Bought a $20 sleeping pad off Amazon and woke up on the ground by 3am

Last month at a site near Lake Tahoe, my budget foam pad deflated flat by midnight and I spent the rest of the night shivering on dirt. Has anyone else had luck with cheap pads holding up, or is it just not worth it?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowanw314d ago

Brought a friend along to test his new cheap pad from Target last summer, and he was on the ground by 2am in the middle of the Sierra foothills. He spent the rest of the night curled up on a pile of leaves under his car, just trying to get some warmth back. Your mileage may vary, but from what I saw, those budget pads are basically just fancy pool floats that can't handle real ground temps. The foam ones might work if you stack two of them together, but that kind of defeats the whole point of saving money.

lilys814d ago

And honestly stacking two cheap pads together still leaves you with that crinkly plastic feel plus way more bulk to carry. I'd rather spend the money once on something decent than wake up shivering at 2am trying to figure out how to survive the night. A good night's sleep on the trail is worth skipping a few coffees or takeout meals to save up for.