Packed away in its stuff sack, the regular measures 10cm in diameter and 23cm in length. Not the smallest out there then but still very, very packable. In other words, you’ll barely notice it in your pack.

Inflation and Deflation

The valve on the Ultralight Insulated is one of those things that comes across as simple but only because it’s so well designed. One of the best things about it is that it’s flat, so you’re unlikely to damage it if you kneel or step on it by accident. As it’s one-way you can blow into it and move your lips away without air escaping and to deflate it you can either do this gradually (say, if you decide in the middle of the night that you want a softer sleep) or instantly by flicking the whole thing open.

What about the inflation process then? You can either do this by blowing straight into the valve, which doesn’t take too long or require much effort or you can use the stuff sack that it comes in as a pump bag. For this, all you need to do is pop it into the valve, blow one single breathe into the other end (without your lips needing to touch the sides) and then roll up the fabric to transfer the air. Thanks to this, we’ve found the mat can go from in its stuff sack to ready to sleep on in less than two minutes.

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick, editor of Outdoors Magic

“I managed to sneak out with this for a quick wild camping in the south east of England just before lockdown kicked in in Britain and from what I saw I liked. First up, the process of inflation really is super quick and requires very little effort. Thanks to that pump sack and the clever Bernoulli principle it uses, it really does just take no more than a puff or two to have this up and ready to run. Packing it away is also easy, you just open up that quick valve, fold it a couple of times widthways and then roll it up from the feet lengthways.

“It really does just take no more than two puffs to have this up and ready to run.”

“I’d give this 9/10 for comfort. It’s not glamping/car camping mat levels but it’s as good as they get for lightweight backpacking mats. The Nemo Tensor, which is much bigger and heavier, probably gets my top spot for comfort levels, however this mat comes in second and probably trumps Nemo with all elements considered. The regular version was definitely the right size for my 5 foot 10 height and 11ish stone weight. I think I’d probably be fine with the Small length as well.

“During a cold March night where the temperature must’ve dropped to about 4C, I didn’t feel any discomfort or cold spots, so the insulating layer must’ve done its job.

“There seems to be a bit of debate online about how quiet this mat is. Sea to Summit claim it provides a peaceful night’s sleep but there are a few reviews that say they found it a touch noisy. In all honesty, mat noises don’t disturb my sleep much (whether their from my mat or from someone on one beside me) and I certainly didn’t have any problems when testing this. From what I can tell, any noise will likely come from your own sleeping bag fabric swishing on the mat’s fabric but that certainly won’t be loud.

“It’s unfortunately too early for me to comment too much on durability however I will say that I would be wary of using this on any rough stuff. It is handy that it comes with a repair kit with six patches though – just for that peace of mind.”