Rite, update on the Trekology Aluft UL80 and Aluft 2.0 pillow. Tested 'em both last night under the stars (technically under a tent but you know what I mean).
Temperatures last night in Bolton according to the met office dipped as low as 4 degrees. My bag has a comfort rating of 10 degrees and an extreme of 0 degrees. The mat has an independent R value of between 1.6 and 2.2.
I was cold. I even dug out my emergency foil blanket to put between the bag and mat which helped me warm up enough to sleep. This mat is definitely not for cold weather.
It was comfy though. I had to blow in a bit more air via my lungs so my body wasn't touching the ground but even then it was still nice and soft.
At 190cm, its a bit longer than most mats and only just fitted into my tent. Some reviewers have said they thought it narrow but that's not my feeling. None of my limbs were left dangling over the edge for the monster under the bed to chew on. Speaking of edges, the raised ones on this mat apparently keep you from falling off it. I'm not sure how realistic an expectation that is, but the tent was on a slight slope in my garden and I remained on the mat.
Other reviewers have also stated that the mat can rustle like crisp packets and be noisy. I can tell you now that my ears are sensitive enough to make little sounds almost painful to hear and I didn't think this mat to be unusually noisy compared to other mats out there.
It's supplied with its own storage bag and a patch incase the dog/cat/partner tries eating it. The mat rolls up to about the size of a beer can and has an elasticated strap to keep it all in place. The bags size is on the generous side and allows me to also store the pillow inside it.
Speaking of which...
For its size, the pillow is very comfy. I had it pumped up fairly hard so my head wouldn't sink too low but its shape supports my head, neck and to some extent, my shoulders. There were no crunchy type noises from it either. It has a strap which allows it to be fixed to the mat so it doesn't slide all over the place and this further helped by little rubber dimples on the under side. This means the pillow can be placed under the sleeping bag rather than on top which helps keep it clean...no greasy/oily/mucky/bug infested head laying on it. It does come with its own little bag for storage but I find it easier to just shove it in with the mat.
So there ya go.
I said I'd do a review on my new
Decathlon tent a while back and whilst I have indeed camped in it a few times, these have all been in calm, dry weather. Any tent can cope with that. Only good ones survive a storm battering so soon as I can, I'll shove it into a storm setting see what happens and then I'll review it. However, I've had to again chop the poles as the amount of strength needed to bend them into their fixings was ridiculous. I've even managed to slightly curve the things from doing that.
And I've changed the guy line attachments. Decathlons method seemed overly complicated and prone to failure to me so I've done away with them and I'm now just using simple knots.
From this
To this
I'm also thinking of replacing the pegs, but more of that when I review it.
