Initial Report

December 12, 2003

Women’s Edition Max-Lite Long Sleeping Pad

Manufacturer: Pacific Outdoor Equipment (P.O.E.)

URL: http://www.pacoutdoor.com

Year of Manufacture: 2004

Listed Weight: 28 ounces (794 grams)

Actual Weight: 27.9 ounces (791 grams)

Dimensions:  20” x 72” x 1.0” (51 cm x 183 cm x 2.54 cm)

Product Description: The Max-Lite is a coffin-shaped, self-inflating, open-cell foam filled sleeping pad intended specifically for women.  The exterior of the pad is nylon ripstop, with the top portion colored bright green and the underside a steel grey.  The valve is brass, but with a hard plastic screw-cap that is permanently attached. 

Tester:  Emma Eyeball

Tester Biography can be found at the end of the report.

Arrival:  The Max-Lite arrived folded lengthwise and rolled tightly in a green tubular sack along with a patch kit (2 generously-sized 4”x6” [10.16 cm x 15.24 cm] fabric pieces and a tube of glue), a hook-and-loop strap, and repair/warranty information.  The sack was inside a clear plastic tube, with a paper insert that gave details about the pad.  It appeared exactly as I have seen the pad in retail stores.  All of this was contained in a small cardboard box.  Everything was unblemished and in brand-new condition.

First Impressions:  When I pulled the Max-Lite out of the storage sack and began to unroll it, I was struck by the jewel-bright, serpentine green color of the pad.  On P.O.E.’s website, the Max-Lite is depicted as a two-tone green and white on top, but the pad I am testing is entirely green on top, with a steel-grey underside.  I find the colors to be very attractive.  On the green side of the mat, near the top, the words “Insul-Mat Women’s Edition” are silk-screened. 

Details:  The Max-Lite is constructed of 50-denier diamond-patterned ripstop nylon.  It’s impossible for me to know just how strong a fabric it is, but it does seem very lightweight and in fact light will transmit through both layers of fabric.  In my opinion, it does not feel slippery.  It is treated with a DWR finish.

I unrolled the pad, opened the valve, and laid it out on my living room floor.  Unlike my Therm-A-Rest mattresses, I could very clearly see the pattern of the foam inside the mattress.   P.O.E. uses 3 different kinds of foam in the Women’s Edition Max-Lite.  Here is their description: “Die-cut Matrix foam provides outstanding insulation for minimum weight under the body, with high R-Value Basix foam under the feet and body supporting Dot foam under the hips.”  The packaging material indicates that the foam has been treated to prevent fungus and bacteria from growing inside the pad.  When the pad is un-inflated, I can clearly see where one kind of foam stops and another begins.  When held up to a light source, the light shines clearly through the holes cut in the foam.  And when the pad is fully inflated the air pockets in the die-cut holes actually puff up, making a relief pattern in the exterior fabric of the pad. 

I left it on the floor to self-inflate.  I came back four hours later and it was every bit as flat and airless as when I left it there.  The pad did come with a sticker on it that says (exactly as written):

“NOTE

This mat has been stored in a

compress state.  Initial inflation

may require up to 30 minutes. For

best result, inflate and deflate

several times before actual use.”

So I puckered up and blew air into the mattress.  As I blew, I began to hear a faint crackling and popping noise.  It dawned on me that I was hearing the cells in the foam pop open as I forced air into the mattress.  After blowing some air in, I closed the valve and rolled the pad up a bit, to force air toward the far end of the pad.  More soft crackling and popping ensued – it was like pouring milk on a bowl of Rice Krispies.  Once I had forced air all the way through the pad, I re-opened the valve and waited to see if the mattress would begin to self-inflate.  It did, but it still needed some help. 

I blew until the mattress was very firm, then closed the valve and laid down on it.  It was too taut, too full, so I let a little bit of air out while I lay there.  Much better.  My floor is tile, so I turned onto my side to see if my hip would press against the hard floor.  I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t seem to.  After a few minutes of lying on the pad, it began to warm up and quickly became quite comfortably warm underneath me.  I found this curious and wonder if I’ll notice that while lying in a sleeping bag.

I have deflated and re-rolled the pad a couple of times now, but it is still very slow to self-inflate, and has not yet managed to re-inflate itself even close to completely.  I am currently letting it sit fully inflated for a day or so, after which I will deflate it and try again.  By “fully inflated” I mean that it is inflated to the point where it is taut, unwrinkled, and possibly a bit too full to sleep on comfortably.  I want to let the cells in the foam become accustomed to being open and full of air.

The hook-and-loop strap that comes with the pad is intended to use to keep the pad rolled up, and perhaps to help attach it to the outside of a pack.  I don’t like carrying my sleeping pad on the outside of my pack, so I doubt I will be using this strap at all.  It is almost too large to properly secure around the Max-Lite – when I draw it firmly around the rolled-up pad, there is barely an inch left where the hooks and loops overlap, creating a tenuous grip that could easily be pulled apart. 

Summary:  There’s still a lot to be seen with this pad.  I’m curious to see how many times I’ll need to blow it up before it’s capable of inflating itself.  I always store my self-inflating mattresses rolled out with their valves open, so that is how the pad will be stored when not in use.  I’m planning on carrying this pad for every trip I take in the next six months, so I hope to be able to provide a comprehensive review of how well it performs in the field. 

Field Information: I will be using the Max-Lite throughout southern California and in northern Arizona. I hardly ever use floored tents, and am usually under a tarp or in a single-wall tipi-style tent.  I have several desert trips planned in the next few months (to Joshua Tree NP, Death Valley NP, Anza-Borrego SP, perhaps the Mojave Preserve), as well as a rim-to-rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike in April.   I will bring the Max-Lite on all of my trips, even any car-camps I may find myself on.  I am planning to snow camp for the first time this winter, at least once, and depending on what my snow-camping gurus have to say about insulation (I’m a green, ignorant newbie about snow), I might even combine the Max-Lite with a closed-cell pad and see how well it performs in the snow.

As far as weather goes, I expect to encounter temperatures up to the high 90's during the day and possibly below freezing at night. Rain is a strong possibility, especially if I am able to visit some of our coastal mountains this winter. During the long nights at this time of the year, I should be spending quite a bit of time either sitting or laying on my sleeping pad.

Test Plan:  I have tried all manner of sleeping pads, from $5 foam cheapies to z-rests, and the entire line of Therm-a-Rests - all the way up to the full-length Luxury Edition.  I currently carry a ¾ Therm-a-Rest Luxury Edition, which weighs 25 ounces (1 pound 9 ounces/709 grams).  Outdoors, I am a restless sleeper and consistently end up on my side, with my hipbones poking down into the sleeping pad.  The Max-Lite features “body supporting Dot foam under the hips.”  Will the Dot Foam keep the hard ground from pressing right up against my hip?  I plan on using the pad on solid rock, on sand, on forest duff and on the hard, compacted dirt one finds in frequently used campsites.  Is the Max-Lite the kind of pad that depends on careful site selection, or will it perform acceptably on hard, unwelcoming surfaces as well?  Since it is coffin-shaped, will that reduction of wasted pad space translate into more space in my pack?  Will the shape still offer adequate insulation for a fetal side-sleeper like me? When my husband and I are out together, we lash our Therm-a-Rests together with a coupler kit that Cascade Designs offers.  Using this coupler, will the Max-Lite stay in place alongside my husband’s Therm-a-Rest?  I will be evaluating the Max-Lite from the viewpoint of someone who has been using Therm-a-Rests but is open to something comparable or better. 

Suggestions:  So far, the only suggestion I would make is to perhaps shorten the hook-and-loop strap, to allow it to close more securely around the Max-Lite.  This is probably a standard size strap that is included with all of P.O.E.’s sleeping pad models, so I would assume it works better with larger, thicker pads than the Max-Lite. 

Tester Biography

Name: Emma Eyeball
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Height: 5'8" (1.7 meters)
Weight: 130 lbs. (59 kg.)
E-mail: tarbubble at yahoo dot com
Area: Orange County
State: California
Country: USA

About Me: I hike and backpack primarily in Southern California, in deserts, mountains and most everything in-between.  Trails run the full spectrum – rocky, eroded, rutted, overgrown, and sometimes nicely maintained.  I've been hiking since I was a kid, backpacking since I was 20.  I used to be a casual, occasional weekend backpacker, but in the last 2 years have gotten much more serious about it.  I go solo when I can, but more often I am out with my husband and toddler son (yes, we take him backpacking).  I would say I am a very open-minded backpacker, and am comfortable with a minimum of extras.  I enjoy simplicity in my equipment. I used to say “I'm out there for the walking - everything else is peripheral,” but as my son approaches an age where hiking all day with him becomes almost impossible, I may grow to appreciate time in camp a bit more.