After having walked for hours in the woods, in that harsh terrain, my body ultimately called out for rest when I was backpacking in the countryside this summer. I was exhausted and so was my body. All it wanted at that time was some hours of peaceful, warm and comfortable sleep. Had it not been for the sleeping pad I had carried with me, I wouldn’t have been able to trek for all of the following day. That night, I realised the importance of a good sleeping pad.

The Technical Aspect of Sleeping Pads

Sleeping pads may vary in terms of its capacity to provide warmth or comfort. This capacity or range of sleeping pads goes by the term, R-value. Every sleeping pad has a different R-value and higher the value, the more insulated you’ll be. The R-value for sleeping pads ranges from 1 to 9.5.

Variety of Sleeping Pads

There are different types of sleeping pads out there in the market; they vary in terms of their R-value, price and size. Let me take you through some of the most commonly bought sleeping pads that I came across while shopping for mine.

  • Self-Inflated Sleeping Pads

These self-inflated sleeping pads have to them a layer of porous foam inside their nylon coating. This allows the sleeping pad to inflate on on its own by the foam absorbing the air when a vale is open and offering excellent insulation and the highest of the R-values. These sleeping pads are very heavy and are often very difficult to carry along. This means that the self-insulated sleeping pads are not suitable for camping or to be taken out somewhere very far.

  • Non Self-Inflating Pads

The inflatable sleeping pads are the ones you can blow up through your mouth; they are often, or at a lot of places, also called the air-pads. The inflatable sleeping pads come along with hand pumps or foot pumps to make it easy to be inflated. These air pads are considered to be very comfortable and easy to use, though not as good as The Self Inflated Sleeping Pads on the R-value. But these sleeping pads can be most suitable for camping purposes or for trekking purposes since they are very easy to carry along and to be folded when not inflated.

  • Cell Closed Foam Pads

The simplest sleeping pads are the cell-closed foam pads which are very affordable and highly durable. Their durability is because of the fact that the solid makeup of these foam pads prevents leakage. These sleeper pads have an R value of 2, whilst their lightweight style is very helpful in making them easy to carry and to be able to take them up to high mountains and cliffs.