The Thermarest Trail Pro hit my doorstep just in time for the end of cold weather. The Trail Pro is a self-inflating foam sleeping pad and it comes in the mummy shape. For me, sleeping pads have three main characteristics: comfort, weight/bulk, and cost. I know that‘s four, I went to kindergarten too, but weight and bulk sort of go together. The Trail Pro is affordable and super comfortable. Weight and bulk are not bad either, but gram weenies and those worried about room in their backpack probably won‘t choose this pad.
The Trail Pro is re-designed for 2017 and comes in an all-new size. Regular and large are the two normal sizes for sleeping pads, but Thermarest decided to give a little more, and brilliantly offers the Trail Pro in a regular/wide size. I‘m not a small guy, standing about 6‘1” tall. The regular/wide pad is just about perfect for me. The advantage of going with regular/wide over a large is in weight savings. If you don‘t need the extra length on the pad but want a bit of extra width, now you can save bulk and weight with the new size.
The Thermarest Trail Pro features an air bolster surrounding insulating foam in the center of the sleeping pad. The air bolster is a bit thicker and it doesn’t hold foam. This makes the Trail Pro bigger while keeping it as light as possible.
Thermarest used diagonal cut ultralight U.S. sourced foam to give the Trail Pro a four season sleeping pad with an R-value of 4.0. R-value measures how well a material resists the transfer of heat. A higher R- value pad has more insulating power than a lower R-value sleeping pad. I‘ve heard some say than for a winter sleeping pad, they want a minimum R-value of 4.0. I think this sleeping pad will work great for any weather I‘m likely to see here in the south.
The Thermarest Trail Pro is a self-inflating pad but I needed to add a few breaths to inflate the air bolster around the edge. Three breaths inflated the air bolster but I liked the firmness given with 5 breaths of air. After removal from the stuff sack, the Trail Pro inflates itself in about 5 minutes. Storing the pad flat underneath a bed or another convenient spot with the inflation valve open is best to prevent permanently compressing the foam. Storing the pad in this way will also provide the fastest self-inflation time.
My regular/wide test sample measures 25 inches wide by 72 inches long and is a full 2 inches thick. On my scales and in the stuff sack, the pad weighs 30.3 ounces, which is a bit lighter than the advertised 2 pound weight. Thermarest says the packed size of the Trail Pro in regular/wide is 13 by 6.7 inches. I didn‘t measure the packed size but check out the photograph of it by a Nalgene bottle for a reference. The top fabric is a 50D mini hex rip polyester and the bottom fabric is a thicker 75D polyester. The pad feels plenty tough to me.
The pros of this pad are the superior comfort and reasonable weight and cost. The packed size is a big but you could definitely carry this pad backpacking for some trips. Camping from the car or boat will be great with the Thermarest Trail Pro. MSRP on the regular/wide pad is $109.95. Click here to browse over the Thermarest website and check out all of their gear.
Mark
Thanks to Thermarest for providing the Trail Pro for testing and review. We at Industry Outsider have limited budgets just like everyone else. Hopefully the information we pass along about our experiences benefits everyone.