Thermarest NeoAir Uberlite L Sleeping Mat

Product Information

A high price for the “lightest pad on the market”. You’re paying for name brand and utterly ultralight design. Weight: All these pads are really light for their warmth, but making a sleeping pad warmer makes it heavier, all else being equal. Thus the warm XTherm is the heaviest and bulkiest of the three. The ultralight UberLite is the smallest and lightest, but also the least warm. The XLite strikes an excellent balance between the other two.

My experience with the XLite, XTherm, AXL, and now UberLite is that these pads make less noise with age and when paired with older shelter floors. Repeated folding of the pad seems to soften the materials, and normal use seems to buff the fabric coatings. Warmth Therm-a-Rest have used an amazingly lightweight 15D nylon material for the outer, which is still incredibly durable, to keep the weight of this sleeping pad to a minimum. They have coupled this with their proven two-layer Triangular core matrix construction, the same as the other NeoAir mats, to minimise convection heat loss to be able to achieve the warmest most efficient pad in its class! THERMAREST & MSR: Sale! 30% Off all MSR Tents and Thermarest Sleeping Bags including the award-winning Parsec 0! The XTherm, as its name suggests, is the warmest of the three NeoAir sleeping pads. Its R-value of 7.3 stands up to even extreme winter adventures with overnight lows below 0 degrees F, especially if you layer a closed-cell foam pad beneath it. It’s not strictly necessary for those chilly shoulder-season nights that hover around freezing, but it wouldn’t hurt. Therm-a-Rest also offers the NeoAir UberLite in a Large, which has a 25-inch width and 77-inch length, weighing in at 12 ounces. This is a larger, more comfy pad, but weighs significantly more.I also don’t store the UberLite (or any other pad) in the same way that it arrives from the factory. Instead of folding it in thirds and then rolling it, I roll up the pad, full width, and then fold it in half. This technique avoids sharp creases in the fabrics, which I think improves long-term durability, and it’s faster and less fussy. The NeoAir UberLite is available in three different lengths and widths: a 47 x 20″ small size weighing just 6 oz, a 72 x 20″ regular size weighing 8.8 oz, and a 77 x 25″ long and wide size that weighs 12 ounces. Depending on your preferences and goals, all three sizes are pretty attractive in terms of weight and comfort. Note: the size regular pad we tested was 0.2 oz over its spec weight (some people care about that). Size

Punctures: In six nights of using my UberLite pad, I punctured it twice! Both times I was sitting cross-legged inside my bivy (which acts as a ground cloth) on what I thought was relatively smooth ground. Apparently sitting put too much pressure on a small area of the pad. Now I know better and am careful to only lie down with my weight spread evenly. It’s typical for ultralight gear to require careful treatment, but this pad requires VERY careful treatment and you should expect that punctures are likely.

Thermarest NeoAir XLite Review

The UberLite is smaller than the XLite (left) and Big Agnes AXL (right), all size Regular. But the difference is small, and I’d say that other factors should drive your buying decision. Leave a comment! I would have some concerns about getting a rip/tear as the fabric feels paper thin but this is most definitely a risk I will take and I’ll just make sure to carry its repair kit with me. Sizes: The XTherm, XLite, and UberLite all share the same mummy-shape with 20″ width and 72″ height in their standard size. All are also available in wide and large (wide + long) sizes for folks who need more space. The UberLite, being focused on the ultralight crowd, comes in a short torso-length size. The XLite comes in a regular short size more suitable to smaller hikers. Both XLite and XTherm also come in a fully rectangular MAX model for extra comfort, but the minimalist UberLite does not. If you’re familiar with the NeoAir XLite and find it comfy enough, you’ll likely be fine with the UberLite. They have the same dimensions and very similar construction. I do find the UberLite ever so slightly less stable-feeling than the XLite, tippier somehow, but this is a minor point. This summer I slept on the NeoAir UberLite for five weeks in West Virginia’s Appalachians, Alaska’s Brooks Range, and Yosemite National Park. It kept me warm in temperatures down to 30 degrees F, incurred no holes or blown seams, and is acceptably comfortable.