Therm-A-Rest NeoAir™ All Season Pad Review

Thermarest NeoAir™ All Season

Basic Description:

A light weight 4 season pad that weighs 19oz!! This pad would be perfect for the weight concise back country hunter that also wants a good night sleep and comfort is a priority. It has horizontal baffles which adds to the comfort rating in my opinion. It also utilizes Thermarest’s patent-pending Triangular Core Matrix™ technology creates over 100 internal cells and Reflective Barriers trap warm air, resulting in an incredibly high R-value without the weight or bulk of conventional insulation.

Just the Facts:

– R-value of 4.9
– 19 oz!
– 20”x72”x2.5”
– Made in Seattle Washington
– Stuff sack converts into air pump

Story:

Getting a good night’s rest in back country is crucial to being successful as a hunter. If you can’t sleep well at night you can’t hunt hard during the day. The Thermarest NeoAir™ All Season is a pad I would highly recommend for someone who wants a lightweight, warm pad that is going to give them a restful night’s sleep in the back country. I always carry a foam pad to put under my air pad when sleeping in a floorless tent for puncture resistance but this will keep you warm when the temps drop way below freezing!

The horizontal baffles on this sleeping pad are a big plus in the comfort category. I highly recommend horizontal baffles in a sleeping pad. One big advantage is the pad supports you better than a vertical baffle sleeping pad. For example, you are getting up in the morning and lacing up your boots. So you are sitting on your pad and your butt is on the ground because all of your weight is being put on a smaller section of the pad. A vertical baffle pad has larger volume baffles so that air has more room to move out of your butt’s way. With the horizontal baffle pad the baffles have a much smaller volume per baffle so it supports you better. Now I am not that much of a sissy where I need to have padding for putting on my boots. But it does translate to your comfort when you are sleeping on the pad as well. If you are a side sleeper you could tend to bottom out a pad if it is not inflated all the way. This type of design helps to prevent side sleepers from having their hips touching the ground when they roll over or are on their side.

I can’t get over how lightweight this pad is for the warmth you get from it. I did some looking around and there are a lot of other pads out there that are lighter than this one. But are they as warm? I wanted to look at how warm they were for their weight and compare them. I will just take their overall weight and divide by the R-value to get how many ounces per R-value to these pads rate.

Exped Synmat UL – 16.2 oz/ 3.1 = 5.23
Big Agnes Insulated Air Core – 24 oz/ 4.1 (Estimate) = 5.85
Thermarest NeoAir™ All Season – 19 oz/ 4.9 = 3.88

Like I said this is not any fancy scientific test but when I look at buying a pad I like to look and see how light for the warmth I am getting? Now if you were a real oz counter or someone going hiking/hunting when it was really warm out. You may choose a lighter pad because the 4.9 R-value is not needed. But even compared to some of the lightest insulated pads out there it is right near the top. This is a great do it all pad, giving you warmth when the temps drop but not making you lug around a heavy pad during the summer when it is not needed.

What they could do Better:

The only problem I have with this pad are those baffles that give it such a high R-value. The baffles are crinkly like a potato chip bag. It is really loud when you are unpacking and packing this pad up. It makes no noise just lying on the pad still, but if you are moving around on the pad at night, you are going to hear it and so is anyone else in the tent with you. If your hunting buddy is a light sleeper and if you are someone who moves in your sleep a lot this may not be the pad for you. Or the pad your partner will want you to have. But this will most likely not be an issue for most of you.