green like frogs, leaves, green paint, algae, grass, moss, lichen, broccoli, and iguanas

I've had much thinner pads that had to be inflated by lung power, taking 10-15 minutes. This one, three times the thickness of my thermarest, inflates in a couple of minutes, using the supplied (and ingenious) squeeze bag. So far this is holding up beautifully. I stuff my jacket or clothes duffle underneath the head and it forms its own perfect pillow for a great night's sleep. Of course it's 3 times the cost of my previous pads, but this just tells me I should have bought this one sooner. I missed a lot of good nights of sleep on the trail from trying to sleep on inadequate pads. Too old for that now. at 75, i thought I'd have to quit sleeping on the ground, but with the Exped, my camping days will continue!

My Exped Ultra R3 weighed in a bit heavier than the stat listed as 18.3 oz. My itemized actual weights are: pad 18.7 oz + stuff sack 0.6oz + patch kit 0.5 + schnozzel 2.1 oz. I’ll leave the stuff sack at home and bring the rest for a total of 21.3oz. That's 2.1 lighter than my current backpacking pad setup, a woman’s long ether light insulated, which weighed true to stats.I’m mostly excited about the Ultra 3R because it comes with a schnozzel!! The schnozzel gets to be a pad inflator, a pack liner, and a body pillow too! Frankly, the large size and floppy roll top of the schnozzel is a bit awkward for inflating the pad, but it only takes like 2 and a half schnozzel fills to inflate the Ultra 3R and a bit more for the ether lite. That’s right! The schnozzle is totally compatible with my ether lite! I can't believe how giddy that makes me!I crammed my sleeping bag into the schnozzel, mushed all the air out, and mashed it into the bottom of my pack before I packed the rest of my typical gear, and yes indeed, this will work. It’s not clear like my current plastic liner, but,.. body pillow! I HAVE been using that clear liner with soft-ish gear in it. Sad trombone. Bag of air schnozzel for the win!!! See pic of my new orange cuddle buddy.Back to the actual pad. I took my Ultra 3R on a car camping test. Because it is rectangular, it's a bit wider at the top and bottom than my tapered ether lite. Wider but lighter, less expensive, and not quite as warm with its lower R value. I'll be considering it for more summery days. The larger edge baffles did help keep me on the mat, while it scooched along the tent floor in my not exactly flat spot. It’s 3” is thick enough to keep me off the hard ground for most sleeping positions. The surface texture held something of a fabric feeling as opposed to the ether lite’s plastic touch. It was comfortably warm in the 40-50’s with some venting of my 15°F quilt. It’s a great bang for your buck.Later at home I confirmed my preference for the quilted baffles over the Ultra 3R’s vertical, particularity for stomach sleeping, by rolling back and forth between the two different pads. My good friend likes the vertical better and tried to steal my 3R at the afore mention campout. Grrrrr.For hammock campers. I played with it in my hammock for a while. It was comfortable in there, but awkward to move it around in hover mode once I was in the hammock. It definitely cut down on the hammock chill in the evening.Note. Read how to patch pad leaks before you take it out. The glue is is what keeps the air in. The patch is just for abrasions and looks.

Exped has become one of the more well known brands of sleeping pads on the market today. I think the most famous model they sell is the "Megamat" line of car camping pads. However they also make some nice lightweight backpacking pads. I don't have a ton of other sleeping mats to compare this to other than a Klymit Static V Luxe Wide. The Klymit packs down smaller than this Exped Ultra 3R Medium Wide model. The Exped is roughly 8oz lighter (1.5lbs v 2 lbs.) than the Klymit. The designs are very different, with this Exped utilizing long vertical baffles, while the Klymit has a very complex V shape with multiple baffles up and down the pad. I find the Klymit V design to offer a bit more stability when moving around the pad. I'm a side sleeper, so I tend to have the most weight on my hip/lower back, which can sink to the ground on a thin airpad. Both the Exped and my Klymit do a good job of keeping my butt off the ground when sleeping. I find that the Exped is thicker than the Klymit, however I think some of that may have to do with the complicated baffles and seams on the Klymit.I appreciate the inflation sack that comes with the Exped (see the second picture). It took a little over 2 bag fulls of air to completely fill the mat. Another plus, the mat held air nicely over 2 nights as I left it inflated for several days to test for air leakage. I've found that the Klymit I have tends to leak a bit of air as the valve isn't the best on it. The Exped has 2 valves, one for inflation and one for deflation. Very easy to read and use. The inflation sack attaches nicely to the inflation valve to blow it up. When ready to take it down, pop the deflation valve and roll it up. The Exped is much easier to break down than the Klymit as the baffles on the Klymit don't allow the air to escape very easily. Also included with the Exped is a patch kit.The Exped looks like a typical air mattress you'd use in your pool, however it does have what feels like a very thin layer of insulation on the inside, which helps give it the stated R Value of 2.9. So it should help ward off any chill coming from the ground in your tent. I can't speak to whether or not it'll work down to 20 degrees F though, it's currently 90F outside and only drops to 70F at night here in Southern California. Cold weather testing will have to wait until December if we're lucky. Suffice to say, this pad should be good almost year-round out west. Your mileage may vary depending on where you live and the weather conditions there.This pad is a nice addition to any backpacker's sleep system. Pair it with a pillow and a nice sleeping bag and you're going to have some nice dreams on the trail. Any ultralight backpacker probably won't be packing this because of the weight, but I find that it's not too bad to carry. It's relatively small size won't take up too much space in your pack.One place the Exped loses handily to the Klymit is on price. It's about 1.5 times more expensive. Is it worth the premium? You make the call.

Exped is a top manufacturer of camping equipment, especially their sleeping pads. I like the 3R as that has some insulation, but not too much and too heavy for 3 season backpacking in the back country. The Exped Ultra 3R medium wide weighs just a bit over 1lb 5oz including the carry bag and patch kit. The pad should be 1lb 4oz as advertised. This is very comparable to many other premium backpacking sleeping pads from Nemo, Sea to Summit, Thermarest, Big Agnes, REI, etc. I've done a lot of research. I've used this pad to camp on my hike to the Grand Canyon to Phantom Ranch and to Yosemite Half dome.I like the size of the medium wide pad as it has a few more inches than the conventional size and it is not the smallish mummy shape. There is enough shoulder and leg room. The vertical baffles are very comfortable. My legs are placed between the baffles shoulder width apart. My shoulders and arms can lay on the sides without dangling off the edge. There is no internal noise when moving around. Just only some surface noise with movement.The Schnozzle inflation pump attaches to the IN butterfly valve very securely without falling off. The Schnozzle pump bag is basically a ~30L+ stuff sack that captures 2+ cubic feet of air to quickly inflate the sleeping pad. The stuff sack opening traps the air without leakage and the wide opening at connected to the fill valve allows the entire sack to be be discharged into the pad quickly. I can fill the pad full with ~3 full sacks of air. No risk of mouth inflation full of germs and moisture from my breaths & saliva. The Schnozzle is must faster and completely sanitary.If over inflated, there is a little depressor stick helps evacuate extra air to adjust air level. Depressing on the flap on the IN valve will quickly expel extra air to the desired firmness. Pulling up on the OUT valve deflates the entire pad very quickly to make rolling up the pad very quick. I don't have to wrestle the pad to force all the air out. Lay it down for a minute and it is fully deflated to fold into 1/3s and roll back into the carry bag.The ripstop material has a matte finish, that's easy to move around on top as it is soft and smooth. If there is any sweat or body oils on the surface, rubbing with some alcohol lifts the oils to get rid of any stains. The carry sack has a flap that stores a patch kit. The patches stays within the little pouch until you happen to need one and doesn't get in the way when putting the pad in or out. But from several trips, I've not had any punctures or leaks.This is my favorite sleeping pad for backpacking as it is both lightweight, easy to fold and very small when packed up for ultralight backpacking/camping.