Personal Biography

Name: George Griffin
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 7" (1.7 m)
Weight: 205 lb (93 kg)
Email: griffin42(at)tiscali(dot)co(dot)uk
City: London U.K
Date: 03 May 2004

Backpacking Background

I have been backpacking since 1986. Mainly in the Peak District, Lake District, Wales and Southern England. I am also the London liaison member for the Backpackers Club. In the early days I backpacked solo but in recent years I have backpacked with two friends. Most of my trips are from September through to May, I normally get four 4+ day trips in that time, plus the occasional weekend. The past three years I have undertaken a multi-day (6/7 Days) backpacking trip somewhere in the U.K.

Terrain and elevation on these trips can be anything from coastal paths to mountains, sea level to 3,000-ft (914 m). Temperatures ranges from 23 F to 75 F (-5 C to 23 C) .

Product Information

Manufacturer: Insul Mat

Year of manufacture: 2004

Manufacturer's Weight: 23 oz (650 g)

Measured Weight: 24.6 oz (700 g)

Colour: Red (top)/Black (bottom)

Long Term Testing

This sleeping pad has been used through all of the British seasons; from 23 F (-5 C) to 80 F (26 C). The pad has been used on hard frozen ground to hard Summer baked ground.

Altogether I have spent 20 nights sleeping on the pad, all on proper campsites and in a tent.

The last few times out, have been car camping trips with my daughter. As usual the sleeping pad was blown up on arrival and left inflated for the whole time that we were camped (normally a couples of days).

My multi-day trip which was in June; was along the South West coastal path; this was 6 days/5 nights camping on proper campsites.

On this trip the sleeping pad really came into it's own, the walking was a lot tougher that expected and having the luxury of something really comfortable to sleep on was great.

My views on this pad haven't changed from my Field Report except that I have worked out how to inflate to the same pressure nearly every time now.

I did try the pad with the G4 but is wasn't really that good; once the air is out of the pad there isn’t much to it (unlike a Thermarest) so placing it into the mesh pocket doesn't give enough support.

In my Initial Report I posed some questions about the pad; these were:

1. How easy it will be to get the correct pressure in the mat for sleeping on a constant basis.

2. How warm it keeps you in cold temperatures.

3. The durability of the pad over an extended period.

4. The comfort level, will I find myself slipping off the pad? Will I find my feet continually slipping off the thinner end of the pad?

5. Is it possible to use the pad as support in a G4?

The answers to these questions are:

1. Getting the correct pressure did take some time to achieve but now I can get it correct nearly every time; this is of course the correct sleeping pressure because it does need to be inflated more for sitting on.

2. Warm; the lowest temperature that I used the pad was 23 F (-5 C) back in February and I never noticed it, the pad keeps you a good 2 ½ in (6.3 cm) off the ground and the synthetic fill was able to stop any cold passing through. During the Summer months I didn't notice at any time that the pad was making me too hot.

3. The durability has been fine; I've not gone out of my way to mistreat the pad but I have used it outside the tent on grass and it has coped well with is, there have been the odd few grass stains on it but these wiped off O.K.

4. Apart from a BIG heavy duty sleeping mattress that my wife and I have used on car camping trips; this has to be the most comfortable pad I have ever used. I did have some worries about slipping off the pad and also my feet dropping of the thin end of the pad; this has happened only a couples of times and hasn't been a major problem. I think because the pad is so thick and comfortable that I sleep much better and in doing so I don't ‘toss & turn' as much, so I stay on the pad better.

5. No; not really, at a push you can use it but it's not really that comfortable with the G4 and to be honest it rolls up small enough to go inside a pack.

Likes and dislikes

Comfort level

Getting a good nights sleep

The packed size and weight

Trying to find a dislike for this is nearly impossible if there is one thing it's having to blow it up but that really isn't any great hardship.

I would like to thank Insul Mat and BGT for giving me the opportunity to test this sleeping pad.