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I have been very, very
happy with the Max-Mtn. I have not had a single uncomfortable night
on it, and I have slept on many surfaces with a large range in
temperatures. In the past I had grown to accept the fact that I get
sore hips and shoulders when sleeping on self-inflating mattresses,
but with the Max-Mtn I have learned that it is possible to not have
this problem. The pad has more than enough padding to keep me
comfortable even on the hardest rocky ground.
In addition to the
comfortable padding, the Max-Mtn has kept me warm. When I sleep on
snow, as I did many times with this pad, I use two sleeping
pads. Against the snow I use a Ridge Rest, and on top of that I put
my self-inflating pad. With this configuration I don't get any
cold spots and don't feel like I'm losing much body heat to the
snow. I did not try the Max-Mtn as the only insulation against
the snow. This is because I am a very cold sleeper and I did
not want to risk getting too cold while camping in the snow.
I spent several nights
on the Max-Mtn in temperatures around freezing once there was no snow on
the ground. In these cases, I only used the Max-Mtn and no
longer carried the additional sleeping pad. I stayed plenty warm and
didn't feel that I was losing much body heat to the ground. I
use down sleeping bags, and even with the down compressed completely
between my body and the pad, there were no cold spots to keep me awake or
uncomfortable.
The mummy shape was a
little difficult to get used to the first few times I used the Max-Mtn,
but I no longer notice it. My feet tend to fall off to the
side of the bottom, but this even happens with full-width pads I
own. I usually carry a Z Rest sit pad when I backpack and
camp, so I tuck this under my feet to keep them warm when they slip off
the pad. On the head end the pad also narrows, but this has
never bothered me as I have a pillow or clothes to pad my head
against the ground. I do not slide around much on this pad, but I am
usually very careful to set up a flat camp - sleeping on even the
slightest angle can give me a terrible headache.
The Max-Mtn does not
self-inflate very well at all, as I mentioned in my field report. If
I lay it out with the valve open for a while, it barely
inflates. I end up blowing it up every time, but this is not a
difficult chore. It only takes a few puffs and it is inflated
enough. I usually inflate it a little more than necessary, then when
I lay down at night I will open the valve for a second, letting out
enough air that the mattress is at my desired firmness.
The water resistant
coating works quite well. The Max-Mtn has been rained and dripped on
a few times, and each time I was able to simply wipe off the beaded
water. Just to be sure it was dry I have always aired it out for a
while after getting it wet, but there was no indication that water
ever made it through the outer coating. Near the base of the
pad there is a small section that looks wet - the material is darker than
the rest. This is where I knelt shortly after applying DEET
bug repellant to my legs. It seems to have stained the outer fabric,
but hopefully it has not damaged it.
The Max-Mtn packs down
to a reasonable size, small enough to fit inside my pack as opposed to
being strapped to the outside. This is because the pad folds
in half before being rolled up, and then slides easily into its stuff
sack. The stuff sack is more than large enough for the pad - if I
roll up the pad tightly there are several extra inches of stuff sack
diameter left.
Other than the DEET
stains, the Max-Mtn appears as good as new. It has been tossed
around, used on rough surfaces, and strapped to the outside of a
pack, yet it has never sprung a leak. I haven't had to use the
repair kit, but I always carry it with me (it is incorporated into a
small pocket within the stuff sack). The Max-Mtn weighs a lot as far
as percentage of my total pack weight goes, but a good night of
sleep, especially when it is cold out, is worth the extra
ounces. Even with the test period over, I believe the Insul-Mat
Max-Mtn will be part of my primary pack contents for a long
time.
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