based on my testing to date it is clearly adequate for the typical winter use to which I will put it, and it is substantially lighter and more compact than my existing pad combination. This is an important consideration for a season when higher pack weights are the norm. This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org
Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
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