Big Agnes Air Core

[peakbagger]

I was a long term user of various Thermarests over the years with mixed results. The 1 inch thick pads really were not thick enough as I am side sleeper and no matter how hard I inflated it , I was hitting the ground with my hip. In anticipation of my fall hike, I picked up the Big Agnes Air Core. Its a 2" thick pad and seems to be quite durable. I used it on a shake down hike earlier this summer and then on my recent extended trip. It is much better for side sleeping. The trade off is some loss in insulating value as its full of air as compared to a Thermarest that has a foam interior. It does not self inflate but uses an inflator bag to fill it up to avoid the condensation issue that arises with blowing up a pad from the mouth. The one major quibble I have is it ships with a fairly heavy inflator bag, way too heavy for backpacking and I have run into folks who inflate by blowing into them and leave the standard bag home. Big Agnes offers an ultralight weight inflator bag with more capacity which also works as a nice dry bag for clothes and pillow but it has to be ordered separately. IMHO, they should offer the lightweight combination as the standard inflator bag will probably get discarded.

The other trade off is noise, the material and air chamber design is quite noisy in a tent. I sleep with earplugs so its far less of issue but someone who does not will definitely notice the noise. They have a deluxe version with some sort of insulating fill which is somewhat quieter but still quite noisy.

 

[Lone Stranger]

Q-Core is the name of the insulated version. Got one of those for my wife to use three season for many years while I stole it come Winter to double up with a Trail Pro. Comfy enough, but I don't care to be so far from the ground. The NeoAir Xlite is fine for side sleeping if the inflation is adjusted after laying down as far as I am concerned.

 

[foulhooked]

I had an old version of the insulated air core (manual blow-up valve, no inflator bag). Was lightweight and reasonably insulating but I didn't love the vertical baffles. I'm also a side-sleeper, and on the larger side, so standard-width pads can be troublesome to keep underneath me.

Picked up a couple REI helix insulated pads on sale last year. Comparable weight and bulk (weighed nearly 2 ounces less than the listed spec on my scale), higher R value, and much more comfortable (for me) than the air core was. Reviews say they are quieter than comparable thermarest & neo models (which I havent tried, but can attest to the helix being quiet). Comes with ultralight inflation bag. Wide version added a few ounces. A little pricier but when they changed colors last year (I don't think they changed anything else) you could get the old version for as low as $40.

I'm normally a hammock camper but needed these for some backpacking in WY and I was able to sleep more comfortably than past ground-sleeping trips.