GG Thinlight Sleeping Pad

[frisbeefreek]

I currently use a full length Zrest (13oz).

Gossemer Gear sells at 3/8" Thinlight (about 7oz for a similar length).

Anyone out there use a Thinlight exclusively? I'm not well padded, but I don't mind a hardish surface.

I like full length (72") pads.

Not a big investment, but before I spend dollars, I thought I'd ask.

Thanks-Frisbee

[The Will]

I used one for a 6-day summer hammocking trip on Isle Royale Nat'l Park. It was OK for that purpose. Coverage wasn't that great but I notice on their website that they now offer one with adequate width for hammock use.

As far as tent camping was concerned, I wouldn't even consider it. Their statement--"It provides much better insulation for the bottom of your body than the equivalent weight of down when you are lying on it"--is not impressive. No one has expectations of compressed down providing insulation and so to improve on this by a small increment doesn't say much. I have slept on two closed cell foam pads on snow in nights getting down to 10F and there was still a depression beneath the pads from my body heat. So, I wouldn't trust this pad for insulation in any but the warmest conditions. Padding/comfort? No.

One exception I could see if a person really wanted to cut down there pack weight would be to sleep with your torso on your pack and get the ThinLight pad for your legs below your hips.

[10-K]

I used one for a about a year and half. It was ok but very uncomfortable to use in a shelter because of the hard wooden floor. Don't expect much in the way of comfort anywhere really - it is exactly what it looks like - which it not a lot.

Another think I didn't really like about it was it is bulky. The only place I could put it on my Catalyst was to strap it to the top of the pack and every time I ducked under a tree it would hit something and knock me backwards.

[BrianLe]

The 3/8" thinlight is 5.3 - 5.7 oz, but isn't 72" long, it's 59" long. Unless there is some hidden product for sale that I'm not seeing, the pad options via GG are the ones in this matrix (http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/pad_matrix.html). What you could do is get the 3/8" thinlight and then a torso-length nightlight, which is essentially three nearly-10" sections connected together. You could use one or two of those sections to extend your thinlight to about the length you want. One section would get you to 68+ inches total, two sections to about 78". Total weight if you used two out of three sections of a nightlight torso pad would be 8.8 oz - 9.5 oz. The torso pad sections could be useful for sitting on at times ...

I don't use a 3/8" foam pad exclusively; I could, but personally find it worth the weight to carry more padding. YMMV a lot on this one, and it generally seems to be age (and sometimes gender) related. Younger people in general seem to do better with less padding, certainly a lot of 20-something year old folks will be happy with just a 3/8" foam pad.

Full-length zrest is 13 oz? Hmm, FWIW, REI lists their 3/8" blue foam pad at 10 oz, and that's at 24" width. I had one that was 20" wide and 72" long and it weighed 7.0 oz.

[Miner]

You'd be better off with GG torso Pad for comfort and perhaps their 1/8" thinlight for some additional warmth for your lower half (only 5.2oz total). At least this is what I normally use. The 3/8" thinlight is more comfortable then the generic bluepad but not by much.

[Wrangler88]

I actually used the 1/4" pad in Maine this summer. I slept under a tarp my first night, it was the best nights sleep I had.

The pad wasn't good for the floors of the shelters. I ended up folding it several times to have a good sit pad when I was just hanging out in the shelters.

That being said, I plan on getting the 1/2" or 3/8" pad sometime this year and plan on using it in the summer again. It'd be fine for tenting or tarping. Not a big fan of it in shelters. Especially baseball bat floors.

I think maybe, I just didn't like the shelters overall. I didn't sleep well in them. Being jammed into a tiny space with other guys sleeping right up against me.

Anyway, if you don't need a lot of padding and are going to sleep on something other than wooden floors or rough rocks, I'd say the 3/8" would work out fine.

[Wrangler88]

I actually used the 1/4" pad in Maine this summer. I slept under a tarp my first night, it was the best nights sleep I had.

The pad wasn't good for the floors of the shelters. I ended up folding it several times to have a good sit pad when I was just hanging out in the shelters.

That being said, I plan on getting the 1/2" or 3/8" pad sometime this year and plan on using it in the summer again. It'd be fine for tenting or tarping. Not a big fan of it in shelters. Especially baseball bat floors.

I think maybe, I just didn't like the shelters overall. I didn't sleep well in them. Being jammed into a tiny space with other guys sleeping right up against me.

Anyway, if you don't need a lot of padding and are going to sleep on something other than wooden floors or rough rocks, I'd say the 3/8" would work out fine.



Scratch that. I mean I used the 1/8" pad. But I'm looking at getting a 1/4" or 3/8". Sorry bout that.

[Dogwood]

There are some hikers who feel they get an OK night's sleep w/ just a GG Thinlight(3/8, 1/4). I'm not one of them. I start out on my back and turn from side to side throughout the night. I tend to want to use a Thinlight for extra insulation and/or a little extra comfort, but not to be used for either by itself. MAYBE, I would go w/ just a Thinlight if I was using it in a hammock. It's my assumption, when comparing a NEW Zrest with a NEW GG Thinlight(any single layer thickness) most will say the Zrest is a little more comfortable initially. Now, I think you got to play w/ the wt numbers, compressibility/volume/carrying issues, and different combinations or layers of sleeping pads to find what's right for you and your situation. I use my Thinlights w/ a NeoAir Shortie or Med. length or use it w/ a thicker closed cell foam pad on winter or COLD weather hikes.