Kylmit Sleeping Pad

Klymit Sleeping Pad  Get it here!

•  Cost: ££££ (£64.16) 
•  Value for Money: 4 
•  Ease of use: 5 
•  Construction: 4 
•  Alliness: 3 

  Over the years I have had a number of different sleeping pads and roll mats. I had always used a foam roll mat of various descriptions but frankly I was not a fan of how bulky they were strapped to the outside of my pack. I once swapped an issue Norwegian shirt for a self-inflating pad with a Canadian soldier. This was a great bit of kit in terms of comfort, but it was really bulky and eventually got a puncture. It was also not quick to put away so a real pain if you got bumped out of a harbour area. 

 As I’ve gotten older the attractiveness of sleeping on the ground has significantly lessened. That said I do still love to camp and hike. So I recently went looking for something new. I wanted something that wasn’t bulky and that I could pack away quickly if I had to. 


  Enter Klymit. This company have a novel approach to sleeping pads. They are of a really bombproof construction and give you a great deal of comfort without being really bulky. First up they are designed to go inside your sleeping bag. This is because a significant amount of your heat loss to the ground is due to the insulation in your sleeping bag being compressed. The Klymit sleeping pads are designed so that your sleeping bag will still loft under and through the pad. Secondly they are of a skeleton design and basically there is only padding where your body needs support. 

  I have two of their models. First up is the Inertia XL. This is the “larger” of the two. It has a built in pillow and a wider sleeping platform. It is shaped for a mummy style sleeping bag so it tapers towards the foot end. This thing is awesome. You blow it up orally at the valve in about 5 breaths and then you can fine tune the firmness with the included pump. Once you undo the valve it deflates in about a second. I use a US sleeping system so I usually put the pad between the bivvy bag and the sleeping bag. Once the air is out of this pad it goes completely flat and you can just stuff it away with the sleeping system. If you were to roll it up into its stuff sack with the included repair kit and hand pump it comes to the size of a wine bottle without the neck. It is very light too weighing in at 476g.

  Next is the Inertia X Frame Recon. This is the super-lightweight option coming in at just 275g. It is significantly more skeletal that the other pad but doesn’t lose any performance as the support is body mapped to where it is needed. This pad inflates in 3 breaths and deflates in just a second too. Just like its bigger brother it comes with a hand pump, a puncture kit and a stuff sack. This pad folds down to the size of a coke can. Just like the other pad you can simply stuff it away with your sleeping bag. 

  To sum up, these are great bits of kit and I would highly recommend them for both soldiers and outdoorsmen. The Klymit brand is highly innovative and I would check out their full range on their website or Odin Tactical stock a good range of Klymit gear.

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This Kit Pest Review was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

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