Many backpackers and other camping enthusiasts are now using air core mats. Be it filled with down or synthetic fill like the excellent Exped mats or the Thermarest Neoair and Xtherm mats which rely on reflective inner cores to stop heat leaking away. We all generally tend to use some form of ground cloth to protect these mats because although we know they are pretty durable there is always that nagging doubt that we may suffer rapid deflation at a particularly inconvenient time not to mention the expensive replacement costs if it proves to be a bad rip or puncture.

During the summer I tend to use exclusively polycro or leightweight tyvek groundsheets but ive always had an ambition to use a material that would allow me to not only keep my mat safe and dry, but also add some functional benefit to my sleep system.

This new material realises that ambition. It uses a thin film of encapsulated aluminium in a polyethylene carrier and is also reinforced with a rip stop grid. It is impervious to moisture is extremely strong and both puncture and tear resistant. The material works with your mat to stop radiated heat being lost to the ground. Now i could go into uvalues but i dont have the facilities to accurately test the thermal reflectance of the material within this particular use. Other gear suppliers will sell you reflective products and just quote the manufacturers uvalues. This is misleading. Most thermal reflective products rely on air to be present on one of both sides for them to work efficiently to their quoted uvalue. As we are only putting air on one side of the reflective surface you will never reach the thermal efficiency as tested and quoted by the manufacturer. What i will say is that since ive been testing this product with my neoair, i have found a significant improvement in my sleep temperature. It hasnt allowed me to do anything crazy like swap my winter bag for my summer weight one but i have noticed im sleeping warmer. Now this is subjective, we all sleep differently depending on what we wear, what sex we are, where we are and what the weather is doing to name but a few. All i can honestly say is that ive not used anything that has given me a real benefit before and this does.

Im offering the mat initially in 200cm x 70cm. This is sized to allow for the bigger mats like the Exped 9LW range. A Neoair even in large has a good sized taper towards the bottom and you could further trim the fabric to reflect that and thus save more weight. The stated weight as delivered is 158g. This is the top end of what i was prepared to accept but if you use a shorter or tapered mat you will be able to shave a lot of that via trimming. Househould scissors are fine for this task. It packs down very well too and stands up to repeated folding very well. Packed size in picture 4 is circa 14cm x 21cm x 2cm thick. It will easily fold in half again to give a thicker smaller tube but i find it easier to put in my pack in its flatter configuration.

I am not at this stage going to attach tie outs to the mat. At circa 4oz cloth weight it has the guts to lay out well enough. If you did want to add pegging points i would suggest folding some duct tape over each corner and simply poke a hole through. Not adding tie outs also keeps my costs down so i can offer the mat at a reasonable price. This is very spendy fabric as you can imagine and ive had to order a high volume to get it at an affordable price for you.

Sorry ive waffled on a while there but i wanted to give you as much info as possible on what i think is the best winter weight groundsheet available. For those that are interested in wider or longer widths, this is not a problem, just contact me and i will do my best to meet your needs. As long as you dont require wider than 1.6m i should be able to list something for you on a custom basis. If you want smaller lengths and wider widths this is also feasible. If you want a swatch sample i can do this for free if you are ordering another product at the same time but will not list them separately. Just drop me a message

Im sure many of you will think of some further uses for it as the camping community is ever resourceful that way :D