Slept on a thermarest almost my entire life of camping I’m 58 started camping in my 20s eight years ago I upgraded to a big Angus dual core sleeping mat which was almost 100% better than my Thermarest. I decided this year to get the best mat I could so I chose the exped8 it did not disappoint, I’d say 50% better than big angus.I’m taking about comfort. As for insulation it’s questionable how much better it could be but I’d say it’s is better than the big angus dual core but only because it’s thicker which intern puts you farther off the ground, There is some care and keeping the down evenly distributed but it’s not that hard to do with a little bit of patience and a flash light. Packability is unbelievable you can pretty much roll into any shape you want I prefer long bed mat roll at the bottom of my backpack it stabilizes your pack when you set down and it doesn’t take any room up on the inside of your pack, I stuffed mine into an old Thermarest stuff sack that was 5 inches shorter the the exped mat. The inflation bag is a little bit annoying, but it’s definitely faster than blowing it up with your mouth. Once you figure it out and only takes about 4 bags of air to fill it. Pro tip don’t overfill your mat it should be nice and comfortable your hip should dig in just a little bit and not touch the ground.
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