Unigear Ultralight Inflatable Sleeping Pad, Compact Air Camping Mat,Lightweight Camping Mattress for Backpacking, Hiking and Traveling

Brilliant ! Took on holiday with us for our sun loungersSo comfortable. Easy to inflate about 20 breaths and deflates easily.Tiny to pack up in its own bagWould recommend

I own both of these lightweight backpacking mattresses. The Thermarest ProLite Plus is a higher end product costing roughly 5 times as much as this Unigear Ultralight model. Here is my comparison.Pack Size:The Unigear is less than half the pack size of the Thermarest. The reason for this is that the Unigear deflates down to a plastic sheet while the Thermatest always look like a mattress even when deflated because the inner bed is made up of lightweight foam and independent support nodules.Warmth:The addition of the foam and support nodules gives the Thermarest a much higher R value of 3.2 versus only 1.6 for the Unigear. This means that the Thermarest is warmer and a better choice when the weather is approaching freezing or below.I did use the Unigear Ultralight in 1 degree C weather recently combined with a sleeping bag rated down to -5 degrees comfort & -10 extreme. The compressed parts of the bag contacting the Unigear pad felt cool, but not uncomfortably cold. However, the Unigear pad is definitely not conducive to quality sleep in these temperature conditions. If you are thinking of using this pad in ~ 5 degrees or below, I would combine it with another pad to raise the R-value.Support:I am nearly 100kg, but the Unigear is thick enough to keep my hip above the ground while side sleeping. While comfortable, it is not nearly as firm as the Thermarest. The foam & independent support nodules in the Thermarest give the option of a much firmer mattress when fully inflated.Noise:This is the first thing I noticed about the Unigear when climbing onto it. It makes a LOUD crinkling noise when moving around. It sounds like it is made out of the packing paper that Amazon put in your parcels.On the other hand, the Thermarest makes no noise at all, though to be fair Thermarest's ultra lightweight inflatable-only product called the "NeoAir Light" is also famous for its annoying crinkling noise.But having used this pad on a couple of real trips now I can honestly say that the noise did not bother me. Yes it is noisier than my other pads, but it didn't bother me even on a quiet windless night.Size:The Unigear is much longer and wider than the Thermarest. It is a very generous sleeping space. Also, the Thermatest has a tapered coffin shape that narrows at the feet while the Unigear remains rectangular throughout. I do prefer the rectangular shape of the Unigear because my feet often end up on the tent floor with Thermarest.Weight:Not much difference. The Unigear is 507 grams vs 670 grams for the Thermarest.Inflation:The Thermatest is "Self inflating" which I think is vastly overrated. You still have to give it at least half a dozen good puffs to top it off. On the other hand, the Unigear probably requires 10 to 12. It is a non-issue for me personally. Both mattresses are easy to setup.Summary:The Unigear Ultralight is an ultra compact but comfortable mattress with superior reliability to that of its low cost competitors. I'd recommend it for casual camping or backpackers that want an ultra compact but comfortable mattress. I think it is also a good compact item for a small bug-out bag.I would be reluctant to take the Unigear Ultralight on a snow trip for example due to the low R-value and the lack of safety margin with it being an air only mattress. The one thing I would try to improve is to find a less noisy surface material. But at ~ £20, it is difficult to find fault with this mattress.The Thermarest Pro Light Plus on the other hand, is warmer, quieter a lot more comfortable especially if you prefer a medium or firmer mattress.

Well made product had for about 18 months.I have used this every night for the last 3 months to sleep on my bed to make mattress feel firmer and mostly on the bedroom floor as this suits my bad back better.It does a decent job for the price. I'm a side sleeper and my hip is well supported and does not touch the floor which is surprising for a relatively thin mat.It stays inflated well, only need to top it up with one breath about every 5 days.Plastic material feels very durable for the price.It will be interesting how long it lasts sleeping on it every night as this is not its intended purpose, but so far I cannot fault it.Very good value, in fact I've ordered another as a backup.

Seemed ok when we bought it, not especially easy to inflate but doable. It fairly small and lightweight, but then when we used it a couple of months later it unfortunately ended up useless.Was used for a 2 week expedition in Africa. Night 1 blew it up and then by morning it was deflated. This happened every night and my daughter was lying on hard ground. Such a shame as had high hopes.An air mattress that deflates and leaves you lying on the ground is, by definition, useless!! Unable to replace it whilst in Africa and too late to refund it now.

I was bit sceptical about this. I do have a thermarest self inflating mat, but I wanted a full length option without breaking the bank that was fairly light and compact. Well this is it. I'm 95 kilos and 188 cm and I felt comfortable and well insulated. Folded up it's about the size of a 1.5 litre nalgene bottle. I'm not an absolute weight freak for gear, and I'd definitely take this on my next cycling trip. Easy to inflate and stays up. For the money, I'd say this is a decent quality option for anyone looking for a mat for backpacking without breaking the bank.

I bought this for my daughter's DofE practice expedition - she confirmed it was lightweight, comfortable and easy to inflate and deflate. However, the plug/valve isn't fixed to the pad, and as she was packing up in a rather nasty windy hailstorm, it fell off and was lost, so it can't now be used. I did contact the seller asking if they had a replacement part, but they don't, although they did give me a partial refund - I'll have to put it towards finding a similar mat with bits that don't easily fall off.