Shoutout to the cheap foam sleeping pad I bought for a trip to the White Mountains

I grabbed a $25 pad from a discount store before a three-day hike. The first night was fine, but on night two, the valve started leaking slowly. I woke up on the hard ground, freezing. Now I'm torn between the convenience of a cheap, packable pad and the reliability of a heavier, more expensive one. Has anyone else had a budget piece of gear fail mid-trip and what did you switch to?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles70721d ago

Learned that lesson with a leaky pad in the Adirondacks myself.

tara34521d ago

Wait, you went into the White Mountains with a discount foam pad? That's asking for trouble, the ground up there is so cold and rocky. I had a cheap inflatable one pop on me once, just a tiny puncture but it was miserable. Now I save up for the good stuff, because being cold and sore wrecks the whole next day of hiking. It's worth the extra weight to actually sleep.