Klymit Inertia X-Frame

“This is the only sleeping pad I’ll ever need—for my ounce-counting backpacking trips and my weight-be-damned, luxe car camps,” says one tester. That’s because the Astro combo is a pad system that allows you to strip it down or amp it up, depending on the trip. At its heart is a 2.5-inch, full-length mattress that’s insulated with open-cell foam and packs down to about eight by four inches. Alone, it’s as comfortable and warm (down to at least 15°F) as any pad we’ve tried, with a rugged, 75-denier polyester shell that fended off abrasion even on sandpapery slickrock.

The Astro takes some lung power—and three to four minutes—to inflate, but the handy push/pull valve let’s you easily cap it for a breather. (You can also opt for the foot-powered Disco Pad Pump, which weighs 2.2 ounces and costs $40.) For trailhead throw-downs, basecamps, and drive-up campgrounds, slide the Astro into its Pillowtop sleeve. Made of open-cell polyurethane foam, it adds a pound and a half, a few inches of girth when packed, and an entirely new level of comfort.

The combo is like a portable mattress, a full 3.25 inches thick. “It turned our lumpy, rock-strewn trailhead campsite in Capitol Reef into a featherbed,” says one tester. And the price? It looks high, but consider this: If you were to buy a lightweight backpacking pad and a decadent car-camping mattress, you could easily spend more and not sleep as well. Astro: $100; 1 lb. 8 oz.; 20x72x2.5”; Pillowtop: $80; 1 lb. 9 oz.; nemoequipment.com

Using body mapping and NobleTek insulation technology, Klymit has engineered a minimalist camping frame that enables campers to sleep
comfortably no matter how little room they have. Packs down to smaller than a soda can and can be inflated with air or Argon for additional
insulation. Created for fast and light backpackers, the Inertia X-Frame is durable enough for any terrain. Cutouts in the frame are designed as “Loft Pockets” and are meant to reduce weight and size, while eliminating the compaction of sleeping bag insulation and conductive heat loss, capturing body heat in the dead air space. The top of the Inertia X-Frame is constructed from 30 D ripstop nylon and the bottom from 75 D polyester.