If you’ve ever had the pleasure of camping in Snowdonia, in April, without a camping mat underneath your body… you’ll know that, well, it’s not a very pleasurable experience. Now, of course, taking a mat on a camping trip is pretty basic stuff and forgetting to bring one, arriving late at the campsite, and having to make do by wearing all the clothes you’ve brought with you is not something we’d recommend. So, yes, what we’re saying is mats are nice to have when you’re sleeping outdoors.

For that added bit of luxurious comfort when camping though, we think air mats are pretty hard to beat. And in terms of comfortable air mats, with a big spoonful of added convenience chucked into the mix for good measure, we think the Snugpak Air Mat with Built-In Foot Pump is a real standout.

As its name suggests, it comes with a foot pump built into it. What this means is that with this in your bag, you don’t need to worry about losing bits and/or leaving bits at home by accident and you also won’t need to turn yourself purple using all your breath to blow it up. It’s all there. Just roll it out and repeatedly put pressure on the valve with your hand or foot, a bit like when you did First Aid exercises on that mannequin for Duke of Edinburgh.

Available in blue or olive green, this Snugpak Air Mat has dimensions of 183cm x 62cm x 5cm.

“A clever product, that delivers well for three-season use in the areas of comfort and convenience”

The length makes it suitable for most people although Kristof Van Hout, the 208cm high goalkeeper who plays for Westerlo in the Belgian Pro League, might want to look elsewhere. Sorry Kristof.

With its weight of 630g the mat is also a fairly decent weight and it packs down to about the size of a loaf of bread. There are far lighter and more packable options out there, sure, but they’ll tend to cost a fair bit more than this one does.