Editors' Choice 2014: Big Agnes Double Z

If you camp with a partner, plan on buying two of these mattresses; otherwise, get ready for dirty looks from a jealous tentmate. 

The uninsulated Double Z hovers you 4 heavenly inches above the ground. “This is as cushy as it gets,” raves our gear editor, who pulled rank to get the pad for several nights in the Jordanian backcountry. Yet unlike some fat air mattresses, the Double Z is remarkably stable, thanks to four strips of daisy-chained webbing that run the length of the pad’s interior and connect the top and bottom together. “I never got that wobbly, pool-float feeling,” says another tester.

A unique inflation system makes setup a snap: Unscrew the top half, and a one-way valve keeps air from escaping as you blow it up (about a minute of puffing for an average-size female tester). Unscrew the whole thing to deflate in seconds. And all this comfort comes in an incredibly light (16 ounces), packable (8.5 by 4.5 inches) bundle so affordable you really could buy two. $80; 16 oz.; 20x72x4”; bigagnes.com