Sleeping pad for side sleeper

[westsloper]

I'm a side sleeper and I have never been comfortable on air pads like the NeoAir or especially the Klymit. I always sort of feel like I'm sleeping on a balloon. Very unstable for me, even with a wider model.

I know it seems counterintuitive, but I think that a thicker sleeping pad isn't always needed for a side sleeper. A few years ago I switched to a 1.5" thick Thermarest Prolite Plus - it is a much more stable and comfortable way to sleep. There is always the risk of bony hips contacting the ground, but I make up for this with site selection - I try to avoid camping on super rocky sites when I can. Even then, the support and firmness of the self-inflating pad usually will keep my hips off the ground.

I definitely came into contact with the ground more often with my Klymit pad that I do with my Prolite Plus.

For winter I add a lightweight foam pad - the one sold by Seek Outside is a great choice.

 

[schmalzy]

Side sleeper and have the Xtherm. I honestly don’t think it’s noisy. I compared side by side with an Exped dowmat winter xp and felt that the Xtherm was more comfortable and made me want to move around or adjust less to get comfortable. Significant weight savings too.


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[Seeknelk]

I used the sea to summit ether light extreme xt, wide , rectangle version, it's the warmest version also and is 4" thick so there's plenty of room to deflate it to get a good hip pocket formed etc.
I love it.
I wanted to try the widest ,.largest thermaredt xtherm but they didn't exist last summer when I was looking .

 

[passinggas33]

I too am a side sleeper and went with the exped mats. Have a winter pad and a summer pad.

One piece of advice as a side sleeper, don’t overfill your pad. Having it a little under inflated actually makes all of them more comfortable. Especially the thicker the pads. At least that has been my experience.

 

[Dobermann]

The Xthem/Xlite has done well for me and the noise isn't as bad as people have made it out online ...

FWIW, mine woke me up multiple times a night from the noise.

Looking forward to checking out some of the other options here - thanks folks!

 

[Ron.C]

Another side sleeper here. I also do allot of shifting in my sleep from one side to the other.......

I bought an Xtherm Reg Wide at Christmas. Tested it out a couple nights earlier this week in the back yard when our temps dropped down to about -6.

I cannot understate the massive upgrade in comfort this pad is from my old Prolite Plus I had been using for 15 years. So much so, I feel a bit foolish for not upgrading sooner. Was also very amazed at how much warmer my sleeping bag felt with this pad.

Yes the pad is a bit crinkly (not as bad as I had been led to beleive) and it sure didn't affect my sleep ( and I didnt go to bed tired from a long day of hunting). That said, if you are a person that is easily woken from noise then the Xtherm may not be for you.

 

[Dobermann]

I too am a side sleeper and went with the exped mats. Have a winter pad and a summer pad.

One piece of advice as a side sleeper, don’t overfill your pad. Having it a little under inflated actually makes all of them more comfortable. Especially the thicker the pads. At least that has been my experience.

Which Exped summer pad do you use?

 

[passinggas33]

Which Exped summer pad do you use?

I have the Exped Synmat HL for summer use. In the winter I turn to the Downmat HL. The Thermarest options are a little bit lighter, but I like the “lack of noise” and the little extra thickness of these pads to sacrifice a few extra ounces.

 

[passinggas33]

I have the Exped Synmat HL for summer use. In the winter I turn to the Downmat HL. The Thermarest options are a little bit lighter, but I like the “lack of noise” and the little extra thickness of these pads to sacrifice a few extra ounces.

The Synmat weighs 19oz with everything in the bag, and the Downmat weighs 27oz. These are for the wide, long versions.

 

[RGARNER]

I like my sea to summit ether light xt extreme except for the fact that is huge, it takes up double the room that my xtherm does...the xtherm sounds like you are sleeping on a bag of chips.

 

[Drenalin]

I'm a side sleeper and I have never been comfortable on air pads like the NeoAir or especially the Klymit. I always sort of feel like I'm sleeping on a balloon. Very unstable for me, even with a wider model.

I know it seems counterintuitive, but I think that a thicker sleeping pad isn't always needed for a side sleeper. A few years ago I switched to a 1.5" thick Thermarest Prolite Plus - it is a much more stable and comfortable way to sleep. There is always the risk of bony hips contacting the ground, but I make up for this with site selection - I try to avoid camping on super rocky sites when I can. Even then, the support and firmness of the self-inflating pad usually will keep my hips off the ground.

I definitely came into contact with the ground more often with my Klymit pad that I do with my Prolite Plus.

For winter I add a lightweight foam pad - the one sold by Seek Outside is a great choice.

I'm in the same boat. I want to like inflatable pads and I've tried several, but I just sleep so much better on a self inflating pad. Hate the weight, but I hate waking up every couple of hours more.

 

[Matt G.]

Going to try the exped 5 ul due to thickness for side sleeping I got a 15% discount from backcountry. Nemo tensor insulated was updated as well.

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[River1313]

Going to try the exped 5 ul due to thickness for side sleeping I got a 15% discount from backcountry. Nemo tensor insulated was updated as well.

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Just ordered the updated Nemo Tensor this week. I’m exited about the higher R-value and hopefully they made some improvements on durability.

 

[Yukon_Jack]

Just ordered the updated Nemo Tensor this week. I’m exited about the higher R-value and hopefully they made some improvements on durability.

Thoughts on the updated Nemo Tensor? Been researching new pads and have narrowed it down to the Tensor, Ether Light, and the XLite.

 

[rootacres]

I’m a pretty light sleeper unfortunately and usually sleep on my stomach. Combine that with wide shoulders and the Xtherm while it insulated well only went on one trip with me. Last December I took the Klymit Static V Lux Insulated pad with me to AZ and it was great. Best sleep I’ve had in the backcountry. I’ll make the weight concession to sleep that well moving forward.

 

[sneaky]

I’m a pretty light sleeper unfortunately and usually sleep on my stomach. Combine that with wide shoulders and the Xtherm while it insulated well only went on one trip with me. Last December I took the Klymit Static V Lux Insulated pad with me to AZ and it was great. Best sleep I’ve had in the backcountry. I’ll make the weight concession to sleep that well moving forward.

Don't ever lay on the new Ether Light Xtreme then lol. That 4in thickness feels really good. It's like a mattress. It's 27in wide, if it were 30 like the Klymit...oh man. I've got both.

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[Dobermann]

To everyone who recommended the Exped - you're all legends!

Got the 5R to test out first - tried it in my lounge room first. Admittedly, warmer than in a tent, but harder as it was on bare wood flooring. So comfortable that I slept on it the next night - it was better than my own bed.

The Thermarest NeoAir went straight up for sale. No more bouncy potato chip packet for me.

 

[Mike Islander]

FWIW, mine woke me up multiple times a night from the noise.

Looking forward to checking out some of the other options here - thanks folks!

I think some folks are talking about the noise of the older model Xtherm. I don't notice the noise on mine. I do also find the Exped most comfortable for side sleeping.

 

[Dryfirepete]

I'm a side sleeper and have rather protruding hip bones. I'm happy with my Thermarest ProLite Apex.

 

[bat-cave]

Side sleeper using the Nemo Tensor and have found it to be comfortable. Would buy again and I have been pleased with compact size and ease of inflation/deflation.