The Best Ultra Light Sleeping Bag Pads

Gossamer Gear NightLight

Chosen by Consumer Search as its best "super-light foam sleeping mat" and earning high marks from Backpacking Light magazine and BrettOnStuff.com, the Gossamer Gear NightLight is a tough, cheap three-season sleeping pad. It is even meant to double as a backpack frame padding. The full-length version weighs in at just under 8 oz., while the short pad is a svelte 3.4 oz. However, the pad does have some drawbacks. At 18 inches it is not very wide. The NightLight's R-value (how effectively it insulates; the higher the better) is 2.27, making it strictly a three-season pad. For winter campers and high altitude mountaineers, the pad might not be enough to use as insulation under an inflatable four-season pad, and certainly would not provide enough insulation on its own.

Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest

Therm-a-Rest's RidgeRest is thicker and warmer than Gossamer's NightLight pad, but at the expense of additional weight. The pad has an R-value of 2.6, and the full-length version weighs in at 14 oz. However, for that weight a backpacker gets full three-season insulation with no risk of shivering through the night in an early spring or late fall cold snap. Plus, two of these pads used together provide enough insulation for winter use, and are still lighter than many inflatable sleeping pads.

Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 Regular

Inflatable sleeping pads are often on the heavy side, but not in the case of the Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3. It is only 1-inch thick and weighs a modest 20 oz., so little that many foam pads outweigh the ProLite 3. However, the pad achieves this by offering only moderate, three-season insulation and an R-value of 2.3, and by being only 20 inches wide. However, it is self-inflating and comes with a lifetime warranty. The Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 Regular is Consumer Search's choice as "best sleeping pad for backpacking" and won an Editor's Choice Gold award from Backpacker magazine.