THE DIMPLED CLOSED CELL FOAM MAT IS NOT THE INHERITOR OF THE BULKY ROLL OF FOAM STRAPPED TO THE ALPINISTS PACK, IT IS A HOKEY CON JOB. THERE, WE SAID IT. ALONG THE LINES OF THE 1980s AERO BAR THAT SOLD YOU BUBBLES OF NOTHING AS SOME SORT OF GIMMICK, SO THE DIMPLED FOAM MAT IS A COMMERCIAL PLOY THAT FITS NONE OF ALPINISMS NEEDS. SEVERAL COMPANIES PRODUCE THEM, ALL CLAIMING SPECIAL GEOMETRY OF THE DIMPLES AND CORRUGATIONS, BUT ALL SELL YOU THE SAME HOAX THAT DETRACTS FROM WHAT A NORMAL FLAT MAT DOES.
WE SEE DOZENS OF THESE THINGS EVERY YEAR AND SEE NO REASON TO BRING ONE, AS THERE ARE DOZENS OF BETTER OPTIONS, INCLUDING THE GOOD OLD NON-DIMPLED MAT. THESE DIMPLED OR CORRUGATED MATS MAY LOOK COOL AND TECHY BUT FAIL IN ANY ASPECT OF INSULATION, AND CREATE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS THAT NEED MITIGATION RIGHT WHERE YOU DON’T WANT IT.
WE LIST THEM HERE;
1) THEY BARELY INSULATE. THESE ARE NOT 10mm MATS CLEVERLY MADE TO BE MORE INSULATING, THEY ARE 1mm MATS CLEVERLY MADE TO APPEAR LIKE MORE. ALL THOSE DIMPLES FLATTEN TO LESS THAN 1mm THE MOMENT YOU WEIGHT THEM, AND THOSE THAT DON’T DO NOT INSULATE MORE AS THEY ARE STILL ONLY 1mm THICK. ANY ADVANTAGE FROM THE DIMPLES TRAPPING EXTRA AIR FROM YOUR SLEEPING BAG IS EITHER NEGLIGIBLE OR NOT AT ALL, AND CAN BE BETTER ACHEIVED IN OTHER WAYS THAT DON’T HAVE THE PROBLEMS.
2) THEY ARE BULKY. WAY TO GO TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE 1mm FOAM AS BULKY AS 10mm, IT’S ABSURD TO CARRY ANY HUGE MAT OUTSIDE YOUR BACK, A HUNDRED FOLD WHEN IT IS JUST STUFF PARADING AS MORE THAN IT IS. FLATTEN ONE OUT AND THEY MAKE A MAT ABOUT 50% MORE IN AREA THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE, CRIMPLED UP WITH THERMOFORMING TO MAKE BULK WITHOUT INSULATION, MORE FOAM CAN BE CARRIED BETTER, INSIDE THE PACK, OR IF YOU MUST ON THE OUTSIDE THEN FLAT 5mm AT LEAST WARRANTS THE BULK.
3) THEY COLLECT DEBRIS AND SNOW. THE WORST OF THE THINGS ATTRIBUTES IS THE WAY THEY COLLECT SNOW, WATER, GRAVEL AND ICE, WHETHER LAID IN A TENT OR BIVY OR STRAPPED TO A PACK. THEY ARE HARD TO CLEAN OFF, TRAPPING STUFF UNDER THEM, AND ANY MOISTURE THEY COLLECT GOES STRAIGHT WHERE YOU LEAST WANT IT – INTO YOUR SLEEPING BAG. THIS ALONE SHOULD STRIKE THEM FROM ANY LIST.
IN BIVIES THEY ARE ATROCIOUS, OFTEN COLLECTING SPIN DRIFT WHERE NOTHING ELSE WILL. WE HAVE SEEN CLIMBERS IN A LITTLE PATCH OF SNOW WHERE ELSEWHERE IT DUSTS OFF.
4) THEY DON’T PACK WELL – ANYWHERE. ON A PACK, IN A PACK, IN A VEHICLE, IN A BARREL, ON A HORSE, THESE MATS ARE ALWAYS THE LAST THING LEFT THAT DOESN’T FIT ANYWHERE EFFICIENTLY. THEIR FLIMSY MASS TEARS SO THEY NEED MORE ATTENTION AND CARE THAN THEY DESERVE, AND THEY TAKE UP WAY MORE SPACE THAN ANY INSULATION THEY OFFER, THEN BEING SO LIGHT – BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY JUST 1mm – THEY BLOW AND FLAP AROUND.
5) THE SILVER DOES NOTHING. WE’VE COVERED THIS BEFORE – REFLECTIVE SURFACES NOT SEPARATED BY A DEAD AIR SPACE ON BOTH SIDES DO NOTHING AS INSULATION. THIS IS THERMODYNAMICS 101. AT BEST YOU’VE BEEN DUPED UNLESS YOU STICK ANOTHER MAT ON TOP (EXPECTED), AT WORST THE SURFACE ACTUALLY CONDUCTS AS IT’S, YOU KNOW, METALIZED.
6) THEY ARE EXPENSIVE. WE WISH WE HAD COME UP WITH THIS. COMPARED TO NORMAL FLAT MATS THESE COST MORE. JUST LIKE THE AERO BAR OR AS JOHNNY ROTTEN SAID, “DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU’VE BEEN CONNED?”
7) THE FOAM IS CRAP – BETTER STUFF EXISTS. YOU CAN PICK THIS STUFF APART WITH YOUR FINGERNAILS, IT BEING CHEAP CCF WITH LITTLE DENSITY OR INTEGRITY. OVER A TRIP IT COMPRESSES AND SOFTENS, THE PARTS WHERE YOUR SHOULDERS AND ASS PROTRUDE BECOMING NOTICEABLY LESS DIMPLED, AND AS THEY LIVE OUTSIDE YOUR PACK BY NECESSITY THEY GET POCK MARKED AND TORN. ANY OTHER MAT WOULD BE VIRTUALLY UNAFFECTED, BUT BEING 1mm THERE’S NOT DURABILITY BUILT IN.
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SO WHAT SHOULD YOU BE USING?
YOU CERTAINLY NEED A CLOSED CELL MAT SOMEWHERE IN YOUR EQUATION, WHETHER AS YOU ONLY MAT OR PAIRED WITH AN INFLATING ONE.
AT IT’S MOST BASIC, A REGULAR 10mm, QUALITY, CCF MAT DOES THE TRICK AS IT LONG HAS. THE SAME COMPANIES THAT MAKE THE DIMPLED JUNK USUALLY ALSO MAKE THESE, AVOIDING ANYTHING THAT’S SQUISHY OR COMES IN A ROLL.
AT THE OTHER END OF THE SCALE IS SPECIALTY CCF OF THE SORT THAT GETS USED IN PACK BACK PANELS. THIS IS THE BEST STUFF, ISN’T CHEAP, BUT IS WORTH EVERY DIME. 5mm OF THIS STUFF IS ENOUGH, CUT INTO FOLDING QUARTERS AND HINGED WITH GAFFERS TAPE. THE DEDICATED ALPINIST ADDS SOME CORD IF IT WILL BE GOING ON TOP OF ANOTHER MAT. THIS WILL SLIDE INSIDE ANY PACK AS EVEN FOUR LAYERS COMES TO THE THICKNESS OF A BACK PANEL. WE HAVE STUFF OVER A DECADE IN HEAVY USE THAT SHOWS NO SIGNS OF COMPRESSION.
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YOU MAY NOT HATE THESE MATS AS MUCH AS WE DO, BUT WE SEE THEM AS THE ANTITHESIS OF ALPINE FUNCTION, STRIKING A CRITICAL BIT OF GEAR WITH AN INDUSTRY CON. IN THE CAR WITH THE KIDS OR SUMMERS BY THE LAKE WE ARE SURE THEY ARE FINE, BUT WE DON’T DO THAT STUFF AND SO WARN OUR CLIMBERS GOING INTO SERIOUS PLACES.
