Prudent Prepping: Pad of Comfort

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

Last week I mentioned the new gear that I added to my supplies. The featured item was a new sleeping pad purchased at REI, and I said hadn't the time to try it out.

Well, this week I had the time.

Cirrus Air Pad
As mentioned in the post, the Cirrus Air Pad is a replacement for an old Thermarest. I'm familiar with self-inflating pads, and while this is a bit different, it's not by much.

Size and weight are listed in last week's post, so I am not going to go over them here.

Inflating the Pad
Per the instructions:

1. Open the fill port
2. Place your hand over the opening
3. Pump up the pad using a CPR- like motion. 

There is an embedded video here which demonstrates the process, but since there are several down-rated reviews on this pad, I thought I'd try it myself:

The total time from unrolling to inflated to a pretty firm level was just over two minutes. To me, this is not excessive time, nor does it require excessive effort to fill this pad. You do have to exert some effort, raising your hands off the fill port to get the air into the pad, but as shown, the process is simple.

I will have to test this overnight to see how comfortable it really is, but after lying on it for 20 minutes, I think that sleeping on it will be very comfortable. There is a little bit of an air mattress feel and sound as I move around on it, but one thing the pad has over my old one is the row of separate 'pillows' at each edge (I think I will have a difficult time rolling off at night!) I will definitely need a separate pillow for neck support, but those used to a flat surface might find it acceptable.

Deflation is extremely simple:

1. Open the deflation port to release the air
2. Fold up
3. Roll slowly to force the air out 
4. Replace the deflation plug to keep everything tightly rolled. 

Most of the air rushed out after I opened the port (seen on lower right corner of the pad in the picture below), so repacking the pad was as easy as rolling up a sleeping bag, if not faster.

The Takeaway

• Shop your usual places for sales, closeouts and discontinued items. As long as you know and trust the source, on-line is great! 
• I should have replaced my pad before now, but finances prevented it. 
• The Cirrus Air Pad is fast to inflate, deflate and store. 

Recap

• Cirrus Air Pad from REI: originally $139, but $71.20 after all the markdowns!

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running! 

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.