Gear Doctors Ultralight 17oz Camping Sleeping pad ApolloAir - Compact, Warm 5.2 R-Value 4 Season Air Mattress, Perfect for Backpacking, Hiking - Lightweight Inflatable & Compact Sleep Pad

So I’ve purchased two of the self inflating pads and one of the Apollo Air pads. The self inflating pads my wife and I both find comfortable and like them a lot. The only issue I have with them is their packed size. We are getting into backpacking so weight and size matter. These pads pack down about the size of our sleeping bags but I’m sure for self inflating is probably normal. We are keeping them to use for shorter hikes or car camping since we do find them comfortable. What makes them really stand out is the customer service. One of the pads had a manufacturing defect. When I reached out to Gear Doctors, they promptly sent us a new one! Email from the owner of the company, on a Saturday! Great customer service!!The second pad, the Apollo Air, we had to return. Not because we didn’t find it comfortable, but it was not wide enough and since it’s a fairly thick pad, our arms would fall off of it. Also, while inflating, it made a horribly loud whistling noise that no matter what we did wouldn’t go away. The overall quality of the pad was good, wasn’t too loud to sleep on, and again we found it comfortable.

So far, so good! Seems to be well made and high quality. It's pretty heavy for backpacking, but for a short hike or car camping, it's perfect. I also have a closed cell foam, accordion style pad, to provide insulation and protection from the ground. I'm pretty happy with this self inflating pad. KEEP IN MIND that you'll need to let it sort of break in before you use it. Unpack, open the valve, and let it relax for a couple of hours. Then blow it up until it's a bit tight. Close the valve and allow it to relax again. Then you can open the valve and roll it up loosely, and close the valve. That's how I did mine, and I DON'T store it all smushed up in a tiny stuff sack. Sleep outside!!! 😎

I really, really, really want to give this five stars, but I have to mention my one complaint: the storage bag needs to be bigger so that it is easier to get the rolled up mattress back into it. It's hard to squeeze out all of the air, so a little bit of extra room in the storage bag would be magical.I greatly appreciated the video showing someone actually opening it up and using it for the first time. It's very easy because it inflates itself. Putting a few breaths of extra air in makes a big difference, so it's worth it.Folding it and squeezing the air out went well (the elastic bands were a big help), but I couldn't get the mat back in the first time I rolled it. After I had rolled it I sat on it to squeeze out as much as possible before closing the valve and trying to put it in the storage bag. But I still had to roll it again to make it smaller. Even then, I had trouble getting it into the storage bag. Hence my single criticism: the storage bag needs to be bigger.I bought this for when someone has to sleep on the floor at my house (which happens pretty frequently when Family is visiting). My 5' 10" 18 year old nephew used it last night and reported that it made a huge difference as to how comfortably he slept.

My husband and I bought two of these mattresses. We were looking for something that would be lightweight and reliable on our backpacking trips. At 60 and 70 years old comfort is pretty important to us. We have loved our mattresses, but unfortunately, one of them got a slow leak that would leave me a little closer to the ground in the morning. I wrote to the company to try to help me find out where my leak was and got a reply from the owner. Mike was extremely helpful and giving us things to try, but when we could not find a leak, he immediately, without delay, sent us a new one. I just booked another backpacking trip and am now confident I will wake up feeling good again! Amazing company and amazing product!

For all you review readers and over-analyzers scared to pull the trigger on purchasing an insulated self-inflating sleeping pad, listen up! I'M JUST LIKE YOU! But so far this has been a great purchase. Here's what I mean.Reading through the dozens of self-inflating/insulated sleeping pads on the Amazon Marketplace, you'll see that most are outstanding products. Some are a little heavy for backpacking (which is my primary use) and yet others are way outside of my price range as they are ultralight products that would only be valuable to someone who is thru-hiking or obsessed with eliminating every single ounce of added weight from their back. I, on the other hand, wanted something that was lighter than my current pad that has the built-in baffle for you to stomp on and inflate the pad.I haven't taken this one on the trail yet, but as you'll see in the pictures I followed a few recommendations from other people that purchased this Gear Doctor pad. First, you'll see that the product packs very small. My Hydro Flask is 32 oz. and in a side-by-side comparison of the height, the pad is only inches taller than my water bottle. I will say that the diameter of the sleeping pad is a bit more than my Hydro Flask, but that's to be expected.In the second picture, you'll see the pad unpacked and laying on my carpet. I've opened the valve (conveniently located on the side of the pad, not on the top) and let it naturally aspirate air. Even after leaving it like this for five hours, it still had these folds in it. I closed the valve and gave it a try. It was uncomfortable and when I rolled on my side (I'm a side-sleeper) not only did it sound like a bag of potato chips being squished, I could feel my floor on my hips, shoulders, and knees. Not good!After watching a few videos with tips and tricks to making this pad more comfortable, the simplest tip was to put two full breaths of air into it, close the valve, and viola, a firm and very quiet sleeping pad! So, when I take it on the trail this October, I'll be sure to update my review with in-the-field test results.One last tip I'll share with you; do not store this pad rolled up in the gear bag. The internal insulation and baffles work best when you store it unrolled with the valve wide open. I'm storing it under my king size bed right next to my Kelty 20 degree down sleeping bag, which also has to be stored flat.This was a great value and on sale for under $35 with tax compared to the Thermo-rest models that can be upwards of $250! Save your money on your pad and invest in a well-fitting backpack.Update after my 27 mile 3 day hike:As expected, this pad worked better than expected. I wasn't cold and I couldn't feel the ground under my tent. I was very pleased with the performance but I'll give you a little tip on inflating it. If you're a side sleeper like me, don't over-inflate it too much. I blew a lot of air into it to make it super firm. Doing so was uncomfortable when I slept on my side. I strongly suggest that you only add two full breaths of air into it, then lock it in. That will provide you plenty of cushion for your hips.