Bushwalk Australia

Lightest option for an insulating pad over a sea to summit mat for winter use? I have the ultralight mat which has nothing to insulate against the cold ground but is very light. I thought I might lay sort of blanket on top for winter use rather than buying a whole second mat. Microfleece maybe? Any other suggestions?

I posted elsewhere recently about taking a closed cell foam (CCF) mat to supplement the S2S mat. I've spent a few nights on frozen ground and it worked very well, without the ccf you can feel cold spots on shoulders and hips, but with the ccf it definitely boosts the warmth. I got one for $6 from kmart that has reflective foil on one side, and cut it in half so i didn't have to carry the whole thing - It's really light but quite bulky.

Do you put it under or over? Bulky might not work for me as I will be low on back space on food drop days but I will keep it in mind.

You could look at a Short Z Lite
http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-r ... te/product
and then put the backpack under the S2S in the foot area if needed

Have you used on Franco? The specs have it looking pretty big in the packed dimensions. 50cm long packed

All CCF mats will be bulky, the Zlite is one of the better ones in that regard because of the way it folds up. CCF mats will offer the best insulation to weight ratio for your purpose, anything like a fleece or wool blanket will have to be too heavy and bulky to take on a walk but would work for car camping.

In your position I'd be tempted to just grab a cheap kmart CCF mat, maybe cut it down a little and strap it to the outside of your pack. Just make sure to get a foam sleeping mat, not a yoga mat, they're much more dense and heavy.

Put up with the bulk, any CCF pad beats the insulation value of any carryable woollen or fleece blanket on a weight for weight basis
I use the tried and true RidgeRest when camping on snow and sometimes double up if i think it will be cold by using a cheap blue K-Mart mat to protect the RidgeRest
http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-r ... ar/product
Somewhat less bulky and a little lighter
http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-r ... te/product

AWTtrekker wrote:Do you put it under or over? Bulky might not work for me as I will be low on back space on food drop days but I will keep it in mind.

I put it under. I feel like that keeps the air pockets in the mat further away from the cold ground, they warm up and less cold wicks away. That's not based on any science though ! I only bother carrying half for the extra warmth on my torso.

If you only take half a mat, fold it in half and slide it in your pack on the edge furthest away from you. Otherwise you can always roll it up and strap it on the outside, but I feel like you're likely to damage it eventually.

No, I have not used the Z Lite but I have used a thinner version of a CCF but I don't think you can get it here.
About 4mm thick, under the original Neo Air I was OK on snow with that.
(it was from Gossamer Gear : http://gossamergear.com/sleeping.html)
If you don't want the width (can't fold CCF both ways) you could then look at the Klymit https://www.klymit.com.au/shop/category/all-products/881.
Probably would not work for me because I toss and turn.
You put that inside your sleeping bag, so not ideal if your bag is on the small side already.