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

Light and robust, inflates and deflates quickly. Had comfortable sleeps on 6 night through hike, did not slip around on it. Packs away easily.

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.

I got this for £19.99, and for that price, I cannot fault it. I have other much more expensive mats, but because it was wide, and a very small pack size, I thought I would give this a go for the spring and summer months, whilst it was £6 cheaper than usual, and I wasn't disappointed.When I first rolled it out flat, I thought I'd been sent a freak one, as uninflated, it's about 8 and a half feet long, but once I put my flextail pump to it, it soon started to inflate and shrink down to it's specified length, then I just added a few more powerful puffs to get it good and firm.I put it on a mountain warehouse closed cell Trek mat that is exactly the right width and length for it. As with all mats of this type, it really needs to be on some kind of under mat to protect it from thorny punctures, and increase it's R-value rating.There is absolutely no padding at all between the inflated tubes, but you'd never know, as it works a treat, and for what it is, it is really quite comfortable.I think it would want to slide around a fair bit, but to get over this, I will probably put a few blobs of bathroom silicone on some of the under-side tubes to help to prevent any in-tent slipping and sliding.All in all, it's a great, pretty lightweight, very compact when packed mat for £19.99 that will definitely be much less bulky in my rucksack than any of my other existing mats through the Spring and Summer months. I'm pleased with it, I just hope it it doesn't get punctured.

Easy to inflate once you get the trick to it. Surprisingly comfortable and good valueWill make a good lilo too

Difficult to inflate fully and not particularly comfortable. Too long for my one man tent. Weirdly slippery surfaces mean it’s like sliding around on a crisp packet in the middle of the night. No thermal quality either.

Great thanks really pleased with it .. it's not very thick but it's comfy enough on the cot

Only used about 3 times. First couple of times worked perfectly but then it wouldn't stay inflated!

This one really surprised me for how comfortable it was, given it's less than half the weight of the previous clunker I was using. It takes up such a tiny space and inflates/deflates so quickly. All air mattresses need a little extra air shortly after the initial inflation, because the material adjusts to the pressure. Once that was done, no loss of pressure all night. A little gem.