Sleeping mats serve two main purposes:

1. An insulation layer to help keep you warm; and

2. Additional comfort - for a better night's sleep!

On a Queensland summer camp you could be quite comfortable without a mat at all, but they can really make a difference in cold weather (or just for a better night's sleep!).

There are a number of options....

These are very cheap to pick up. You can either buy a ready-made one from a camping store, or get a foam company to cut something to suit you.

I have to be honest here, I'm not a fan of these for camping. Whilst they are fairly cheap and quite comfortable, there are some significant drawbacks:

• The insulation properties are very poor so an air mattress can be quite cold in winter;

• They take a lot of time and lung power to fill with air (we don't generally have power to run pumps on camp!);

• Usually our Scouts manage to bring along one with a leak so we spend camping time repairing mattress leaks!

If you're doing a lot of camping (and if not, why not?!) and would like something a bit more comfortable than a basic foam mat, then these are the way to go. There's a bewildering array of self-inflating mats out there, so how do you choose? Here's some things to think about:

Quality. You'll often hear that "you get what you pay for", and this is probably generally true of mats too. Self-inflating mats range from under $50 to over $350.

Insulation Rating. The more expensive brands provide "R" rating information for their mats. The greater the "R", the better the insulation. If you're only camping around SE Qld in warm weather then this isn't of great importance. But if you're planning to sleep on the ice, spend more money for a higher "R"!

Insulation Material. There are two main choices here: foam or down (feathers). Foam is the more common, but down is becoming more popular as it typically offers better insulation by weight.

Size. There's also a wide variety of sizes. Thicker mats are more comfortable and may have higher "R" ratings, but they are heavier, bulkier to pack and typically more expensive. Thinner mats are lighter and pack into small spaces well, but you compromise on comfort and "R". Many mats come in a short (3/4) version - the idea being that you can insulate most of your body and still cut down on weight and bulk. But you may not find a short mat as comfortable!

Weight. There's a big trade-off between weight, insulation, comfort and price. Weights range from as little as 410g to as much as 3kg!

Inflation. If these mats have been rolled up for a while, they won't fully self-inflate very quickly. You will generally have to top up the air a bit yourself (but this is only a small volume of air compared with a traditional air mattress! Some of these types of mats come with an inbuilt hand pump instead (e.g. Exped).

Recommendations?

• If you're a beginner, start off with a basic foam mat and see how you go. If you're a bit more serious, get into the self-inflating mats.

• Start with a moderate weight mat that you can use for hiking and for camping. (And your PL will love it when your gear fits in the trailer easily!) Then if you want something more comfortable for camping, you can buy a larger self-inflating mat for that.

• There's no doubt many good brands of mat out there, but if you're looking for quality our personal recommendations are:

Therm-a-rest

• For camping and occasional weekend hikes, look at the "Trail Scout" (3.7R, 680g)

• If you're serious about cutting down on weight, check out the Prolite for a great hiking mat (2.2R, 460g). Or if you're happy to spend a bit more money, check out the new Neo (4.9R 500g).

Exped

• The Downmat 7 is a good mat that will probably serve you for both camping and hiking (5.9R, 860g).

• For our climate the Downmat 9 is probably over-kill (8R, 1240g).

Sea to Summit

• The Comfort Light Insulated range would serve you well for both camping and hiking (4.2R, 570g).

• Note that some of our testers (and their tent mates) found these mats a bit noisy - depending on the type of tent floor it's used on.