The earliest sleeping pads I had for camping, back in the 1960s, were 3⁄8″ sheets of closed-cell foam. In the early ’70s I switched to the first self-inflating pad which was only three-quarter length but was easily a full 1″ thick and a great improvement in comfort. Since then, I’ve been drawn to longer, wider, and thicker pads and I am now more comfortable sleeping at anchor than I am at home.These luxurious sleeping pads are also self-inflating, but it takes a long time for the foam inside to expand and draw air in through the intake valve. The earliest self-inflating pads had to be topped off by blowing into them, but the moisture that method introduced could damage the air-proof coating on the inside surface of the fabric. My two newest pads avoid that with pumps that are included. One of the pads has a small palm-sized fabric hand pump, good for topping off, and the other has an open-ended roll-top inflation bag to speed filling.While the comfort of my largest sleeping pads has been well worth the time it takes to inflate them, I took a chance on buying two compact electric pumps with internal rechargeable batteries. Both are rated IPX4 (splashproof) and include five adapter nozzles and LED area lights.

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