Why Do Backpackers Use Foam Sleeping Pads?
Many backpackers carry closed-cell foam sleeping pads because they’re lightweight and don’t fail like air mattresses. If you want to carry multi-purpose gear to save weight, you’re hard on gear or want to save money, closed-cell sleeping pads provide many advantages over inflatable and self-inflating pads.
Advantages of Foam Sleeping Pads
- Inexpensive
- Fail-proof, puncture-proof
- Durable
- Ultralight
- Don’t absorb water
- Good R-value for warm-weather backpacking
- Firm
- Quiet to sleep on
- Simplicity
- Don’t have to be inflated or deflated
- Easily combined with other sleeping pads for more warmth (inflatable, self-inflating, underquilt)
- Easy to trim
Granted, foam pads aren’t for everyone. But they are simple and reliable to use. You don’t have to blow them up before use or struggle to deflate and pack them each morning. There’s nothing to break, they’re inexpensive, easy to modify and trim, and quite lightweight. You can stack them for cold weather use. You can even shape extra pieces of foam to support parts of your body, like a donut shape to support your hips or a raised platform like a pillow for your head.

Multi-Purpose Backpacking Gear
One of the cornerstones of ultralight backpacking philosophy is the use of multi-purpose gear. If you can use one piece of gear multiple ways, you can reduce the number of items you carry, the size of your backpack, and the overall weight of your gear. If you take this route, it’s obviously prudent to use gear that can’t fail…like a foam sleeping pad. It can never leak or burst.
For example, you can use a foam pad as a :
- Sleeping pad in a tent
- Back insulation in a hammock
- Sit pad
- Tent or hammock doormat
- Backpack frame (rolled or flat)
- Stove windscreen
- Pot cozy
- Foam padding for a broken leg or arm splint

Best Foam Sleeping Pads
The most popular foam sleeping pads with backpackers are the:
High-quality blue foam pads of yesteryear are increasingly difficult to find and buy, so these are your best options.
1. NEMO Switchback Foam Sleeping Pad
2. Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Foam Sleeping Pad
3. Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest Classic
4. Gossamer Gear Nightlight Foam Sleeping Pad
Check for the latest price at:
Gossamer Gear
5. Gossamer Gear Thinlight 1/8″ Foam Sleeping Pad
Check for the latest price at:
Gossamer Gear
Wrap Up
However you slice it, closed-cell foam sleeping pads are a tremendous ultralight backpacking sleeping pad option. Lightweight, affordable, and easy to customize, they provide tremendous value for the money, which explains their continued popularity within the ultralight backpacking and long-distance hiking community.
See Also:
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