The greatest comfort on the road is a good night’s sleep, after which a traveler is ready to tackle any trail or challenge with a clear mind and pain-free back. But a bad night’s rest can make your camping trip miserable for yourself and your companions. It may be tempting to grab a budget inflatable mattress from the nearest big-box store, but when you’re awake at 3:00 am, lying on the cold, hard ground or tent base because of a puncture—or perhaps worse, a surprise bounce flip from your partner—you will consider not cutting costs on something you intend to spend eight hours a day on.
Sea to Summit’s outdoor gear has been a constant on our travels, and recently, their Breeze sleeping bag liner made our journey through Baja California much more comfortable in the heat. Paired with their Comfort Deluxe self-inflating mat, which insulates and provides extra support, the combo has been a lifesaver on colder evenings at higher elevations.
Breeze Sleeping Bag Liner with Insect Shield
The Sea to Summit Breeze is a great option for your warm summer months when a lightweight sleeping bag is a tad too warm. The liner is made with polyester microfiber with Tencel Lyocell, which allows any moisture to be wicked away from your skin, keeping you cool in hot conditions and warming you up when the liner is paired with a sleeping bag.
In addition to its cool factor, we loved sleeping in our mummy liner, which stretches wide enough to sleep in a fetal position and is long enough for someone over 6 feet tall. Another benefit is that the liner is treated with permethrin, making it insect-repellent. This is an ideal option in buggy environments when ticks, mosquitoes, and other biting critters are sharing your space. The insect shield treatment is odorless and lasts for up to 40 washes. From our experience with clothing permeated with permethrin, a cold hand wash with air drying assists in maintaining its repellency.
The liner comes in a mummy style and a drawstring option, allowing you the flexibility to extract your feet and legs for quick walking action. The rectangular model will enable you to insert a pillow into its built-in sleeve; however, while it might be a nice touch, restless sleepers might find the pillow’s fixed position to be restrictive.
This lightweight liner is ideal for hikers, bikers, and overlanders as it packs down to 5.9 x 2.8 x 4.3 inches and weighs a mere 10 ounces.
$85 | Breeze sleeping bag liner
Comfort Deluxe Self-Inflating Mat
The Sea to Summit Comfort Deluxe is a luxurious but cost-effective solution to your camp sleeping arrangement. This mat has the ability to enhance your sleep experience, whether it be in your overland rig or on the basement floor of a friend’s house. The exterior’s 300-denier knitted polyester fabric is soft and supple, allowing you to sleep without a sheet on laundry day. With self-adhesive hook and loop patches, you can quickly secure your pillow to the mat without the pillow shifting around during the night. The comfortable 4-inch-thick foam gives you ample support for your back, and when lying on your side, your hips don’t sink into the ground.
The durable 75-denier polyester base ensures no punctures will ruin your night’s rest and provides a thermal base when camping in colder temperatures.
With the Delta Core system design, Sea to Summit has successfully managed to remove over 40 percent of excessive PU foam in order to minimize the overall weight of the mat to just over 4 pounds. Unfortunately, due to the large packing size of the mat, when not in use, we store our mat under our (no longer “high-density”) foam mattress as additional padding for when sitting. This mat would be ideal for overlanders and van lifers when out and about camping.
The mat has three valve systems: one for inflation with a one-way valve to prohibit air loss when inflating, a deflate valve with a flip-over for the quick and easy expunging of air, and a fine-tune button that allows you to adjust the density for perfect inflation. Simple unrolling of the mat allows it to self-inflate; however, we usually use a handheld pump for an even faster setup.
From $249 | Comfort Deluxe self-inflating mat
Read More: Van Conversion Companies :: Buyers Guide
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