1)Tester Background and Contact Information

Name: Curt Peterson
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 270 lb (122 kg)
Email address: curt<at>boopants<dot>com
Location: North Bend, Washington, USA

I live in the Cascade foothills, just 20 mi (32 km) from the Pacific Crest Trail via trails leading right from my backyard. My outdoor time in Washington is spent dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, and skiing everywhere from the Olympic coast to rainforests to Cascade volcanoes to dry steppe. I played football in college and often evaluate products from a big guy perspective. My typical pack load ranges from 11 - 20 lbs (5 - 9 kg) and usually includes plenty of wet weather gear.

Co-Tester:
Name: Ethan Peterson
Age: 4
Gender: Male
Height: 3'4" (1.0 m)
Weight: 37 lbs. (16.8 kg)
Email address (Using Papa's): curt<at>boopants<dot>com
Location: North Bend, Washington, USA

I can't believe I'm already 4 years old! I hike on a trail every single day with my mommy and papa and dog. We go on the trail to the lake and throw rocks in the water. I've started to do a lot fishing now, too, but for some reason Papa won't put a real hook on my pole yet. This summer we're going to go camping a lot! We'll have a 4-day weekend every week, so there should be a lot of time to go into the mountains to hike, camp, fish, and play.

2) Pacific Outdoor Equipment Kid's Mat 1.0 Specifications

Includes Kid's Mat, stuff sack, repair patches and glue, instructions, and marking pen
Color: Sunshine (yellow-orange)
Weight of Kid's Mat only: 15.4 oz (435 g) *P.O.E. lists 15 oz (425 g)
Weight of Kid's Mat stuff sack: 0.5 oz (16 g)
Weight of Kid's Mat repair kit, pen, & instructions: 1.1 oz (32 g)
Width of Kid's Mat: 16 in (41 cm) padded portion, 17 in (43 cm) total *Same as P.O.E. list
Length of Kid's Mat: 48 in (122 cm) padded portion, 49 in (124 cm) total *Same as P.O.E. list
Thickness of Kid's Mat: 1 in (2.5 cm) *Same as POE list
Manufacturer Website: www.pacoutdoor.com
MSRP: $39 US

3) Field Report - October 2006

For a look at the features and first impressions of the Pacific Outdoors Equipment Kid's Mat 1.0, please see my Initial Report.

The Kid's Mat 1.0 has been a welcome addition to our family backpacking trips. Most of my late summer backpacking was in the high country solo and not well-suited to a 4 year old, but we did get in a couple nights near wild rivers in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. Elevations were relatively low - near 2000 ft (610 m) - and temperatures pretty warm at nearly 60 F (15 C) at night. Trail time was minimal as 4 year old legs are much better at playing in camp than hiking long days.

The Kid's Mat 1.0 packs up tiny enough to easily fit in Ethan's miniature backpack. At around 1 lb (.45 kg), the pad, a jacket, a toy or two and a few snacks and his pack is plenty full and heavy for a few hours on the trail. Everything else went in my pack. He did carry the mattress by himself with only occasional help from me. As far as being realistic for kids to carry, I'd say it works great. While a cut-down closed-cell foam pad may be lighter, the bulk can be cumbersome for a little guy, so we really appreciated the small packed size.

Once in camp, the mattress inflates quickly and easily just as any other high quality self-inflating mattress does. Topping it off and sealing the valve is still a job for me, but I imagine if we spent a couple minutes working on it he could handle that with ease. We forgot the marker both times we took the mattress out, so its use will be included in the Long Term Testing section.

Probably the highlight so far is the durability. I was a little worried due to the relatively large foamless diamond cut sections (see picture below). They seemed to be asking to be punctured, but so far it looks as if it was new. This has not been due to pampering. By far the greatest abuse it has seen has been repeatedly being walked on. "Shoes off in the tent" has become a camp broken record, but the Kid's Mat 1.0 has usually been through a few good stomps before they actually come off. There are no signs of damage from this at all. The actual sleeping (on trail and at home) has had absolutely no effect on the wear and tear as far as I can tell. Knowing that this would likely get beat on pretty hard, P.O.E. has apparently made this mattress pretty tough.

The sleeping has been interesting. To be fair, Ethan is kind of a wild sleeper, sometimes ending up a full 180 degrees from how he went to sleep. With polypropylene long underwear, slippery nylon sleeping bag, and a nylon sleeping pad, this has the effect of putting his sleeping gymnastics on ball bearings. He slides off the pad pretty regularly. He spins on the pad. He sleeps half on the pad and half off the pad. Sometimes (though rarely) he even sleeps soundly perfectly aligned on the pad as intended. Short of making a round pad, this is not something that can be blamed on the manufacturer, and to be fair he has slept through all of the wiggling just fine. I've always thought the pad keepers and sleeping bag attachments systems were a bit of a gimmick, but I'm starting to see their uses now. Strapping Ethan to the pad just might work! The length is plenty long - it's the width that gets put to the test with the midnight yoga.

Despite sliding half off the pad a number of times, I got no complaints of being cold. It was warm, but temperatures have dropped significantly this month so late fall testing will allow some colder use.

The enthusiasm of the graphics and "cute factor" has worn off a bit, but he certainly still knows it's his pad and he's very proud to have his own sleeping gear carried in his own pack. This alone keeps the pad pretty high on my scale.

Die-Cut

Closeup picture of die-cut foam in the fabric shell

Field Highlights:

Proving extremely durable, despite typical abuse
Packs small enough for a kid's backpack

Initial Could-Be-Better:

Possibly some sort of integrated sleeping bag attachment system, but this is probably more of a bag feature than a pad feature
Could be a bit more grippy to accommodate wiggle worms
Still wishing for a Kid's Uber-Lite with graphics for the budding ultralight mini-backpacker

4) Test Plan

Typical trips remaining in the test period will likely stay around 1500 feet (460 meters) on valley trails. Temperatures will likely range from the mid 20s F (-5 C) to the mid 50s F (12 C). We will definitely use it in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the Cascades and likely the Central Washington Steppe. Other areas will be determined by rains, the snowpack, and how soon the new snow flies. In addition to overnights, the test period will be interspersed with a few dayhikes. It will go on every trip Ethan goes on - dayhikes (for naps) and backpacking trips. Most of the trips using the POE Kid's Mat will be shorter in nature with lots of basecamping as we'll obviously be running on a 4-year-old's schedule and limits.

Remaining questions to be expanded on:

• Material and Specs: What are the fabric and foam like over time? Do they age well?

• Comfort: Little kids can sleep just about anywhere - does this pad allow for a decent night's sleep or is it a source of tossing and turning?

• Ease of Use: Does it inflate, deflate, and pack quickly and easily? Can a 4-year-old do it or is it strictly a parent chore?

• Slipperiness: Can a squirmy little guy stay on this pad?

• Durability: Four-year-olds aren't particularly careful with things - can it stand up to the use (abuse) of a little guy?

• Insulation: Is it warm enough to keep ground cold from chilling as we get into winter temperatures?

• Fun Factor: The animal tracks and height measurement look like fun additions to a sleeping pad with a kid's interests in mind. The graphics are initially a big hit, but is the "wow" short-lived or something that can stay interesting over the longer term?

Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Pacific Outdoor Equipment for the opportunity to test the Kid's Mat 1.0!

Read more reviews of Pacific Outdoor Equipment gear
Read more gear reviews by Curt Peterson

Field Report

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