A comfortable night's sleep is the key to staying alert on a deer stand but when you're camping that can be a challenge. Prime hunting areas are often not prime camping spots and rocky or uneven ground can cause you to wake up with aches and pains in back muscles that can ruin your day, or even your entire hunt. Lack of sleep has a cumulative effect that can cause you to doze at the wrong time and miss a shot.
There are a lot of options when it comes to solving this problem. Cots are great but on some trips the added weight and bulk eliminates this as a reasonable possibility. Air mattresses also work well, as long as they don't leak, but you've got to pump them up, which means another thing to pack and time dedicated to the task. Pads are the next option, and obviously some are better than others.
I've used several different types of pads over the years, but the camping experts at Cabela's have come up with the ultimate solution for slumbering in splendor so it didn't take a rocket scientist to name it the Ultimate. I just spent 10 days camping with Cabela's new Ultimate self-inflating sleeping pad and had a great experience.
This pad is designed with a lot of quality features, but the two that will get your attention are overall size and thickness. The Ultimate is a whopping 34 inches wide, 76 inches long and most importantly 3-½ inches thick. If you want even more pad, the Ultimate Double is 54 inches wide by 78 inches in length. It also is 3-½ inches thick. The Ultimate weighs 9 pounds, 2 ounces and the Ultimate double weighs 14 pounds, 9 ounces; so these are probably not the pads that you would want to backpack up a mountain, but once you sleep on one you just might.
On some pads you can still feel the ground at maximum compression points like the shoulders and hips, but not with this one. All you have to do is unroll the pad, release the two air valves and it inflates instantly without any huffing, puffing or pumping. Once the pad has fully expanded simply close off the air valves and you're ready to drift off into dreamland and ponder that big buck you've been scouting.
This pad has enough width and length that rolling off of it in the night isn't a problem, but there is more to this beauty than size. The exterior is tough enough to last for many years to come. The pad's exterior surface is made of a new 100% cross-dyed polyester ripstop fabric. If you flop around at night, like a carp on the beach, there's not much that will solve the problem of slippage; however, the pad's outer material is textured to minimize slipping and sliding when you change positions during the night. Sleeping bags with a cotton duck outer shell tend to slip less than those with slicker fabrics, but I did not find this to be a significant issue.
The secret to the self-inflating feature is open-cell foam padding that is fully bonded to a polyester outer shell, which creates a smooth, soft, extremely even sleeping surface. When your trip is over all you need to do is open the air valves and start rolling it up from the opposite end. The air is easily squeezed out as you compress the bag under your knees. Once you get it rolled up, simply wrap the straps and snap the buckles in place. These straps are attached to the end of the bag so you don't have to worry about losing them or trying to remember which bag you put them in when you set up camp.
A handy stuff sack and repair kit is included, just in case you accidentally damage the pad, but I can't imagine how you would do that. This is one tough pad that will give your back a real appreciation for softness.
Click this link to purchase an Cabela's Ultimate Self-Inflating Sleeping Pads.
