Sleeping mat

[crhutch]

I am culling my pack list for our upcoming March Camino and am pondering ditching the sleeping mat. I have a Therm-a-rest Prolite 4 that weighs .95 Kilos. Looking at the many previous posts it appears that hardly anyone ever uses one. What do you all say? :?: My pack weight is currently at 11.9 kilos.

Muchas Gracias y Buen Camino a todos!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I'd say that in March you are probably unlikely to need a sleeping mat..... I would leave it behind and lighten the pack load!
Margaret

 

[grayland]

I would ditch the mat and a bunch of other stuff to get your weight down to about 7 or 8 kilos.
You will be VERY happy you did this. Anything you find you needed can be picked up on the way. :wink:

 

[vinotinto]

Looking at the many previous posts it appears that hardly anyone ever uses one.

I brought a short REI self-inflating pad and never used it. That said, some Germans I walked with for awhile had foam pads that were quite handy for sitting down or relaxing along the trail for a break. I wished I had one like theirs on those occassions to keep dirt off (I was afraid my inflatable one would pop due to rocks & such), but perhaps in March you won't be doing much sitting/lying down on the trail...

VT

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I have a 2.5 x 2.5 piece of heavy duty plastic sheeting (10 mil) at 2.1 oz. that is perfect for sitting (uncushioned). It came from a large roll (20' x 100') at the garden store.

 

[crhutch]

We bought some nice pads from REI too, but we needed to jettison some stuff to get our pack weights down so we are not taking the pads. We are taking some plastic sheeting (stuff you use for floor covering when painting) however. Very light only a bit over an ounce.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

In the beginning I bought a thermarest mat too. I've never used it and don't carry it.

 

[squirepeter]

Have walked 4 times and haven't seen anyone needing to use a sleeping mat OR a Thermarest. Ditch them both and you will be down to 11 kilos which is still too much! Peter