Earlier this year we picked up the Exped Megamat Duo Sleeping Pad when it went on sale. After three camping trips and about six nights of use, it has been returned. This sleeping pad for camping was extremely comfortable but it developed a separation at the seam and started letting air out. Our most recent trip was a miserable night of sleep and left a bad taste in our mouth.
We could have exchanged it for another Exped Megamat
But we didn’t. Why?
The Exped Megamat Due is too expensive
I have a few reasons for not giving Exped a second chance. First off — the price. It was $272 on sale. $389 regular price (wide version). Very steep for a mattress that I would only sleep on 20 days out of the year. I bought it because I recently had surgery and needed something to give my shoulder a little cushion. But after the seam separation and that bad night of sleep, it’s just not worth the price.
Because the price is so high I felt I had to baby it. No stepping on it. Had to train the dog to stay off it. Keep the kids away from it (they still like sleeping on the floor). Our tent was already cramped so having to tippy-toe around wasn’t ideal.
The storage bag for this is terrible. It’s like a half bag and doesn’t completely protect the sleeping pad. You can try to cinch the bag all the way down, but it still doesn’t keep it secure. Maybe we were doing something wrong. For the price I expect a better bag. Not to mention this packs away larger than our sleeping bags.
Inflation was not easy
If you have a bad arm or shoulder, the other arm will be doing all the work. You’re supposed to first give it 15 minutes to self inflate. Then use the hand pump to finish off the inflation. We found that it took almost 3 minutes to get it to a comfortable level. That’s a lot of pumping and not fun when its time for bed and you’re exhausted after a long day in the sun.
Would I buy again?
Like I said, it’s very comfortable. Perhaps on a long trip camping in the same place it would be nice to have. But for one or two night trips I’d rather use a cheaper, less comfortable sleeping pad that I didn’t have to baby. For now I’ll be trying the new MalloMe Sleeping Pad for Camping. I can almost guarantee it won’t be as comfortable, but I wont have to baby it and it’s a quarter of the price.
I’m sure others love this camping air mattress but it just wasn’t for us. Unfortunately it won’t be on our camping gear checklist.
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