REVIEW: Mountain Equipment Aerostat Down 7.0 Mat

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 UKC/UKH Gear 02 Apr 2019
It's a warm and robust mat for serious mountain and winter use Robust, comfy and very very warm, the Aerostat 7.0 is a serious camping mat for seriously cold places - but one that'd still be worth having in the British hills too, says Dan Bailey.

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 simes303 06 Apr 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

£170 for a sleeping mat?

Anyone who thinks that's a good idea is utterly insane.

12
 dominic lee 06 Apr 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Seriously, does the world need down filled camping mats....🤑

5
 Doghouse 06 Apr 2019
In reply to dominic lee:

If you've tried one, yes. 

1
 GHawksworth 07 Apr 2019
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

So its the Exped Downmat 7 without the integrated pump?

 simes303 07 Apr 2019
In reply to Doghouse:

> If you've tried one, yes. 

If you've got far, far too much money, yes.

7
 Dr.S at work 07 Apr 2019
In reply to simes303:

I’d not splash the cash on this - but I would spend that much and more on a sleeping bag.

now that makes no sense at all, as both contribute to the warmth of the sleeper.

 simes303 08 Apr 2019
In reply to Dr.S at work:

> I’d not splash the cash on this - but I would spend that much and more on a sleeping bag.

> now that makes no sense at all, as both contribute to the warmth of the sleeper.

I would hope that a sleeping bag contained a hell of a lot more down than a thin mat.

I've spent many nights camping out in Glencoe and Aviemore at new year, one night was close to -20. I mostly used a home made (down) sleeping bag and a roll mat I found in a skip and never had any problem. The bag and mat together cost me around £50 and a bit of work on a sewing machine.

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In reply to simes303:

Whilst I respect your ability to manufacture your own gear for a fraction of the cost, the long and short of it is that you represent an impossibly small minority of people willing to engage in this level of effort. Most people - rightly or wrongly - just want to buy stuff.

I would also argue that it shouldn't really come as a surprise given that this quite unashamedly premium product. If you want to spend less buy a Karrimat, but be prepared for it to be quite cold/uncomfortable; if you want to spend a bit more, buy a Thermarest; but if you're after something that is super specialist, super warm, then - on account of Dan's feedback - the Aerostat is a strong contender.

Also, having had a quick scan around the competition it would actually appear to be quite competitively priced, with the DownMat HL Winter M coming in at £205, the Thermarest Neo Air XTherm coming in at £195, and the Sea to Summit  Comfort Plus at £175 - all of which were reviewed in last year's group test (https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/camping/sleeping_mats/insulated_inflatable_...).

In summary, if you are looking at buying a premium product in any given area you'd expect to pay a premium. Whatever you think about that cost a quick analysis of what's out there suggests that the £170-£195 mark is about what you'd expect to pay. If you're after something cheaper there's plenty of options out there, just don't expect them to be quite so warm.

Post edited at 11:14
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 simes303 08 Apr 2019
In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Okay Rob.

I was trying not to comment on the price of things any more but I was amazed that anyone might even consider paying £170. Obviously most people aren't going to make their own stuff but my point really was that in my experience if you've got a half decent sleeping bag then a rollmat for a tenner is perfectly adequate. It has the added advantage that you can use it as a roll-around hitching sign, like the signs on the fronts of buses, and avoid having to carry loads of cardboard signs.

2
In reply to simes303:

I guess I feel the same way about a friend of mine who's just bought a new fridge/freezer for what I suspect was in/around the £2000 mark. To me it makes no sense, but to him it somehow does.

Maybe neither of us will ever understand

 simes303 08 Apr 2019
In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

> I guess I feel the same way about a friend of mine who's just bought a new fridge/freezer for what I suspect was in/around the £2000 mark. To me it makes no sense, but to him it somehow does.

Yeah, that's crazy.

> Maybe neither of us will ever understand

And that's probably true. Cheers, Si.

 TobyA 08 Apr 2019
In reply to simes303:

Having camped at fair amount at -20 in the Nordics, I am shall, we say, sceptical about your claim that either you were comfortable at -20 on a basic roll mat or that it was -20. Two roll mats or a roll mat and a basic thermarest together - that works, but I've never found one mat enough in the minus high teens and into the twenties. I have a mate who has used a down mat successfully on long trips in Alaska and Antarctica with those sorts of temperatures, so maybe mats like these are the 1 mat solution.

 Dr.S at work 08 Apr 2019
In reply to simes303:

probably it would - but the big problem for me with down mats is that the stuff under your bum gets squashed - something this matt avoids (as do the cheaper synthetic ones).

How did you find the down to manage? I've an old ME mag that i'd like to recylcle the down from but a bit nervous of having a house full of feathers!

 simes303 08 Apr 2019
In reply to Dr.S at work:

> probably it would - but the big problem for me with down mats is that the stuff under your bum gets squashed - something this matt avoids (as do the cheaper synthetic ones).

> How did you find the down to manage? I've an old ME mag that i'd like to recylcle the down from but a bit nervous of having a house full of feathers!

I'm not sure I understand your questions. What do you mean when you ask How did I find the down to manage? And what is an ME mag?

 simes303 09 Apr 2019
In reply to Dr.S at work:

Ah, I see! I misread your post.

You'll get a bit of down around the room but it's not too bad. Use a small room if you can as it's going to be easier to tidy afterwards. Make sure you have no draughts. Move REALLY slowly when you're moving down around. Don't breathe on it. Make absolutely certain no-one will come into the room as you do it. I made my sleeping bag in a rented attic room. It only took ten minutes with a vacuum cleaner to get the room back to normal and I didn't waste much down.

I calculated the volumes of the sleeping bag sections and allocated down ratios by weight. I used a digital balance that I borrowed from work. I think it was 1dp accuracy.

My down was supplied in a large plastic bag and it was reasonably straightforward to take out, weigh it, and push it into the sleeping bag through a homemade cardboard funnel. I imagine it will be harder for you to extract down from a pre-made sleeping bag. Let me know how you get on if you attempt it.

Cheers, Si.

 simes303 09 Apr 2019
In reply to TobyA:

> Having camped at fair amount at -20 in the Nordics, I am shall, we say, sceptical about your claim that either you were comfortable at -20 on a basic roll mat or that it was -20. Two roll mats or a roll mat and a basic thermarest together - that works, but I've never found one mat enough in the minus high teens and into the twenties. I have a mate who has used a down mat successfully on long trips in Alaska and Antarctica with those sorts of temperatures, so maybe mats like these are the 1 mat solution.

Fair enough. I definitely didn't get through all those nights without the odd shiver, but I was generally okay. My homemade sleeping bag contained a kilogram of down which I think is quite a lot so maybe that helped.


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