Sleeping Pads

Luxury Sleeping Pads

Therm-a-Rest Fitted Sheet $22.95 Therm-a-Rest's Fitted Sheet comes in handy when it's too hot to crawl inside your sleeping bag, and you don't particularly relish the idea of sleeping directly on the top of your mattress.

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Nothing is more important than a good nights sleep. At least, that's the theory. And admittedly, it's darn good advice. Especially when you are camping. While there are worse ways to spend a night, attempting to sleep without a sleeping pad is an absolute receipt to both a long AND cold night.

This guide will cover both the benefits that a sleeping pad provides and go over the different types of pads available - and which kind to get for your particular camping needs.

The Two Benefits of Sleeping Pads

Sleeping pads provide for two exceptionally important benefits for anyone who goes camping. The two benefits are comfort and warmth.

Comfort - This is obvious. But, having no sleeping pad, or one that is too thin, makes for very little comfort for the camper. And lack of comfort makes for a very long night inside a cold tent!

Wamrth - This benefit that a sleeping pad provides isn't quite as obvious but is FAR more important. What many campers don't realize is that by not using a sleeping pad, or one that is not thick enough, is a recipe for a very long, cold night. You see, no matter how great your sleeping bag is, when you sleep in it the BOTTOM of the bag loses virtually all insulating abilities since the insulation is crushed beneath the weight of the camper.

Because of this, if you do not have a sleeping pad, a camper is essentially sleeping on the cold ground.

A sleeping pad prevents this problem by providing a insulating barrier between the cold ground and the camper. The thicker the pad, the more insulation it provides.

The Three Types of Sleeping Pads

Lightweight Sleeping Pads

Therm-a-Rest Prolite Sleeping Pad - Women's $89.95 With extra insulation in the torso and foot areas, the Therm-a-Rest Women's Prolite Sleeping Pad comforts the female form after a long day in the backcountry.

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There are three types of sleeping pads in the world today, the lightweight, the midweight and the luxury pad. Which one you want to get depends entirely on what type of camping you plan on doing.

Luxury Sleeping Pads

This is the ultimate pad - the one that every car camper should use. Basically, luxury sleep pads provide for the greatest lift above the ground, thereby provding both the greatest comfort AND the greatest insulating abilities.

To put it blunty, if you do car camping, you WANT a luxury pad. The cost of them is hardly much more than the other pads but the comfort level is far superior. So in short, for car camping, get a luxury pad. End of story.

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Midweight Sleeping Pads

These use to be the most popular pad around. However, they are fading a bit in popularity due to the luxury pads. While midweight pads provide decent warmth and comfort levels, they definitely don't compare to a good luxury pad. And since midweight pads are still pretty bulky and heavy (and the bulk is no small matter), a lightweight pad is better for backpacking.

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Lightweight Sleeping Pads

If you plan on going backpacking, there is basically one choice only for a sleeping pad. A lightweight one. While the weight of a midweight sleeping pad really isn't that bad, the problem is that they are very bulky. A lightweight pad, by contrast, not only is quite light (usually less than 1 pound), but also very packable. In short, they have been designed for backpacking - and backpacking only.

If you plan on doing BOTH car camping and backpacking and can afford only one pad, then get a lightweight pad. However, for lots of car camping, you'll quickly discover the benefits that a luxury pad provides!

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