Customer Reviews

ALPS Mountaineering Lightweight Series Self-Inflating Air Pad

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It was difficult to find the measurements online for the different sizes of these pads.
Here are the details that come with the product when you buy it.

Short: 20" x 48" x 1.5", 1 lb. 9 oz.
Regular: 20" x 72" x 1.5", 2lbs. 5 oz.
Long: 25" x 77" x 2", 3 lbs. 15 oz.
XL: 30" x 77" x 3", 6 lbs. 10 0z.

I purchased the Regular size and I love it so far (only used it once). Very comfortable and lightweight.

I have a Thermorest I spent twice the money on, This Pad is LIGHTER, THICKER, and better built. I am back to buy another because now my daughter even refuses to use the thermorest.
This pad give great R factor in added warmth, has a large valve for inflation/deflation. It is built like steel and weighs like silk.
I am a 350 lb backpacker and I never touch ground with the support this pad offers.

My husband and I purchased two of these for our church youth trek last week. I'm NOT an outdoors person and was dreading sleeping at night on the ground. We've tried lots of other camping pads through the years including Thermarest, but these XL size pads (77 x 30) meant my sleeping bag didn't slide off the pad during the night. The pads are remarkably comfortable and as a side sleeper I didn't once feel the ground on my hip or side. My husband's a big guy and he also loves this pad - tall enough and wide enough for him. It is easy to inflate (most of it inflates automatically) and easy to roll back into its compact size. Lightweight, durable materials too. Almost convinced me that sleeping in the great outdoors is worth it!

I'm a big guy and I bought the "Long" version of this pad. For years I've slept on foam when I backpack. I can get comfortable about anywhere, so it was never a big deal. This summer I decided to splurge on a new pad and what a difference!

Because I'm heavy, I was afraid that I'd puncture (or even burst) one of this little "blow-up" toys. The "Long" version has an even higher loft at 2", making it more susceptible to failure, but I figured Amazon's guarantees would protect me from whatever failure might occur.

Not only did I not have any failures, but this thing performed admirably. It inflated easily. I did (on occasion) blow a few "extra" puffs into it to firm it up a bit. It took up about as much space as my old foam pad and weighed only a couple of ounces more, but the comfort was incredible. The kids and I even set it along a fallen log and used it as "The Couch" while reading and playing games out in the woods.

I was impressed and I'd buy another one.

Right out of the box; I was dismayed at the packaged size, (particularly the width) of the size "long" air pad. The 25" width didn't seem so bad as I ordered it online, and being 6' tall I thought I'd appreciate the extra length, but shame on me for not getting the tape-measure out. The "long" airpad seemed to take up almost half of the space in my luggage. That won't fly for an extended trip to Africa. I need that space for other things. I already like ALPS Mountaineering Air Pads just based on the reviews here, but I subtracted a star for pack size, which I think could be improved upon, based on other pads I've seen. I sent mine back, and ordered size "regular" instead. Being a half inch thinner, and 5 inches narrower, I think it'll pack quite a bit smaller. I don't recommend the size "long" for backpackers or lightweight travelers.

When the mat arrived today I opened it up and tested it out, as I've never owned a hybrid air/foam pad before. It does inflate maybe ~60% by itself, but to make it really nice and puffy you do have to blow air into it. Overall though it took me maybe a minute to inflate it fully. It's narrow, but the regular was a great size for me (I'm 68 inches tall, female) as I could sleep on my stomach with my arm under the pillow and still be entirely on pad. The width didn't really bother me. It was really comfortable considering it's only 1.5 inches thick. I'm not normally someone who does well sleeping on floors, so the fact that I took a 20 minute nap on it on the living room floor gives this mat some points.

Perhaps after I go camping in May, I'll update my review. But for now, I'm impressed at how small it packs and it was reasonably easy to get it back to original size.

**Updated review - I used this for two weeks camping out west. It's decently comfortable, but if you're car camping definitely go for a regular four inch thick blowup mattress. For backpacking, this thing would be great. It's light, it doesn't let the cold from the ground through, dirt and water resistant, and easy to set up and pack away.

I loved this sleeping pad. I didn't want to spend too much money on one at the moment and was considering some really cheap sleeping pads from like walmart or meijers. I decided to look online and found these. It was more than I wanted to spend at the time (but still really cheap compared to the thermarest stuff) but I knew it'd be worth it in the long run. So I went for it.
And loved it! I bought the lightweight series to take with us on our weekend hiking trips and used it for the first time this past weekend. Its super easy to inflate- just turn the knob and leave it there while you set up camp. With in minutes its inflated and ready to use with no effort. And the best part about it is its really comfortable. Me and my husband switched between this one and our old one, and I think we'll have to buy another one of these so that we don't fight over who gets to use this one :)
Def. worth it, and it really is light weight

This is a good product, that does what it says on the tin. Give it a good 30 minutes to inflate. But on rolling it up again, be prepared for it not to be quite as slim as when new. That said, without bespoke vacuum equipment, I don't think any similar product could either, so if this is the sort of thing you want, it's a good one.

Initially i loved the product, in fact i've never slept on a more comfortable air pad, i absolutely felt no ground, even on my side (using the long version, im 5'11" 160lbs). But after about a week and a half of nighty use in a tent on plywood, it stopped staying inflated through the night. I read the convenient repair package in the sleeve and it suggested inflating it and submerging it, so i did just that, only to find that there were roughly 30 minute holes all over the place on the bottom! The material seems like goretex, its a lightweight synthetic material, but it clearly wasn't strong enough for a little dirt and sand in my tent, and if this is for camping it should be able to handle more than that. I'm going to contact alps and see what they think, and depending on how they respond, I'll update my review. I liked the product and hope they don't disappoint.

--EDIT--

I contacted Alps about the holes, the companies customer service was great, I mailed in the product and they sent back a new one without any charge, despite the product being sold by amazon! Hopefully this one will stand up to the test.

This is the best sleeping bag air pad ever! At first glance I thought I was going to be touching the ground through the pad. But thats not the case. This pad fully supports my weight (190lbs) and is the most comfortable pad I have ever used. I would recommend this product to any of my friends.