Review: Exped DownMat 7 Pump Sleeping Mat

If you are anything like me, you enjoy a good night’s sleep after a long day of travel.  And if you are looking for a way to sleep well and feel at home while out on the road, this article is for you!

Sleeping Around

There are a number of different sleeping mats to choose from, but for the traveling cyclist, size, weight, and durability are of utmost importance.

After visiting quite a few sporting good stores in Switzerland (remember that the Swiss are known for high quality products) I decided on purchasing an Exped DownMat 7 Pump sleeping mat. The mat cost me 179 Swiss francs, or about $155 USD. (I probably could have gotten it for about $40 less in the United States)

Why Exped?

The three main reasons I decided on this particular sleeping mat are:

1) The mat compacts down to a very small size and easily fits inside my panniers (something I couldn’t do with my much larger Thermarest sleeping mat)

2) The mat is 2.8 inches (7 cm) thick, which gets me way up off the ground and keeps me warmer at night.

3) I do an incredible amount of camping in which I am required to sleep on the ground… and after years of using inferior products, I decided it was finally time to get the best sleeping mat possible.

The thing that really sold me on this particular sleeping mat is that in one particular sporting good store they actually let me test the available mats on a bed of rocks. Yes. A bed of rocks!

You put a mat down on the rocks and them climbed on top of the mat, just like you were going to go to sleep. When I tested the Thermarest mattress, you could still feel the rocks underneath your back. It felt pretty good, but you could still feel the rocks.

Then I tried the Exped mat and you couldn’t feel a thing! It felt incredible. I felt like I was floating in a pool… and I was sold!

Other Cool Features

Beside the fact that the mat compresses down to such a small size and is thick enough to knock out any jagged rocks that might be sitting underneath you, the Exped DownMat 7 has a couple other cool features worth mentioning.

1) The first is that the mat is actually lined with down. As the product says on its label, “Super light 700 fill-power goose down traps air beneath your body, decreasing the heat-robbing effect regular air mats have when lying on cold ground. Down’s superb compression factor allows the DownMat to pack comparably with other air or foam pads, and inside the tough, UV- and abrasion-resistant polyester fabric, a Nocar treatment prevents molding and clumping.” (The company also makes a mat made of synthetic material. The synthetic mat is a bit cheaper, but also a little heavier.)

2) Additionally, the mat has a built in air pump that helps during the inflation process. The benefit of pumping the air in with your hands versus blowing it in with your mouth is that blowing air in with you mouth introduces moisture to the mat and this moisture can actually make you cooler at night.

3) The mat is also extremely easy to deflate. There is a large valve opening at the end of the mat that simply siphons all the air directly out of the mat when you roll it up the next morning.

4) And finally, the mat comes with a 3-year warranty, so if there is any sort of defect in the mat, the company will replace it as no additional cost. And in case something does happen to the mat while you are out on the road, your Exped purchase comes with a patch kit – just in case!

Exped has a number of different sleeping mats to choose from. They all come in different shapes and sizes, but here are the specs for the DownMat 7.

Other Specifications

• Size: 178×52 cm / 70×20“
• Thickness: 7 cm / 2.8“
• Weight: 835 g / 29 oz
• Packsack: 140 g / 5 oz
• Packed: 19×15 cm / 7×6“
• Fill Weight**: 170 g / 6 oz
• Temperature: -24°C / -11°F

So, that’s it! If you are looking for a high quality sleeping mat for your upcoming bicycle adventure, I highly suggest you look into the Exped line of inflatable sleeping mats. More info can be found at: www.exped.com

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