What are these sleeping pads you speak of? When I was young, all hiking was uphill both ways and everyone slept on the ground in sleeping bags with only a half-inch of thin closed-cell foam between us and every pebble. We also filtered our water with our teeth and ate mainly raw meat and foraged ramps. Kids these days.
Still, I suppose there is something to be said for a comfy sleeping pad at the end of a long day on the trail, or even in the campsite next to your car. There are now many ways to make sure no peas (or pebbles) ever disturb your sleep in the outdoors. For years, we’ve been testing sleeping pads of all varieties in all kinds of conditions, and we’re happy to report that in all this time we’ve never had one fail on us. That said, there are some standouts and a few to avoid.
Be sure to read through our other outdoor guides, including the Best Tents, Best Hiking Gear, Best Camp Stoves, and our Camp Cooking guide.
Update July 2024: We’ve added two new Sea to Summit pads, including our new favorite all-around camping and backpacking pad, the Sea to Summit Comfort Plus. We’ve also updated prices and links throughout.
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The Best Sleeping Pad for Most People
If you’re looking to buy only one sleeping pad and planning to use it in a variety of camp settings, make it the Sea To Summit Comfort Plus SI. There are plusher pads for car camping or base camp (see the MondoKing below) and lighter pads for weeklong backpacking trips (see the Tensor and Ether Light below) but this light, self-inflating pad sets itself apart by being able to gracefully slip between worlds.
At 3 pounds for the rectangular version I tested, it is double the weight of most ultralight backpacking pads but still light in the grand scheme of things (you can save more weight going for the mummy-shaped version, which is 2 pounds and 2 ounces). If you’re trying to get to a sub-10-pound base weight, you could shave 2 pounds and some bulk with a modern pump-to-inflate pad, but you won’t be as warm or comfortable. I tested this pad against the warmest Tensor and Ether Light offerings over three nights at altitude in Colorado, where it got down to 24 degrees, and found the Comfort Plus was significantly toastier. The open-cell interior (let it fluff up for an hour or so, then top it off with a few breaths) was also a much cushier experience. I’m a large-bodied side sleeper and my hips didn’t bottom out. In fact, I found it was about 80 percent as comfy as the MondoKing 3D below. I would happily sleep on this pad for a week of car camping or at a music festival, and it’s the first pad I would grab if I could take only one. —Martin Cizmar
The Best Super-Comfy Car Camping Pad
Therm-a-Rest invented the self-inflating camping mattress. The brand has kept pace in the 50 years since, either innovating or successfully aping every major development in the field. The MondoKing is the most comfortable, deluxe mattress in the line, the flagship for picky car campers and those who are stationary in the backcountry for weeks or months at a time. This burly mat is a full 4 inches thick and weighs 4 pounds. You won’t want to lug it far, but even a large-bodied side sleeper won’t bottom out.
The StrataCore foam inside gives it an R-value of 7, so the claimed comfort is below the temperature at which vodka freezes. (In our nights of testing, WIRED has not independently verified good sleep at –20 degrees Fahrenheit.) It’s also very, very comfortable. Like the Megamat below, it’s 70-denier on the bottom with a stretchy 50-denier top that provides the natural sag of a real mattress. The MondoKing also has a nice firm edge, meaning you never feel like you’re about to roll off. The MondoKing is better than a lot of hotel mattresses and inflates and deflates fast enough that you might just roll it out the next time you find yourself on a lumpy hotel bed. —Martin Cizmar
Other Options
- Exped MegMat 10 for $180: This is the beefy, ultra-luxury pad that started the trend of huge car camping pads. And for that we thank Exped. The MegaMat remains a great choice and is pretty well equivalent to the MondoKing, though the MondoKing weighs less and packs down smaller. On the other hand, the MegaMat has slightly better insulation and might be a better choice if you sleep cold or are headed out in the shoulder seasons where colder temps are possible.
Best for Couples and Families
We’re big fans of REI’s in-house line, which is sturdy and works well without breaking the bank. On a recent camping trip, every family with kids under 10 had this mattress, including my own. It’s 56 inches wide and 6 inches tall, wide enough to fit Mom and two elementary schoolers and fit inside MSR’s 6-person Habitude tent. (Dad and the dog still had to sleep on the ground.)
It comes with a small stuff sack for easy transport that includes a manual air pump, but the universal nozzle means you can ditch the pump and use a battery-powered one for quick and easy inflating. The welded seams kept the mattress taut and bouncy through three days and nights of kids jumping up and down on it. The surface is soft enough to sleep with your face pressed against it if you slide out of your sleeping bag, and it’s insulated, but with an R-value of 2.6. I definitely needed a quilt under our sleeping bags for 40-degree nights. —Adrienne So
Other Options
- Kelty’s Kush Queen Airbed for $100: This PVC-free queen-sized airbed from Kelty includes a pump that makes inflating a snap (make sure you charge it before you go), and the 6-inch-thick pad is plenty comfortable. It is not an insulated air mattress like the REI above, so it’s best for warmer months, but it can double as a spare bed at home.
The Best Ultralight Sleeping Pad
When you venture into the backcountry, especially if you’re an ultralight backpacking nerd, every ounce counts. In the case of sleeping pads, there’s always a trade-off. You want the fewest ounces with the most R-value. Nemo Equipment’s new 2024 Tensor-insulated sleeping pads (8/10, WIRED Recommends) have the best R-Value to weight ratio of anything we’ve tested. The Tensor All-Season featured here sports an R-Value of 5.4 and weighs just 18.2 ounces. That alone is impressive, but what I love about the Tensor is that it’s thick, comfortable, and most importantly, dang near silent. I hate that swish of nylon that’s pretty much synonymous with backcountry sleeping. There is hardly any of that with the Tensor, making it well worth the money. The insulation is a double layer of reflective film, with a baffled air chamber design, which helps keep it quiet. The design also helps it roll up into a tiny stuff sack. It’s about the size of a 16-ounce Nalgene bottle. If you want to save a little weight and money, there’s also the Tensor Trail for $190. It weighs just 16 ounces for the regular wide, but the R-Value is quite a bit lower at 2.8.
Other Options
- NeoAir XLite Sleeping Pad for $210: The obvious competitor to the Tensor is Therm-a-Rest’s NeoAir XLite, according to WIRED reviewer Matt Jancer. The Xlite NeoAir might be light in weight but not on warmth. He has used it on icy glaciers without a chill sneaking up on his backside. You have to blow it up manually, but the easy-twist valve makes it simple, and he has been impressed with the durability over five years. No holes or scratches. It has a tendency to slip around, but it’s quiet.
- Sea to Summit Ultralight for $129: If you are the sort who cuts off your toothbrush handle to save weight, this mat is worth considering. It has an R-value of 1.1, making it a summer-only pad. But it weighs a mere 11 ounces, packs up very small, and is $70 cheaper than the Tensor. If most of your camping is in summer, it’ll do the job. It is a bit louder than the Nemo.