Is a sleeping pad really necessary for summer camping?

[PR Man]

"Back in the day" - we never used sleeping pads, just groundcloth. Granted, I was much younger then - but I wonder whether or not the weight of a sleeping pad is really worth it in the summer?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[max patch]

I didn't use one in the summer until I was about 30 -- and then I needed one to get a good nites sleep. On my thru I experimented by mailing my therarest ahead a week. I was glad to catch up to it.

[Cookerhiker]

I found out this past March when I lost my 20-year old Thermarest on a tough bushwack on the Ozark Trail (necessitated by an impassable creek crossing). After sleeping sans pad for 2 nights, I wasted no time procuring another upon arriving home. I slept OK I guess but it was a marked degradation of sleep quality!

You could experiment for a night of 2 without one and see how you like. Seeing your age, I predict you'll keep the pad.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I would definitely keep the ground pad, even in the summer I need some form of insulation between myself and the cold ground.

When I went without a pad back in boy scouts, I would make a big pile of leaves and then set up the tent on top of it. Comfortable but not very LNT by today's standards.

[Papa D]

why are there two identical threads going here?

[beachbunny]

you'll figure it out real fast when you get old.........

[kayak karl]

why are there two identical threads going here?

there aren't ! there's three

[leaftye]

"Back in the day" - we never used sleeping pads, just groundcloth. Granted, I was much younger then - but I wonder whether or not the weight of a sleeping pad is really worth it in the summer?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I think you answered your own question.

[Papa D]

there aren't ! there's three

Excellent - glad we are collectively raising our WB competency level.

[moldy]

This is Crazy Earl style. Back in the day, I always used spruce or cedar branches, especially in New England. They work good. It used to be the only way to be comfortable along the pole bottoms of AT shelter floors. Back then they did not have many cut board floors. Just cut a dozen branches. You could find some fresh ones left over from the previous campers if you were luckey. In the 50's you would sometimes have to walk 200 yards away from a shelter to find decent branches because all the close-by trees were stripped.

[Theosus]

Get a hammock. Skip the pad. But get an under quilt so you don't freeze your ass (and back) off.