The Cheap Sleeping Pad Experiment continues. The rule is: try a new sleeping pad each camping trip, the pad needs to cost under $50 to qualify as “cheap.” This is my third one, and it’s the ZOOOBELIVES brand, purchased on Amazon. I believe it cost close to $40 but right now it’s even cheaper — $29.
Let me be very clear here — this thing is huge. It packs up the same size as a lot of tents do. I mean, Jesus. But I don’t care, when I go solo camping I’m not looking to save space. I bought this because it claims to be super thick — 4 inches. That’s enormous, most pads are half of that thickness at best.
There are two valves. The main one shown in the second photo, and then this valve for the built-in foot pump. Let me give you some expert advice: the foot pump is a joke. It does work, I think, but it takes an extremely long time. In fact I gave up after a few minutes because I felt like it was it really getting there. So I used the main nozzle and aired it up in 30 seconds with my GIGA Pump.
Final opinion? This thing is fucking awesome. It’s as thick as advertised, it kept air all night long, and I damn near thought I was sleeping on a bed. I can’t testify to the warmth, it got down to 50 degrees at night but I was snug as a bug with my usual assortment of blankets. I always put a blanket under my air pads and one on top so I’m not sleeping directly on the cold synthetic material. I honestly don’t want to try another pad after this one, I love it, but I also can’t wait to keep trying more. Again — do not buy this if you are a hiker, it’s simply enormous and heavy. Car camping, absolutely.
The Lantern of Oz 